Wilkes pointing Just Basking to Alabama, Positano Sunset to Ballerina

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time in nearly two decades trainer Ian Wilkes did not take stalls at Saratoga for the summer but he won’t go the entire meet without running a horse here.

Wilkes is pointing Just Basking to the Grade 1 Alabama on Aug. 17 and Positano Sunset to the Grade 1 Ballerina on Aug. 24. The Alabama will be run at 1 1/4 miles, the Ballerina at seven furlongs.

Just Basking, a daughter of Arrogate, is coming off a 4 3/4-length victory in the $220,000 Iowa Oaks on July 6. The Iowa Oaks was run at 1 1/16 miles, but in April, Just Basking won a 1 1/4-mile maiden race at Churchill Downs by 7 3/4 lengths.

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“I know I can get a strong mile and a quarter,” Wilkes said. “How good I am? I don’t know yet. I don’t know if I beat much in the Iowa Oaks, but the way she did it was impressive and when you can get a good mile and a quarter, it’s a chance to take a shot.”

Chris Landeros will ride Just Basking.

Positano Sunset, a 4-year-old daughter of Goldencents, is coming off a runner-up finish by 1 1/4 lengths to Vahva in the Grade 3 Chicago Stakes on June 22. Vahva will likely be the Ballerina favorite.

“My filly’s improving, she’s taken a couple of races to get back into form and I think she’s really starting to round into form,” Wilkes said. “When you got a Grade 1, sometimes you got to take a shot at it. We were a length and a quarter behind [Vahva], we’ll take a shot at her again.”

Wilkes has been running horses at Saratoga since 2006. He said the cost of doing business in New York is the primary reason he didn’t take stalls here this summer.

“It’s so expensive I can’t charge my owners enough,” Wilkes said. “When you come with a small string, if you come out of there not winning because things go wrong – a race doesn’t go, the horse gets hurt, or you drew someone who could really run and whooped you. In Kentucky, the money’s good, the racing’s getting good here, I think I can ship and run if I need to.”

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