Wilton Stakes has nine for opening day at Saratoga as rebuilt chute draws discussion
The $135,000 Wilton Stakes, the first race to be run out of the rebuilt Wilson Chute at Saratoga, drew a field of nine 3-year-old fillies for Thursday’s opening-day card.
There are still some logistics to work out over the placement of the starting gate for the Wilson Chute, as jockeys have expressed safety concerns to the stewards and management over the number of horses permitted to run in those one-mile races. There was some discrepancy whether the fields for races that start in the chute should be limited to eight or 10 starters. For now, the limit is 10 horses.
The concern is that horses who would break from the inside posts would be running straight toward the rail entering the first turn.
The Wilson Chute, dismantled in 1972, was rebuilt to allow one-mile races to be run on the dirt.
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Jockey John Velazquez said he told Frank Gabriel, senior director of racing operations for NYRA, that the jockeys are okay with 10 horses in races that start out of the chute provided horses aren’t loaded in what would be considered post 1. A 14-horse gate will be utilized for those races, allowing for horses to be loaded farther out from the rail.
On Tuesday, after training hours, jockeys will get on horses and break them out of the gate to get a better idea where horses should be loaded as well as the placement of the gate. Velazquez said he has a concern about running 2-year-old races out of the chute.
“I told Frank I’m okay with 10 horses if they pull the gate out, but no 2-year-olds,” Velazquez said. “The turn is so sharp, even with 10 horses we might be okay, but if somebody breaks slow and has to send to that turn, it’s going to take everybody out because you’re not going to make the turn. That turn is sharp.”
The only time 2-year-olds would run in races out of the chute is when races scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf are rained off that surface.
“Let’s run a race first and see how we do first, because I’m not going to commit to 2-year-olds,” Velazquez said. “Let’s run a couple of races, but 2-year-olds, I’d rather go seven-eighths than go a mile.”
Gabriel said Tuesday’s trial run will give an idea ‘where we want to place the gate.”
Todd Pletcher entered a trio of horses in the Wilton, including Fair Grounds Oaks third-place finisher Favor, Gulfstream Park Oaks runner-up Goddess of Fire and recent allowance winner A Mo Reay.
Ironically, Goddess of Fire, ridden by Velazquez, drew the rail.
Tarabi, runner-up in last year’s Grade 1 Spinaway and third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, will likely be favored in the Wilton.
Thursday’s opening-day card also has the Grade 3, $175,000 Schuylerville Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs, which also drew a field of nine. The field consists of eight maiden winners from six tracks - Churchill Downs, Monmouth, Woodbine, Parx Racing, Presque Isle, and Delaware - and a maiden from Churchill.
Me and My Shadow, a four-length winner at Woodbine, Just Cindy, and Summer Promise are likely the top three choices.
There are 10 races Thursday with a first post of 1 p.m.
Friday’s card also has 10 races, including the Grade 3, $175,000 Forbidden Apple, a one-mile race run on turf. Set Piece, winner of the Grade 2 Dinner Party, and Get Smokin, runner-up in the Grade 3 Arlington at Churchill on June 4, head the 12-horse field
Twilight Gleaming, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner, heads a field of 11 3-year-old fillies entered in the $150,000 Coronation Cup at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf.