Wise Dan puts in solid work
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Had things gone as planned, Wise Dan would have performed in front of thousands of fans at Saratoga on Saturday afternoon instead of a handful of early risers Saturday morning.
A bout of colic that required surgery in mid-May threw Wise Dan off schedule and basically blew the two-time Horse of the Year’s summer, including missing Saturday’s Grade 2 Fourstardave, a race he had won here the previous two summers.
On Saturday, however, Wise Dan showed trainer Charlie LoPresti that he’s getting closer to a return. In his most aggressive move since resuming training, Wise Dan worked six furlongs in 1:13.14 over the Saratoga main track shortly after 5:30 a.m.
Breaking off six lengths behind stablemate Luzianna Man, Wise Dan was clocked in 24.47 seconds for the first quarter-mile and 47.49 for the half – getting on equal terms with his mate at that point – and then finished his last quarter in 25.65. He galloped out seven furlongs in 1:27.64.
“He got a good blow out of it. That’s what we wanted. We wanted to get a good one in him,” LoPresti said. “That would have been his Fourstardave today, but I think he needed to be a little better than that.”
The work was the fourth for Wise Dan since he came to Saratoga and the fifth since he resumed training following colic surgery. Wise Dan has not raced since winning the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 3.
LoPresti has three races in mind for Wise Dan’s return: the Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch on turf or the Grade 1, $600,000 Woodward on dirt, both here Aug. 30, and the $1 million Woodbine Mile on Sept. 14.
“If you held a gun to my head, I would love to run him in the Bernard Baruch. That would be the easiest race for him for his comeback race,” LoPresti said. “Sure, I’d love to run him in the Woodbine race, but that’s going to be a tough race off the bench, too.”
One of LoPresti’s major goals for the fall is the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 4.
- additional reporting by Mike Welsch