SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With nine winners from his first 22 starters here thus far this summer, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is having himself a whale of a Saratoga meet. But next Friday, his sights will be set on Charles Town, where he’ll send a handful of his troops to compete in stakes, including both defending champion Skippylongstocking and 2023 Wood Memorial winner Lord Miles in the $1 million Charles Town Classic.
Queen of the Mud and Sunday Shoes are the most accomplished runners entered in the $80,000 Satin and Lace Stakes for fillies and mares sprinting six furlongs Monday evening on the Tapeta at Presque Isle Downs. However, there seem to be questions about both, as Queen of the Mud moves to synthetic for the first time, and Sunday Shoes is coming off a short layoff from her worst career effort. That leaves an opening for someone to move forward, and move on to bigger things.
The $1,500 supplemental fee required to make Stay and Scam eligible for Sunday’s $150,000 Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar may be money well spent.
A two-time stakes winner this year, Stay and Scam was not nominated earlier this month for $150 in what trainer Doug O’Neill said was an oversight.
“This was definitely the plan all along,” he said.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – There’s rain in the forecast for Sunday, and Society’s Thunder’s ability to handle turf and Tapeta might be to his benefit in the eighth race on the stakes-less Woodbine card.
A $14,000 claim last August by trainer Dominic Polsinelli, Society’s Thunder peaked in his last two outings against Ontario-sired allowance opposition. The consistent 5-year-old beat nonwinners-of-two rivals in front-running style two back in a seven-furlong main turf tilt, while leaving next-out winner El Cohete in his wake.
Northern Linchpin may be worth a venture in Sunday’s $5,000 claiming feature over six furlongs at Emerald Downs. The daughter of Linchpin is a lightly raced 4-year-old who won a maiden race July 12 in her first start in nearly four months. In her only start since the win, the Charles Essex trainee drew the rail and battled hard from inside for most of the race before fading slightly in the stretch.
Beth’s Dream will be looking to extend her win streak to four in a row Saturday when she meets Bluefield in the $100,000 Sheer Drama Handicap, going seven furlongs on the Gulfstream Park dirt.
The horses are co-highweighted at 125 pounds in the race for fillies and mares that shares a card with the $75,000 Frolic’s Revenge.
There also is a mandatory payout in the Rainbow 6 jackpot set for Saturday, and officials project the pool could reach $2 million. The 20-cent bet will run on races 6-11.
Subsanador traveled 2,800 miles this week to race for $250,000 in the Philip Iselin Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.
Only five rivals, all drawn inside him, stand between Subsanador and a worthwhile ship from trainer Richard Mandella’s current base at Del Mar.
“He’s training really well right now, and I expect him to run a good race. The timing was good for this,” said Mandella, who reported that his horse had shipped without incident.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Kenny McPeek was right. Had he chosen to run Thorpedo Anna in Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama at Saratoga, the 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-old fillies would have most likely been a non-event.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A little drop in class and a turnback in distance should make She Feels Pretty the one to beat in a wide-open field of 3-year-old fillies entered to contest the $200,000 Lake Placid Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga. The Grade 2 Lake Placid will be decided at 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf course.
On the Chinese lunar calendar, Aug. 7 marked autumn’s first day. Yet on the Gregorian calendar we’re a week away from a race known as the Mid-Summer Derby. That’s the Travers, and while 3-year-olds on stage this weekend are of the Canadian-foaled variety, both sophomore sets are tasked with racing 1 1/4 miles – 2.01 kilometers for those living under the cycles of the Chinese lunar year. Can the favorite make it that far?
King’s Plate
