SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An ominous weather forecast for the Saratoga area on Friday may be all that stands in the way of Roses for Debra adding the $150,000 Smart N Fancy Stakes to her already imposing and steadily improving résumé.
The Smart N Fancy is scheduled to be run at 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf and drew a familiar field of six 3-year-old fillies along with a pair of main-track-only entrants, both of whom obviously become key players if the race is taken off the grass.
At seven furlongs around two turns, the Grade 3, $750,000 Charles Town Oaks is ideal for a filly who might not really want a true route of ground and who might not be ideally suited to standard one-turn sprints. Vahva is just such a horse.
Vahva drew post 1 and will have John Velazquez aboard when she tries for her first stakes win in the Charles Town Oaks, which can accommodate 10 runners and drew an overflow field.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It seemed that if Nest was ever going to be vulnerable, it would have been in last month’s Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee Stakes.
She hadn’t run in eight months and, in Clairiere, Nest was facing a top-quality mare who was coming off two consecutive Grade 1 stakes victories.
That mattered little to Nest, who, under clever handling from Irad Ortiz Jr., was able to get the jump on Clairiere and win the Shuvee by 2 1/4 lengths.
To get a line on the Charles Town Classic on Friday night in Charles Town, W. Va., draw a line west on the map to Altoona, Iowa. That’s the site of Prairie Meadows Racetrack, and three horses coming out of the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker on July 8 form the backbone of the Charles Town Classic.
The conditions of the rescheduled Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar on Friday are unchanged from the original race date last Sunday. The $150,000 race for California-bred fillies and mares will be run at a mile on turf.
But the field has changed significantly following the postponement of the race because of substantial rain that led to the cancellation of racing on Sunday.
The Solana Beach Stakes has grown from six runners to eight. One of the additional starters is Chancery Way, a shipper from Golden Gate Fields whose appearance will affect race strategy.
Daily Racing Form Southern California handicapper Brad Free provides his selections, analysis and suggested wagers for Saturday, Aug. 26 at Del Mar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The presence of Arcangelo in Saturday’s 154th Travers Stakes at Saratoga elicits memories of his sire, Arrogate, and what he did in this same race seven years ago.
An unknown quantity to many before that day, Arrogate announced himself to the world as a rare talent with a record-setting, 13 1/2-length victory in Saratoga’s marquee event. He ran 1 1/4 miles in 1:59.36, the fastest time at that distance at this historic venue which began racing in 1863.
Dean Delivers is getting a little breather while his connections start to think about what race might serve as his bridge to a potential start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita.
The Florida-bred last raced July 29 and finished third behind champion Elite Power and Gunite in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga. Dean Delivers has since returned home to Florida.
You Split Tens will drop into an open $8,000 claiming sprint at 6 1/2 furlongs on Friday at Emerald Downs.
Trained by Justin Evans, You Split Tens has been consistent this season, having crossed the wire in the top four every time while not recording an official win.
The 8-year-old son of Congrats finished 3 3/4 lengths in front when in for a $10,000 tag on May 21 only to lose it via disqualification. He has raced at higher levels ever since.
It is hoped the drop to $8,000 will bolster the 8-year-old’s confidence.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The top four or five finishers from Sunday’s King’s Plate at Woodbine could all contest the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $400,000 Prince of Wales Stakes on the dirt at Fort Erie on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
Trainer Mark Casse could run the top two finishers in the $1 million Plate, Paramount Prince and Elysian Field, along with stakes-placed Stayhonor Goodside, who bypassed the Plate, a 1 1/4-mile Tapeta stakes.
“I’m looking at running the three of them,” said Casse, who has won the Prince of Wales four times.
