SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Spinoff, winner of the Alydar Stakes here Aug. 9, and Moretti, winner of the Birdstone Stakes here Aug. 2, worked a half-mile together Friday in 49.06 seconds over the Saratoga main track preparing for a start in next Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward Stakes.
It was what Spinoff did after the wire that stood out. He gradually pulled away from Moretti after five furlongs in 1:01.95 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.59 and seven furlongs in 1:27.99.
Last December, the colt Devil Made Me Doit won the first race of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting in such impressive style that observers rightfully wondered how much he could accomplish in the 3-year-old division in 2020.
Devil Made Me Doit did not race for the rest of the winter or spring. He will have his 2020 debut in a first-level allowance with a $40,000 claiming option at five furlongs on turf Sunday at Del Mar, a reflection of how trainer Doug O’Neill has had to alter goals.
Laura’s Light, a four-time stakes winner who was sixth as the 3-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 22, will not race again this year.
“Laura’s Light is going to get a break,” trainer Peter Miller said on Friday. “She’s done enough. She’s tired and we’re going to give her a proper break.”
Owned by Gary Barber, Laura’s Light has won 5 of 8 starts and earned $304,870. Earlier this year, Laura’s Light won three graded stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf, including the Grade 2 San Clemente Stakes at a mile at Del Mar in July.
Wyfire, winner of a maiden special weight race Aug. 16 in his second start, was sold privately to Gary Barber earlier this week and remains a possible starter in the Grade 1 Runhappy Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 7, new trainer Peter Miller said Friday.
Miller said the deal was completed Thursday. Miller oversaw Wyfire’s training Friday. Terms of the deal were private, Miller said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Saffie Joseph said he couldn’t have been happier with the way Ny Traffic worked here Friday in his final serious drill before the Kentucky Derby. The Haskell runner-up went five furlongs in 59.40 seconds, completing his final three-eighths in 35.26 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and easing up after seven-eighths in 1:26.58.
David Cohen was aboard for the work, although Paco Lopez has the mount in the Derby.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – After knocking off the undisputed leader of the filly and mare handicap division, Midnight Bisou, earlier this month in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga, Vexatious will now set her sights on the division’s No. 2 when she ships to Churchill Downs for a rematch with Monomoy Girl in the Grade 1 La Troienne next Friday.
Trainer Jack Sisterson made that decision shortly after watching Vexatious breeze an easy half-mile in 52.97 seconds under the cover of darkness shortly after the main track opened at 5:30 a.m. here on Friday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Amid the highly unusual circumstances that have come to characterize this entire year, Churchill Downs on Tuesday will open its September meet with the 146th Kentucky Derby culminating the first week.
The Tuesday opener begins a 14-day split meet. Racing will be conducted for five straight days, ending with the Derby on Saturday, before Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky hosts a six-day meet from Sept. 7-16. Churchill then will run the last nine days of its meet from Sept. 17-27.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher worked a trio of 3-year-olds Friday at Saratoga with Money Moves still seeming to be the one he would run in the Derby if he runs one at all.
Since he has no qualifying points, Money Moves would need 19 or fewer other horses to be entered in the Derby to make it into the field. On Friday, he worked five furlongs with You’re to Blame in 1:00.14, getting his last quarter in 24.13 with a strong gallop out of 1:12.99, 1:26.09, and a mile in 1:40.34, indicative of a pre-Derby type of work for Pletcher.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the remnants of Hurricane Laura expected to douse this region later in the day, a handful of contenders for Kentucky Derby 146 led by Art Collector were out for their final pre-race workouts Friday morning at Churchill Downs amid humid but dry conditions.
Shortly before trainer Brad Cox sent his 2018 Kentucky Oaks winner and divisional champion Monomoy Girl out for a breeze on Friday morning, he sent out the two fillies who will be attempting to follow in her footsteps, as his Kentucky Oaks duo of Bonny South and Shedaresthedevil turned in their final works ahead of next Friday’s filly classic.
