Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher on Aug. 19 put the finishing training touches on Forte and Tapit Trice , his two runners for the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course one week later on Aug. 26. Both horses entered the main track after the second break Saturday on a cool, overcast morning for their final Travers breezes.
Forte, winner of the Jim Dandy (G2) at the Spa July 29, went four furlongs in a time of :50.50 with jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. in the saddle. Forte, last year's 2-year-old champion, worked in company with 4-year-old stablemate Bright Future .
Tapit Trice worked four furlongs alone in :49.22 with new jockey Jose Ortiz. Ortiz replaces Luis Saez, who had ridden the son of Tapit in his last six starts. Saez will ride Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage in the Travers.
Tapit Trice was equipped with blinkers for the work and will wear them in the Midsummer Derby, the first time he'll have them in a race.
Pletcher hopes that will improve the focus for the son of Tapit, who is owned by Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable.
"His weakness so far has been getting out of the gate and getting into a good position," Pletcher said outside his barn office at the Oklahoma Training Track. "We are hoping this will help a little with that."
Pletcher said Saez suggested that blinkers could help Tapit Trice, who was seventh in the Kentucky Derby (G1), third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), and fifth in the Haskell Stakes (G1). He had won four of his first five starts, including the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
Blinkers were on Tapit Trice when he galloped earlier in the week.
"He seemed to be dialed in a little more and it seemed like that was the case this morning," Pletcher said. "I don't know if it will make him any quicker early, but it can't hurt. He has kind of put himself in compromising positions a couple times, the Haskell for one, the Derby for another. We just feel like we needed to make some sort of adjustment to improve on that a little bit. He has the talent to win a big race ; he already has in the Blue Grass."
Forte, owned by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable, has won seven of nine career starts and was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby before being scratched the morning of the race by Kentucky state veterinarians because of a bruise on his right front hoof.
The son of Violence was second in the Belmont off an eight-week layoff before winning the Jim Dandy.
On Aug. 19, he was also equipped with blinkers, which he wore in the Jim Dandy. He did not have the hood on in his prior work.
"If you put them on all the time, you lose a little of the effect," Pletcher said. "He looked super and was moving great."
Pletcher also watched his champion filly Nest work four furlongs in 48.75 in her final work before the $500,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), which will be run Aug. 25.
Nest, a daughter of Curlin , worked in company with 4-year-old Wit , last seen finishing eighth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1T) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 28. Regular exercise rider Nora McCormack was on board.
"I thought it was as good as a horse can work," Pletcher said. "We expect it of her, but it's always good to see it."
Nest, last year's Eclipse Award winner as the top 3-year-old filly, is owned by Repole Stable, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Michael House.
Mage Ready to Roll for Travers
Everything has gone as planned as Kentucky Derby hero Mage continues on his path to the Travers.
The son of Good Magic had his final work for the Midsummer Derby Aug. 19 on the main track, going six furlongs in 1:15.56. It was his third work since arriving at the Spa following a second place finish in the Haskell Stakes (G1) at Monmouth Park July 22.
With exercise rider J. J. Delgado, Mage did exactly what trainer Gustavo Delgado and his son and assistant, Gustavo Delgado Jr., wanted him to do.
"My dad told J.J. to go in 1:15, 1:16 and that's exactly what we got," Delgado Jr. said while watching Mage cool out at the barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. "He just asked him for a little at the end."
Delgado Jr. said Mage has acclimated nicely to Saratoga. In his last two races, the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico Course May 20 and the Haskell, Mage shipped in the week of the race.
Getting to Saratoga early has been beneficial, Delgado Jr. said.
"He likes it up here," he said. "He has showing us good signs. After that race (Haskell), he woke up and started to get more aggressive. In a good way. We have seen him getting back into form. I am pretty certain he is going to show in the Travers because he is feeling good. I am really looking forward to it."
This will be Mage's seventh career start—all of them this year. Since winning the Derby, he finished third in the Preakness and then was the runner-up in the Haskell. The Travers will be his fifth consecutive grade 1 race.
Mage, owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH, will be ridden in the Travers by Luis Saez, who last rode him in the Florida Derby (G1) where he was second to Forte. Javier Castellano, who will ride Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Arcangelo in the Travers, had ridden Mage in his last three starts.
Risk It Pays Fast Dividend for Winchell, Three Chimneys
Considering the sizable breeding share owner Ron Winchell has in the record-breaking stallion Gun Runner , anytime Winchell's team spends $500,000 on a progeny of the 2017 Horse of the Year, it sends a loud message.
That message became a statement Aug. 19 when Risk It, the aforementioned 2-year-old half-million-dollar son of Gun Runner, registered a sharp victory in his career debut, taking the first race at Saratoga Race Course by 4 1/2 lengths over Godolphin's Hunt Ball, a half brother to multiple grade 1 winner Cody's Wish .
"He had the look and characteristics of the Gun Runners we've been successful with," said Steve Asmussen, who trained Gun Runner for Winchell and Three Chimneys Farm, the same duo that owns Risk It. "Obviously, he's very attractive and attracted a lot of money as a yearling. He went to Laredo to my mom and dad's program and they always thought very highly of him. He's showed nothing but talent. He's been very professional and competitive."
Ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, Risk It covered the six furlongs in 1:10.75.
Bred in Kentucky by the Gun Runner Syndicate and De Sousa Stables out of the Broken Vow mare Wedding Jitter, Risk It was bought at the Keeneland September Sale from the Hidden Brook consignment. He is the second winner from the dam's three foals to race. She has also produced a yearling Laoban filly.
Asmussen said Risk It ($5.30) would target the mile Sept. 16 Iroquois Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs.
"He's trained like he'll get a mile and we'll continue to dream," Asmussen said about Saturday's 8-5 favorite.
Hunt Ball, a homebred 2-year-old Into Mischief colt out of the Tapit mare Dance Card, who also produced grade 2 winner Endorsed , was fifth in the field of seven after he was bumped at the start. He rallied four-wide into second at the top of the stretch but could not keep pace with the winner in the final furlong.
"He got a good schooling today because he had to go through the whole field," trainer Bill Mott said. "I think a little more distance will be fine for him."
Played Hard Didn't Get to Play at Spa This Summer
It has been a lost summer here for trainer Philip Bauer and his 5-year-old mare Played Hard.
Coming up from Kentucky, Bauer planned to run the daughter of Into Mischief twice—first in the Shuvee Stakes (G2) July 23 and then in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) Aug. 25.
Played Hard, owned by Rigney Racing, didn't run in the Shuvee because of an elevated temperature and she won't go in the Personal Ensign either.
"It was our decision this time," Bauer said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Aug. 19.
Bauer did not nominate Played Hard to the Personal Ensign. Played Hard worked four furlongs on the Oklahoma Training Track in :48 Aug. 17.
"Her drill was very good, not great," he said. "When your company kind of leaves you on the gallop out, you know you are gasping for some air and she showed that coming back here. We knew she was not where we wanted her to be. But we are getting there."
Played Hard won the La Troienne Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs May 5 and was third in the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) at Belmont June 10. Overall, she has six wins, five seconds, and three thirds in 16 career starts.
In the Personal Ensign, she would have been facing the giants of the older female division in Nest, Clairiere and Secret Oath.
"It is one thing when you are running through your conditions and you are a superior horse," Bauer said. "When you've got to take down champions, you can't be short."
Played Hard will be pointed to the $400,000 Locust Grove Stakes (G3) at Churchill Sept. 16. She won that race last year.
"We know she likes Churchill and I don't think Clairiere and Nest will be in that race," Bauer said. "Not to say it will be an easy race, but we certainly won't have to bang heads with those two. We just have to turn the page."
Spa MSW Runner-Up to be Offered in F-T Digital Sale
Anyone who was impressed by the runner-up finish of the 2-year-old colt Hurricane Nelson in his career debut may want to monitor the balance in their checking account.
After finishing second by a half-length at 24-1 odds in an Aug. 12 maiden special weight race, owner-breeder-trainer Gustavo Delgado is entering the Florida-bred son of Khozan in the upcoming Fasig-Tipton Horses of Racing Age Digital Sale, according to Delgado's bloodstock agent, Ramiro Restrepo.
"A lot of people have called about him and it made sense to put him on a platform where people can put their best foot forward to buy him. If the market dictates that there's substantial interest in the colt, they will sell him. If not, then they will keep him and run him in a maiden race," Restrepo said. "He's a Florida-bred, Florida-sired horse. There's a huge Florida-bred stakes program for 2-year-olds coming up and he turned in a big effort in a loaded maiden special."
Running in the fifth race at the Spa on Aug. 12, the son of the stakes-placed Political Force mare French Politics was second to first-time starter Deterministic, a $625,000 yearling buy who covered seven furlongs in 1:24.18. Of the eight horses in the field, five sold for at least $300,000 with a combined price tag of $2.7 million.
The Fasig-Tipton sale begins Aug. 24 with bidding closing on Aug. 29. Restrepo said prospective bidders can make appointments to inspect Hurricane Nelson.
