With the Haskell Stakes (G1) lifting Dornoch into the top spot in the 3-year-old male division, the focus turns to the Aug. 24 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, which stands as the last chance for someone to enter the Eclipse Award picture.
That, of course, turns the spotlight on the July 27 $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at the Spa, which serves as a springboard to the Midsummer Derby.
Though a grade 2 stakes for 3-year-olds, each of the last three winners of the Jim Dandy has been a champion at some point in his career, and that could happen for a fourth straight year with a field of six that includes Fierceness, Sierra Leone, and Seize the Grey.
Repole Staple's Fierceness already has an Eclipse Award, having been named the champion 2-year-old male a year ago. He also has a big question mark hovering over him after finishing 15th as the 3-1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
His dull performance followed his consistently inconsistent path on the racetrack as each of his six career starts has produced a brilliant effort followed by a disappointing try. The Run for the Roses, for example, came after the homebred son of City of Light won the Florida Derby (G1) by 13 1/2 lengths.
Originally, Fierceness was supposed to make his first post-Kentucky Derby start in the Haskell, but he was scratched in favor of stablemate Mindframe, who finished second in his bid for an initial grade 1 win. Instead, his connections opted for the Jim Dandy, giving him 12 weeks to continue his frustrating pattern with a dynamic effort.
"We are happy with him," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "We gave him plenty of time after the Kentucky Derby, and I think it has done him well. He has put on some weight and has trained really well."
Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Rocket Ship Racing's Sierra Leone is also looking to get back on the winning track. Trained by Chad Brown, the son of Gun Runner became a major player in the division with back-to-back wins in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and the Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
He lost the Kentucky Derby by a nose after a tumultuous trip, then finished third, a length and a half behind Dornoch, in the Belmont Stakes (G1) on a Saratoga track that did not favor his late-running style.
"I'm hoping for a fair-run race where horses can win from anywhere," Brown said. "I had a horse win wire-to-wire in the (July 19) Curlin (Stakes). I had a baby win from off the pace (the following day). I think the track has really come around and is playing a lot more fair for any type of horse."
The $2.3 million purchase at the 2022 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, remained in Saratoga after the Belmont and has been training in solid fashion for his first race in seven weeks.
"He's been working solo on the training track. I'm liking it," said Brown, who has yet to win the Jim Dandy. "For right now, at this point of his campaign, it's working for him taking him out of company for a little bit. He's very fit and I'm just looking to bring him to the race healthy and focused."
A question mark also hovers over Seize the Grey. MyRacehorse's son of Arrogate captured the Preakness Stakes (G1) in front-running fashion at 9-1 odds for racing's living legend, 88-year-old trainer D. Wayne Lukas. But then in the Belmont, Seize the Grey wilted in the stretch and faded to seventh, beaten by nearly 13 lengths.
The Jim Dandy figures to show which of those last two efforts was the fluke.
The field of six for the 1 1/8-mile test also includes the 1-2 finishers in the Ohio Derby (G3), Batten Down and Gould's Gold.
Juddmonte's Batten Down, a homebred Tapit colt, captured the June 22 Ohio Derby in gate-to-wire fashion by 1 3/4 lengths. Trained by Bill Mott, he was a runaway maiden winner at Churchill Downs in his previous start.
Four G Racing, Lance Gasaway, and Magdalena Racing's Gould's Gold made his graded stakes debut for trainer Ken McPeek in the Ohio Derby. The son of Goldencents was second throughout in the Thistledown stakes.
Four G and Gasaway had some pretty good success with another 3-year-old son of Goldencents trained by McPeek, a now-sidelined colt named Mystik Dan, who just so happened to win the Kentucky Derby.
Rounding out the field is Talla Racing, Three Chimneys Farm, and West Point Thoroughbreds' Pony Express, a recent maiden winner at Santa Anita Park. The son of Gun Runner trained by John Sadler led throughout that June 15 win, creating the kind of pace scenario that boosts Sierra Leone's chances in a small field.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, July 27, 2024, Race 10Entries: Jim Dandy S. Presented by Mohegan Sun S. (G2)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Sierra Leone (KY) Flavien Prat 124 Chad C. Brown 1/1 2 2Seize the Grey (KY) Jaime A. Torres 124 D. Wayne Lukas 6/1 3 3Batten Down (KY) Junior Alvarado 120 William I. Mott 5/1 4 4Pony Express (KY) Joel Rosario 118 John W. Sadler 20/1 5 5Gould's Gold (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 118 Kenneth G. McPeek 15/1 6 6Fierceness (KY) John R. Velazquez 124 Todd A. Pletcher 9/5
