Cogburn Loses Main Rival in Spa's Redrawn Troy Stakes

While Cogburn had to wait an additional week to run in the $300,000 Troy Stakes (G2T), in one sense the task will be easier due to a defection. The Troy was redrawn Aug. 4 and placed on the Aug. 10 card at Saratoga Race Course after heavy overnight rain forced the Aug. 3 graded turf sprint stakes to be postponed. The race lost Godolphin's Mischief Magic (IRE), the 6-1 second choice in the original field, who was not re-entered Sunday among the new field of 11 turfers for the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint. Step Forward joined the field, which also includes two main-track-only entrants. Rain is forecast for Aug. 9 and is expected to continue into Saturday. Clark Brewster and William and Corinne Heiligbrodt's Cogburn, who set a North American record in winning the Jaipur Stakes (G1T) for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen June 8 at the Spa, drew post 4. Yet for Asmussen, the extra week has "changed everything" for the son of Not This Time, who had been a 4-5 morning-line favorite in the original field. "Does a week matter?" asked the sport's all-time wins leader. "Do you know how you'll feel a week from today? We entered back today and we'll see how he is on Saturday. He just galloped today and we'll go from there." Asmussen said he did not agree with the decision to take the Troy off the turf. The Troy and the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) were postponed and moved to Saturday, while four other Aug. 3 turf races were moved to the main track, including the Lure Stakes. Turf racing resumed the following day. "I didn't like the decision. They're running on (the turf) today. They are treating graded stakes like extras," Asmussen said. After consulting with New York Racing Association officials, Dr. Scott Palmer, equine medical director for the New York State Gaming Commission, called for turf racing to be scrapped because of safety concerns. "The decision was made for safety reasons. End of story," he said. Palmer said a newly instituted set of readings provided moisture data that mitigated the canceling of turf racing. "We looked at the moisture content of the turf courses yesterday morning. We looked at the total amount of moisture in the racetrack and the spatial variability of the moisture in the racetrack. Some spots were drier than others and some were wetter," Palmer said. "This is the first time we've had the ability to look at the spatial variability and it was because of a year's worth of research I did last year after what happened at Saratoga. "In short, the conditions were similar to or worse than the conditions on Whitney weekend and Travers weekend of 2023 (when there were fatal breakdowns). They were so similar that there was an increased risk of injury based on the data." Palmer, who referenced a July 31 107-page NYSGC report on the 13 fatal racing and training musculoskeletal injuries at the 2023 Saratoga meet, said the increasing usage of scientific data will help officials to better understand track conditions. "With what we know now with this information in hand, we will make informed decisions based on objective measures and human impressions," Palmer said. "As we get more data over the years we will get more accurate with it, but for now how I could possibly send those horses and riders out there to race in (those conditions on Saturday)?" Without Mischief Magic, Cogburn's main rival appears to be Colts Neck Stables' Grooms All Bizness. He comes into the Troy off four wins in his last five starts.