Governor Sam Heads Weaver Trio in Quick Call Stakes

Although winless in two tries this year, the talented Governor Sam's race record and speed figures make him the horse to beat as he lines up for the $175,000 Quick Call Stakes (G3T) July 13 at Saratoga Race Course. One of three entrants in the 5 1/2-furlong turf dash for trainer George Weaver, Governor Sam exits a fourth-place finish in an off-the-turf allowance contest at Churchill Downs June 6. That race followed a season-opening third-place effort in the April 30 William Walker Stakes, in which the Improbable colt set all the pace before being caught late. “Hopefully, (Governor Sam will) bounce back to bigger and better form as the year goes on, and we’re looking forward to running him here," Weaver said. A $275,000 2-year-old purchase, Bregman Family Racing and Swinbank Stables' Governor Sam's maiden score last summer at the Spa was the start of a four-race win streak for the speedy bay. The colt captured three stakes at three different tracks before ending his successful juvenile campaign with a gallant third, beaten only one length by the victorious Magnum Force (IRE), in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Del Mar. Irad Ortiz Jr., the colt's pilot in his maiden victory, reunites with Governor Sam for the Quick Call. Weaver will also saddle two Gulfstream Park maiden winners who were stakes-placed in their most recent outings, Insubordination (IRE) and Ortley Avenue (IRE).