Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (Grade 1)

AIDAN O’Brien’s Broome went off favourite for the Grade 1 Sword Dancer but the six-year-old. Under Ryan Moore missed the break by a few lengths and was niggled along early to race in ninth.

Moore elected to stay back as Tribhuvan made it an even pace with quarters of 24.39secs, 48.98secs, and 1m13.99secs on an uncontested lead.

However, down the far-side, Broome was slow to pick up and though only a length behind the winner Gufo, he could not match that horse when he began his effort before the bend.

Gufo, always consistent in these Grade 1s, was winning this for the second year in succession after beating O’Brien’s Japan last season.

Broome kept on well down outside from over a furlong out but his effort wasn’t fast enough and he had to settle for fourth of the 10 runners behind Mira Mission and Soldier Rising, beaten a length and a half in a steady time of 2m 28.92s.

The remarkably consistent son of Declaration Of War, trained by Christophe Clement, has been out of the money only twice in 19 career starts, and has now captured Grade 1s as a three-, four- and five-year-old.

“He loves this turf here,” jockey Joel Rosario after the repeat win in the Sword Dancer.

“He’s been a very good horse these past three years. Unfortunately, in his last race, sometimes he has a tendency to drop too far out of it,” trainer Christophe Clement was reported on BloodHorse.

“Today, he had a great trip. He was never that far back, and he was travelling well. When Joel asked him, he exploded in the stretch. I’m delighted.”

Cody’s downs Warrior

Forego Stakes (Grade 1)

SARATOGA is the known as the graveyard of champions so there had to be at least one shock on the night and a shock it was.

Steve Asmussen’s Jackie’s Warrior is the dominant sprinter in the US over the last two seasons, with Grade 1 wins over three seasons here, but he had no answer to the Godolphin runner Cody’s Wish who surged through in the final furlong to register a length-and-a-quarter success for jockey Junior Alvarado and trainer Bill Mott in a time of 1m 20.95secs. It was a second Grade 1 success on the card for the sire Curlin.

There was a heartwarming tale behind the naming of the colt. Teenager Cody Dorman was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, and became fond of an unnamed foal he first saw at Godolphin’s Gainsborough farm during Keeneland’s Make-A-Wish Day in 2018. Godolphin representatives were so moved that they named the horse in his honour.

“This story has been absolutely unbelievable. It’s a Disney story,” said Michael Banahan, director of bloodstock for Godolphin USA.

“Every time the horse has won, Cody said he would, so when he sent us a prediction today that Cody’s Wish would win, we were all excited. He gave us a sign to show Cody’s Wish to help the cause, and we did. It’s such a tremendous story,” Banahan added.

Pipeline pressed Jackie’s Warrior for the lead throughout, covering fractions of 22.75secs and 45.10secs, softening him up for Cody’s Wish’s late charge, though this looked a little below par from the Asmussen horse.

“I can’t tell you how blessed we are to have Jackie’s Warrior,” Asmussen said. “There’s a little sadness that it’s his last time to run at Saratoga because he’s brought us so much fun and joy here. He’ll be sharp for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, which will be his next and last race.”

H Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (Grade 1)

THE other Grade 1 sprint on the card went as planned as the speedy three-year-old Jack Christopher bounched back from his non-staying third in the Haskell to have too much speed for the resolute Gunite, winning by a length and a half in a slower time than the Forego, 1m 21.15secs for the seven furlongs under winning jockey Jose Ortiz for Chad Brown.

“I think he ran great turning back to seven (furlongs),” Ortiz said of the Munnings colt who has Coolmore and Peter Brant in the ownership partnership.

Chad Brown was noncommittal regarding what might be next for his trainee, but the six-furlong Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint or Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in Keeneland would appear to be the options.

Personal Ensign Stakes (Grade 1)

THE Personal Ensign Stakes established the order for the older fillies and mares and it may have signed the demise of last year’s champion older mare and the re-emergence of last year’s top three-year-old filly.

Shadwell’s 2021 Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat had been a bit below par this season, beaten on her last two starts, but here, in second-time blinkers, she found her old resolution and proved too strong in the closing stages to overcome Search Results by half a length.

Last year’s champion Letruska was two lengths back in third, her second defeat in a row, and though she ran better this time, the six-year-old is a bit below her form from last season.

Todd Pletcher’s winner was hugely popular for the stable and her owners. “We love this filly so much in the barn. We want everyone to appreciate her as much as we do,” Pletcher said.

The daughter of Curlin won for the eighth time in 12 starts and improved her earnings to $2,378,825.

Ridden by John Velazquez, Malathaat beat the Chad Brown-trained Search Results, as she had done in the 2021 Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs where Malathaat won by a neck.

“It was very, very nice to see her come back to prove how good a horse she really is. When I pulled her out at the three-sixteenths pole and asked her, she was in the game,” Velazquez said.

Search Results had taken over from pacesetter Letruska in the early stretch. “She ran great. Flavien gave her an outstanding ride, and she just got beat by a slightly better horse today. She ran her heart out,” Brown said of his filly.

“I was very confident she would go by Letruska at some point during the race, and I said (to Prat) that you would have to hold off either Malathaat or Clairiere, and, as it turned out, it was Malathaat.”

“All due respect to the entire field, we always feel that when she shows up and runs her ‘A’ race, she is the top four-year-old filly in the country. She showed that today,” Pletcher added.

Ballston Spa

The first graded race on the card was the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes over a mile and half a furlong on the turf and it went, predictably, to the Chad Brown-trained favourite Technical Analysis who beat stablemate Fluffy Socks by half a length. The winner is an Irish-bred daughter of Kingman.

The day’s racing generated record-setting all-sources wagering handle of $55,559,315.