Whitney Stakes (Grade 1)

SARATOGA is famously known as ‘The Graveyard of Champions’ and so it proved last Saturday with all four of the graded races having a surprise winner.

The Grade 1 Whitney Stakes was the highlight of the day and it went to the Bob Baffert-trained Improbable in a race where the start of the race proved as important as the finish.

With only over 100 people watching the race on track, it perhaps benefitted the Baffert runner as Improbable had often been unruly or broke slowly.

This time Improbable was calmer in the gate and away smoothly while his main rival and favourite Tom’s D’Etat stumbled and came away in last place.

Without Tom’s D’Etat to press the pace, Improbable chased a slow pace in second, then took charge two out for Irad Ortiz, Jr, and raced to a two-length victory over By My Standards as the favourite could never get on terms having lost so much ground early. Code Of Honor also disappointed.

Baffert, in California, was pleased with the chesnut son of City Zip. “Improbable showed up today. It was very impressive. He’s put it all together.”

Improbable was following up a victory in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes. A Grade 1 winner at two, he was the beaten favourite in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.

“He was always cut out to be a good horse, but he was so immature,” Baffert said of the colt who had the nickname as “Little Justify” in his earlier days.

“The Whitney is a race that everybody wants to win, and WinStar has yet to win one, so it was a great win for us and the whole team. To do it with this horse, who has been so good for three years, he’s danced every dance. He’s given us a lot of pleasure,” said WinStar Farm CEO Elliott Walden, representing the ownership group of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and SF Racing.

Vexatious fights tough

Earlier on the card, the first shock on the day came when Calumet Farm’s Vexatious outbattled champion mare and odds-on favourite Midnight Bisou to win the Grade 1 $485,000 Personal Ensign Stakes by a neck.

As Vexatious and jockey Jose Lezcano were battling to hold off Midnight Bisou, the two mares appeared to brush slightly.

Ricardo Santana Jr., replacing Mike Smith on Midnight Bisou due to coronavirus restrictions, claimed a foul and the stewards called an inquiry but left the result unchanged after replays showed little contact.

“We could have gone around one more time and I still would have been in front with my filly,” Lezcano said.

Vexatious’ trainer John Sisterson, who was an assistant to Doug O’Neill, was winning his first Grade 1 and said: “She had every chance to go by and couldn’t. It’s our first win at Saratoga, so it’s cool that it’s a Grade 1 with the history behind the race. We always thought she had a big win in her.”

Vexatious, a six-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway, made her effort into the stretch and although Midnight Bisou made her ground comfortably, she could never quite get by.

Midnight Bisou was bidding for back-to-back Personal Ensign wins. A 13-time winner, she has never been out of the first three, earning $7,471,520.

“She’s never been out of the money once. She just missed winning this race. It would have been nice if it went our way, but it didn’t. She’s a remarkable filly, and she has a lot of fun stuff ahead of her,” Jeff Bloom said.

In the other Grade 1 of the evening, Echo Town beat the favourite No Parole in the Grade 1 $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Stakes for three-year-olds over seven furlongs.

The Speightstown colt swept to the lead on the outside under Ricardo Santana Jr., then drew off to a three-and-a-half-length win from Tap It To Win as No Parole, who set the pace early, faded to finish ninth.

It was the first Grade 1 win for Echo Town. “It was great to see him put it all together when it matters so much on this stage. He’s run hard all year. He’s run consistently all year. Now he will be noticed,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.

The final graded contest, the Grade 2 Bowling Green, proved controversial as Sadler’s Joy, who won by a neck, was demoted and placed fourth following a trainer and jockey’s objection, and a stewards’ inquiry.

The win was the fifth for Cross Border, a son of English Channel, trained by Mike Maker, in as many starts over Saratoga’s turf track.

“When it comes down to a street fight, Cross Border is awfully tough,” Maker said. Sadler’s Joy, challenging widest and after being hit right-handed by Castellano, moved in and bumped Cross Border, who then came over on Channel Maker, forcing jockey Manny Franco to snatch up.

Following the race, the stewards decided that Sadler’s Joy should be disqualified from first to fourth due to lugging into the path of Cross Border and Channel Maker, second and fourth, respectively and was placed behind them into fourth.

Castellano stated his case and said the contact was incidental. “Of course, that put everyone under pressure, and they were going to blame the horse on the outside (Sadler’s Joy). It was a decision for the stewards.”