Whitney Stakes (Grade 1)

SARATOGA has been the shining light of American racing in recent seasons, with high class racing bringing in the crowds.

A crowd of 43,788 came to the Spa on Saturday to see some of the stars on the US racing scene, headed by Cody’s Wish bidding to extend his six-race winning streak in the Grade 1 Whitney and fellow Breeders’ Cup winner Caravel continue her winning run in the Troy Stakes.

Also on the card was the Grade 1 Test Stakes for fillies, featuring the Kentucky Oaks winner Pretty Mischievous up against the new feel-good story - the speedy, unbeaten Maple Leaf Mel from the small stable of Melanie Giddings.

The Saratoga Special newspaper told the story of the day with the headline – Gray Day - with a photo of White Abarrio romping home in the Whitney but the day had by then, a very much grey feel to it, way beyond the feature race.

It started early as Cogburn shocked in the Grade 3 Troy Stakes where the Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Caravel, on a five-race winning streak, could only manage a lack-lustre fourth in the sprint.

All the goodwill in the world was little use to Cody’s Wish who looked in trouble before the turn for home in the Whitney and struggled on for third of six, over three lengths behind second-placed Zandon whom he had beaten easily in the Met Mile.

White Abarrio had been a Kentucky Derby contender off his Florida Derby win last season but his 16 of 20 behind Rich Strike and five-race losing streak, before an allowance win in Gulfstream in March, and his well beaten third in the Met Mile, hardly suggested a performance of this level was in his range.

Stayed strong

After Giant Game had led through a half-mile in 48.27secs, the winner led under two out, was nearly three lengths clear inside final furlong and a half, stayed on strongly, drawing further ahead in the final furlong, winning by six and a quarter lengths in 1m 48.45secs for the nine furlongs on a track rated fast. His was the top-rated performance of the meeting so far.

Following the unexplained deaths of horses from his barn at Churchill Downs in May and a brief suspension, the colt was moved from original trainer Saffie Joseph Jr to Richard Dutrow Jr.

Joseph was cleared following a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission investigation.

Dutrow had served a suspension of more than 10 years for drug violations that he denied, regaining his New York trainer’s licence in April this year.

“He overwhelmed the crowd. He ran the race of his life and we weren’t expecting that. We got lucky,” Dutrow, celebrating his 64th birthday, said to media.

It was the grey colt’s sixth win in 14 starts and pushed his earnings up to $1,826,350

Bill Mott blamed the distance for Cody’s Wish’s defeat but he seemed under a drive well before the distance became an issue.“He had a good trip. He had nothing in his way. I have no excuses. I thought he was close enough to the pace, he was on the bridle travelling well,” the trainer said.

Dutrow said White Abarrio would run in the Breeders’ Cup but was unsure if it would be the Classic or the Dirt Mile at Santa Anita.

Troy Stakes

Caravel’s defeat in the Grade 3 Troy won by Steve Asmussen’s Cogburn was put down to the going. “It was (the yielding turf),” said her trainer, Brad Cox. “She’s never travelled like that in her life.”

Jockey Tyler Gaffalione said: “She was all spread out the first half and just never got a chance to get under herself and even when she did, she just couldn’t get a hold of anything.”

Test Stakes (Grade 1)

ONLY the story of the incredible bond between Cody’s Wish, America’s number one horse and named after Cody Dorman, the courageous 17-year-old suffering from Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, might have kept the second feelgood story of the day off the headlines.

Melanie Giddings trained the three-year-old filly named after her and had posted many cute videos of Maple Leaf Mel and trainer relaxing in their stables.

Giddings, a cancer survivor, had three wins in her short career as a trainer and the filly had won all five of her races, each time leading all the way,

Maple Leaf Mel had taken the lead early in this seven-furlong contest, had coped with pressure early in the straight and was moving clear when she suddenly stumbled and went down with Joel Rosario, suffering a fatal breakdown when she was just yards away from the winning post.

She had sustained a catastrophic injury to her right front leg and was humanely destroyed on the track.

Rosario walked to an ambulance and received stitches for facial cuts when sent to hospital.

Fortunate

Brendan Walsh’s Pretty Mischievous was the fortunate winner but there was no joy in the win nor any presentation.

“It’s just cruel what happened. I just feel terrible for Melanie and that whole team. That must be gut-wrenching.”

Walsh gave the winner’s traditional blanket of roses to the Giddings stable the following morning where it hung over her empty stall.

The three-year-old filly joins a sad list of Ruffian, Go For Wand and Eight Belles, fillies who met their end in high-profile races in America.

Program Trading fights out tough

Saratoga Derby Invitational (Grade 1)

THE European challenge for the Saratoga Derby was weaker than in recent years and neither Fozzy Stack’s filly Aspen Grove, Charline Johnston’s Lion Of War nor Joseph O’Brien’s The Franchise made any impact. Aspen Grove, a Grade 1 winner at Belmont against fillies, fared best in fifth of the eight, finding a run up the inner in the straight, she could not close on the leaders though and was beaten over five lengths. Lion Of War and Oisin Murphy were outpaced and pushed along more than two furlongs out and faded to last.

Belmont Derby winner, Todd Pletcher’s Far Bridge was the short-priced favourite but again the race threw up a surprise winner, if a Chad Brown-trained/Klaravich Stables-owned winner in a Grade 1 turf race could be a surprise.

The winner Program Trading and Mark Casse’s Webslinger duelled up the straight with Program Trading fighting tough to regain the lead close home, having been headed early in the straight, as Far Bridge found little in the last furlong over yielding going.

“This horse really dug in and showed a lot of heart. It’s only his third start moving right into a major race like this. We always thought he had the ability,” said Brown.

The winner is a British-bred son of Lope De Vega, bred by Fittocks Stud & Arrow Farm Stud and was bought by agent Mike Ryan at Tattersalls October Book 1 for 250,000gns

Saratoga Oaks

On the Friday, the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes, a turf Grade 3 brought victory for a French filly in Elusive Princess, by a Japanese sire Martinborough and trained by her breeder Jean-Philippe Dubois. She brought solid Fremch form for her new US owner partnership, second in the Prix Saint-Alary and fifth in the Prix de Diane.

She came home three and a quarter lengths to the good over Joseph O’Brien’s American Sonja and Oisin Murphy over the mile, and a furlong and a half. O’Brien’s second runner Caroline Street was a further six lengths back in fourth.

Del Mar

Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (Grade 1)

IT was no surprise that Bob Baffert won the Del Mar Grade 1 and it was with the favourite, a daughter of Uncle Mo in Adare Manor.

Adare Manor has always had the class to add a Grade 1 race to her record and it came as little surprise when she pulled it off as the 3/5 favourite.

Elm Drive sped off to the early lead, with jockey Ricardo Gonzalez settling Elm Drive to 46.68 for the half-mile. Juan Hernandez had Adare Manor a length and a half back, in ideal stalking position.

Adare Manor closed up around the second turn and took the lead near the half furlong pole.

“At the quarter pole I asked her to pick it up and she exploded again to the wire,” Hernandez said. “She’s a big filly; sometimes it takes a couple jumps to keep her momentum.”

Desert Dawn closed from last but it wasn’t enough to catch Adare Manor, who scored by a length with Desert Dawn second for the second year, a length and a half ahead of Elm Drive.