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Hungry Island, Winter Memories aim for Garden City rematch

Hungry Island and Winter Memories (gray) are following the same itinerary (Melissa Wirth/Horsephotos.com) HUNGRY ISLAND (More Than Ready) was reported to be "very good" following her upset victory in Sunday's Lake Placid S. (G2) at Saratoga. The filly's Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey was pleased, but not surprised, by her Lake Placid triumph, where she left 2-5 favorite WINTER MEMORIES (El Prado [Ire]) astern in fourth. "Her races all year long have been good," McGaughey said of the improving filly, now riding a four-race winning streak. Hungry Island broke her maiden at Belmont Park on May 6 and took a June 8 allowance en route to victories in the July 2 Recording S. and the Lake Placid. "It's been a great progression and I've been able to do with her what I wanted to do," McGaughey noted. "After that allowance race, I didn't really want to run her against older horses again, so when the book came out up here and there was a three-year-old filly little overnight stakes , we were able to do that.

"The Lake George ([G2] on July 27) was just a little too quick back for her, so I thought, 'Well, I'll just give her the time and go (to the Lake Placid) and then that way if I need to press on in the fall at least she'll be kind of fresh.'

"She's been doing so well here," McGaughey added. "I didn't know if we could beat (Winter Memories) or not, but I knew she'd know we were in there. I think the more (Alex Solis) has ridden her, the more confidence he's had in her and I think he's ridden her very well.

"In yesterday's race, he maybe asked her a couple of times and that might have been sort of new to her; I was glad she was able to do that. When it rained, I didn't figure there'd be much pace, but there wasn't much pace in the races (at Belmont) either, so I really wasn't worried about if she could kick, I thought she'd have a chance to pick up ground, though, and she did."

McGaughey said he would nominate Hungry Island to the $250,000 Garden City S. (G1) at Belmont Park on September 17 and then look to the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) at Keeneland on October 15 -- both longstanding targets for Winter Memories.

"(The Garden City) is where I would plan on running her, but I just want to make sure that we didn't take too much out of her," McGaughey said. "We've also got the Queen Elizabeth at Keeneland. Best-case scenario would be to make both of them and then shut it down. If I just make one of them, that's fine, too."

Trainer Jimmy Toner reported Monday morning that Winter Memories came out of her fourth-place finish in the Lake Placid in good order, and that the Garden City remains the next objective for the big gray filly.

"She came out of it fine, and that's the important thing," Toner said. "And this morning, I'm fine, too."

Bottled up while racing between horses throughout the 1 1/8-mile race, Winter Memories found room along the rail in deep stretch but was outrun by Hungry Island, KATHMANBLU (Bluegrass Cat) and DYNAMIC HOLIDAY (Harlan's Holiday), finishing a little more than three lengths back.

"It was an eventful race and kind of hard to watch there for a while," Toner said. "She did her thing; it wasn't her fault she got beat. It's going to be a Pepto Bismol day around here.

"We'll go ahead and point to the Garden City," Toner said. "Our plans are still the same."

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