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Breeders' Cup hopefuls come out at the Spa on Saturday Saratoga will offer a record $1.75 million in purses on Saturday for four graded stakes races with Breeders' Cup implications. The $750,000 Whitney H. (G1), which was won in resounding fashion by eventual champion older horse Lawyer Ron last season, and in recent years, has produced Horses of the Year Invasor (Arg) and Saint Liam, is the centerpiece event and has attracted a solid field of 11. Champion GINGER PUNCH (Awesome Again) highlights a cast of eight in the $250,000 Go for Wand H. (G1), and the $500,000 Diana S. (G1) will feature an outstanding group of 10 turf distaffers. The $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2), which typically serves as a prep for the Forego S. (G1) later in the meet, stands on its own merit this year with a fine field of seven sprinters set. All four graded races are part of the Breeders' Cup Championships' "Win and You're In" series, which automatically qualifies each winner for their respective Breeders' Cup event at Santa Anita on October 24-25. COMMENTATOR (Distorted Humor) is the 120-pound highweight in the 1 1/8-mile Whitney. Winner of the 2005 edition by a neck over Saint Liam, Commentator captured his first two starts this season by double-digit margins, including the Richter Scale H. (G2) at Gulfstream Park, and exits a runner-up finish in the Metropolitan Mile H. (G1) on May 26. Conditioned by Nick Zito, the seven-year-old gelding will be making his 19th career start on Saturday. "Commentator is like (former heavyweight boxing champion) George Foreman," Zito said. "He gets older but keeps coming up at a high level. He has his issues, but we have learned to space out his races and give him the time he needs. When he gets the time he needs, he usually comes up with his race. That's all we ever ask: for Commentator to be Commentator." Other Whitney contenders include multiple Grade 1 hero STUDENT COUNCIL (Kingmambo), winner of the Pimlico Special H. (G1) two starts back for Steve Asmussen; last-out Salvator Mile S. (G3) victor NOTIONAL (In Excess [Ire]); Suburban H. (G1) runner-up SOLAR FLARE (Arg) (Salt Lake); and Grade 3 king GRASSHOPPER (Dixie Union), who displayed an affinity for the Spa last year when easily capturing an allowance/optional claiming event before a commendable runner-up finish in the Travers S. (G1). Ginger Punch will defend her title in the 1 1/8-mile Go for Wand off a stirring 7 3/4-length romp in the Ogden Phipps H. (G1). The Bobby Frankel-trained mare notched her first Grade 1 victory in this event last season, rolling to a six-length score, and went on to capture the Ruffian H. (G1) and Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1). Rafael Bejarano will retain the mount on the five-year-old chestnut, and Ginger Punch will race coupled with stablemate SPRING WALTZ (Silver Charm), who garnered the Rampart H. (G2) two starts back and finished fourth in the Delaware H. (G2) most recently. Ginger Punch opened 2008 with a facile 6 3/4-length tally in the Sunshine Millions Distaff S. and easily captured the Louisville S. (G2) at Churchill Downs two starts back. "Obviously, (Ginger Punch's) much better than last year," Frankel said. "Physically, she looks 100 times better; she has matured a lot. Last year, coming into the race, I didn't know how good she was. I was trying to get a (Grade 1) stakes win into her." The Diana, which will be contested over nine grassy furlongs, features the return of champion WAIT A WHILE (Maria's Mon), who was last seen under silks winning the San Gorgonio H. (G2) at Santa Anita in mid-January. The Todd Pletcher-trained mare is two for two over the turf at Saratoga, recording a smashing 2 1/4-length victory in last year's Ballston Spa H. (G2), and she's run well off the layoff in the past. Grade 1 winners BIT OF WHIMSY (Distorted Humor), VACARE (Lear Fan) and RUTHERIENNE (Pulpit) will provide quality competition. "She has been training well," Pletcher said of Wait a While, a multiple Grade 1 winner who has earned more than $1.8 million and will be ridden for the first time by Bejarano. "She prefers the courses at Hollywood Park and Saratoga, where she tends to perform extra well. She has a few little quirks; for instance, she is loaded into the gate blindfolded. We tend to let her do things her way." The six-furlong Vanderbilt will mark the second start this season for 2006 champion sprinter THOR'S ECHO (Swiss Yodeler), who finished fourth when returning off a 14-month layoff in the True North H. (G2) on the Belmont S. (G1) undercard. However, the unbeaten BUSTIN STONES (City Zip) is the top draw. Six for six in his career, the Bruce Levine runner exits a fine score in the Carter H. (G1) and captured the General George H. (G2) two starts back. Other contenders include FIRST DEFENCE (Unbridled's Song), who finished second to Hard Spun in last year's King's Bishop S. (G1) at Saratoga and will switch back to the main track for Frankel after capturing the grassy Jaipur S. (G3) last out; and Grade 2 winner BLACK SEVENTEEN (Is It True). Saturday's graded stakes will be televised live by ABC (4-6 p.m. [EDT]) and make up a guaranteed $500,000 all-stakes Pick 4.
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