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High Action headlines New York Turf Writers Cup If at first glance Thursday's $150,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Steeplechase (NSA-G1) at Saratoga looks a lot like the A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase (NSA-G2) run on August 7, your eyes are not deceiving you. The top three finishers from that race, including the winner HIGH ACTION (Theatrical [Ire]), are back in the chase, so to speak, to land the sport's top summertime fixture, which is contested at 2 3/8 miles. High Action, the 1 1/2-length victor of the Smithwick, is the likely favorite to repeat while carrying 150 pounds including jockey Paddy Young. Formerly based in England during his flat racing days, High Action's best race might have been his fourth-place effort in the 2006 Ascot Gold Cup (Eng-G1), the first of three straight Gold Cups won by Yeats (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). Returned to America after two more starts in England, High Action has come along, albeit slowly, for trainer Doug Fout. Missing all of 2007, High Action won a flat training race at Fair Hill in May before commencing his hurdle career with a 4 1/2-length score in a Colonial Downs allowance in his race prior to the Smithwick. DARK EQUATION (Polish Numbers) and SALFORD CITY (Ire) (Desert Sun [GB]), second and third, respectively, in the Smithwick, will attempt to turn the tables while conceding weight to High Action. Dark Equation, also trained by Fout, raced in third for much of the Smithwick before putting in a mild late bid for second under Matt McCarron, who returns to ride Thursday. Salford City, who led for much of the Smithwick in his American debut, will carry top weight of 154 pounds including jockey Paul Carberry. Others of note are BE CERTAIN (Thunder Gulch), who captured the restricted National Hunt Cup (NSA-G2) at Malvern in May, and FOUR SCHOOLS (Ire) (Raise a Grand [Ire]), the improbable 26-1 winner of the David L. "Zeke" Ferguson Memorial (NSA-G3) at Colonial Downs in his last start. Six fillies and mares will contest the $80,000 Halfmoon S., the featured flat race on Thursday's card. Restricted to non-winners of a stakes this year, the seven-furlong heat has attracted Grade 1-placed SILVER KNOCKERS (Silver Deputy), runner-up in the July 28 Lillian Russell S. in her most recent start.
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