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Desert Party aims to remain perfect in Hopeful Sanford S. (G2) winner DESERT PARTY (Street Cry [Ire]) will try to extend his record to a perfect three-for-three in Monday's $250,000 Hopeful S. (G1). Eight juveniles will line up in the historic seven-furlong test, one of four stakes events on the closing-day card at Saratoga. Desert Party, a $2.1 million purchase at Fasig-Tipton Calder earlier this year, has won both of his starts by a combined seven lengths. The Darley Stable colorbearer broke his maiden sprinting 4 1/2 furlongs on Arlington Park's Polytrack, then smoothly handled Saratoga's muddy, sealed surface when edging clear in the six-furlong Sanford. "He had to overcome adversity in both races," trainer Eoin Harty said. "He ran 4 1/2 furlongs from a bad post (10) and won. He was impressive in the Sanford with that troubled trip where they tried to keep him pinned on the fence." In the 104th running of the Hopeful, Desert Party will break from post 2 beneath a returning Edgar Prado. Drawn just to his inside on the rail is BREAK WATER EDISON (Lemon Drop Kid), a commendable runner-up in the Saratoga Special S. (G2) to the unbeaten Run Away and Hide (City Zip). In his only prior outing, the John Kimmel pupil was a sharp maiden winner at Belmont Park. Kent Desormeaux picks up the mount on the promising bay. Todd Pletcher will send out $1.7 million Fasig-Tipton Calder alumnus MUNNINGS (Speightstown), who steps up in class after a smashing first-out score at the Spa. After hitting the gate at the start, the chestnut recovered to take the early lead and powered to a 4 1/4-length victory. "This is a big step forward going from a maiden race to a Grade 1 race," Pletcher admitted. "We are asking a lot from him because we do think a lot of him. Everything has been going according to our plans. He's a very good-looking colt and he's by a fashionable young sire. "It takes a good horse to win the Hopeful," he added. "We know that. We are excited about running. We have high hopes." Munnings has landed in post 4 with regular pilot John Velazquez. Also exiting maiden scores are COGNITO (Langfuhr) from the Steve Asmussen barn and the Rick Violette Jr.-trained CRIBNOTE (Read the Footnotes). Seven older turf distaffers will contest the $100,000 Glens Falls H. (G3) at 1 3/8 miles. DYNAFORCE (Dynaformer) and HOSTESS (Chester House), second and third, respectively, behind the streaking Mauralakana (Fr) (Muhtathir [GB]) in the New York S. (G2), rate as top threats. While Hostess has been freshened since that June 21 event, Dynaforce came back to run a strong second in the Diana S. (G1). PALMILLA (Crowd Pleaser) enters off a career-best triumph in the Robert G. Dick Memorial S. (G3) at Delaware Park. Kicking off the Labor Day stakes action is the $80,000 Lue Donville S., which has attracted a field of seven New York-breds. Prime contenders in the 1 1/8-mile affair include the top three from the recent Solomon Northup S. -- DR. D. F. C. (Personal Flag), STUD MUFFIN (Raffie's Majesty) and TOMMASI (Raffie's Majesty). A total of 16 horses, including two also-eligibles and two main-track-only hopes, crowded the entry box for the $80,000 Quick Call S., a grassy 5 1/2-furlong dash. ENGLISH COLONY (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]), HELLVELYN (GB) (Ishiguru), SALUTE THE COUNT (Count the Time), RALLYING CRY (War Chant) and STEEL LIGHT (Stravinsky) warrant respect in the main body of the field, and Richard Dutrow holds a formidable hand with MR. UMPHREY (Jules) and STORMIN NORMANDY (Stormin Fever) if the race comes off the turf.
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