Big guns in male, female division converge in Whitney

Magnitude forged to the head of the older male class defeating Sovereignty, Baeza, and White Abarrio in the June 27 Stephen Foster (G1) and will look to maintain that position when that quartet reunites Saturday in the $1 million Whitney (G1) at Saratoga.

The 1 1/8-mile Whitney, a Breeders’ Cup Challenge prep for the Classic (G1), will also have a battle-of-the-sexes element with the involvement of Nitrogen, last year’s three-year-old filly champion who is a perfect 3-for-3 over Saratoga’s main track.

Magnitude, who previously captured the Dubai World Cup (G1) and Razorback H. (G3), was left alone on an uncontested lead in the Stephen Foster, and his rivals paid for it over a sloppy track. Baeza rallied for second after a slow start, while reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty was the main disappointment, never uncorking any sort of rally and finishing third by more than five lengths. White Abarrio, who won the Whitney three years ago, was a dull fourth.

“He’s much the same horse,” trainer Bill Mott said of Sovereignty. “I don’t think there’s been any drastic changes in him.”

Mott said Baeza has been schooling in the starting gate with quarter pads, hoping that will alleviate the colt’s slow-breaking tendencies that have arguably cost him better placings in recent starts.

Nitrogen snapped a two-race losing skid in the June 5 Ogden Phipps (G1), winning by a lopsided 12 3/4 lengths while earning a Brisnet Speed rating of 110, the same figure Magnitude earned winning the Stephen Foster. Hall of Fame inductees Personal Ensign, Lady’s Secret, and Gallorette are among a quintet of female Whitney winners.

Also lining up in the Whitney are Tiztastic, Antiquarian, and Forged Steel, all of whom were well beaten in last month’s Suburban (G2) by Phileas Fogg. 

Explora, a gem of consistency whose only moderate run, a fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), was still quite strong, is the most accomplished of the three-year-old fillies in the $500,000 Test (G1) over seven furlongs.

The nine-furlong distance of the Oaks proved a bit beyond Explora’s best, which is why one-turn races have become the four-time stakes winner’s focus in the interim. 

“Going into the Oaks, we thought we could win it. It was a tough race that day, and she took all the heat early and still ran well,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

Explora rebounded to win the seven-furlong Leslie’s Lady S. at Churchill, and given her triumph in the Honeybee (G3) over now-division leader Counting Stars, will take all the beating in the Test.

On Time Girl was the odds-on favorite in the Leslie’s Lady after previous wins in the Forward Gal (G3) and Eight Belles (G2), but settled for second, 1 1/4 lengths behind Explora. Sippin Pretty and Goodall, meanwhile, enter off a one-two finish in the Victory Ride (G3) over this track.

Percy’s Bar, so impressive winning the Ashland (G1) in April, adds blinkers after back-to-back duds in the Kentucky Oaks and Monomoy Girl S. Movie Night and Where Luck Lives make their mutual stakes debut in a tough spot, but each showed loads of promise beating allowance company at Churchill.  

“All three of her races have been different [tactics] in a sense, but she’s been able to relax and finish the job emphatically when called upon,” trainer Will Walden said of WinStar homebred Movie Night.