Saratoga Daily Notebook

SARATOGA DAILY NOTEBOOK

THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2007

by John Mucciolo

The feature on Thursday was the $150,000 Sanford S. (G2), led by 4-5 favorite

READY'S IMAGE (More Than Ready) carrying the silks of James Scatuorchio. The

Todd Pletcher trainee broke alertly, tracked the early pace set by Fed Watcher

(Songandaprayer) to the top of the lane, and drew off to a commanding tally

under John Velazquez, completing six furlongs in a superb 1:09 4/5. The final

margin at the wire was four lengths for the superstar colt.

Tale of Ekati (Tale of the Cat) closed well from between horses to hold off

the late-charging The Roundhouse (Fusaichi Pegasus) for second while never

threatening the winner.

In the $82,750 Dancin Renee S., Trinity Farm's PRECISE LADY (Precise End)

took advantage of a sharp early pace to pass all challengers in the final two

furlongs to earn the win for conditioner Patrick Kelly. The four-year-old bay,

sent off as the 16-1 longest shot in the group, got 6 1/2 panels in 1:17 4/5 en

route to her initial stakes win.

Aces Full Racing Stable's TRULY BLUSHED (Yes It's True) gave trainer Scott

Lake his first win at the meet when wiring this field in the $82,450 Hush Dear

S. Leading from gate-to-wire, the four-year-old chestnut completed 5 1/2

furlongs on the firm turf in 1:02 under Roberto Alvarado Jr. Claimed for $35,000

in May, the winner has now bagged a pair of stakes triumphs while placing in two

more under Lake's tutelage.

Nine races took place on Thursday, with four on the main track, four on the

grass and one in the form of a steeplechase event. It's obvious that this is a

fairly tiring racing surface at the current time, but horses on the lead,

stalking and well back won races on the main oval. The turf yielded one

wire-to-wire winner and nearly another at boxcar odds, but other than saving

ground, we see no advantageous trip to be had at this point.

Javier Castellano booted home a pair of winners to sit atop the jockeys

standings with Edgar Prado. Each has three winners. Ramon Dominguez and Garrett

Gomez have both piloted a pair of winners. Stanley Hough saddled another winner

on Thursday to become the lone conditioner with multiple winners thus far.

Seventeen other trainers have sent out a first-place finisher.

Horses to Watch

2ND - FOREST TRAIL (Forest Wildcat) endured a good trip and closed with

excellent energy for trainer Shug McGaughey to just miss to a nice one in here.

The dark bay juvenile miss showed solid works leading up to this and was live on

the board, leading us to believe that the Kentucky-bred won't be a maiden for

long.

5TH - BERRY BOUND (Boundary) showed heart in the stretch but was no match for

an older, more accomplished runner. The dark bay colt has improved steadily

since breaking his maiden in May, winning the New York Derby before being

disqualified to second, and should return to stakes company in his next effort.

8TH - Ready's Image looked invincible in this one and could well be our

champion juvenile by year's end. The electric colt smashed a useful group in

here and appears to have a very high ceiling.

Tomorrow's Outlook - Friday, July 27

A strong card of nine races has been assembled for Friday, headlined by the

deeply competitive $100,000 Lake George S. (G3) for sophomore fillies on the

green. RUTHERIENNE (Pulpit), the 3-1 morning line favorite, owns a quartet of

stakes wins from six lifetime starts and will be tough to hold off for

conditioner Christophe Clement. The talented dark bay is drawn in the 10 hole

but has a strong closing kick that should make up for the wide draw.

RED BIRKIN (Belong to Me) finished first only to be disqualified to third in

the Boiling Springs S. (G3) last out, and would be a huge factor with a repeat

of that performance for Roger Attfield. The Appalachian S. third-placer has

never been off-the-board in five tries on the sod. Regret S. (G3) heroine GOOD

MOOD (Ire) (Danehill Dancer) closed like a shot in her stakes win and is well

drawn on the rail for Patrick Biancone.

LADY ATTACK (Mutakddim) has been dominant in a pair of turf efforts versus

lesser and gets the acid test in here for Neil Howard. Grade 3-victress SHARP

SUSAN (Touch Gold) has kept company with some of the best in her division and

could get first run on the deep closers. CLASSIC NEEL (El Corredor), second in

the Appalachian and a close third in the recent Sands Point S. (G3), has been a

model of consistency since transferring to the grass.

Regret third DASHES N DOTS (Aptitude), turf rookie BEES (Rahy), stakes vixen

MISS TIZZYNOW (Tiznow), allowance winner AWESOME ASHLEY (Unbridled's Song) and

Alywow S. first-placer SILKY SMOOTH (Mr. Greeley) round out the field.

Two races prior, fillies and mares bred in the Empire State will travel one

mile over the inner turf to contest the $80,000 Dinner Diamond S. Grade

2-winning miss RAHYS' APPEAL (Rahy) leads an overflow field of 16, which

features two also eligibles, four main track-only runners and 11 stakes winners.

Friday's Best Plays

7TH - GEM SLEUTH (Officer) has really come into her own this year and appears

to be reaching a peak form cycle for conditioner Eddie Kenneally. The

late-runner should have some speed to run at late under Julien Leparoux in this

event.

9TH - THE AG (Bahri), a half-sister to Grade 3 turf heroine J'Ray (Distant

View), has posted two solid drills following her latest and is well drawn in the

two hole in this inner turf event. The three-year-old filly landed in a facile

spot to earn her first win after a near-miss second in her debut two back.