By Ben Massam
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–True to Saratoga form, Saturday's GI Whitney H. undercard features a trio of intriguing juvenile maiden events, and anyone scanning the day's past performances in search of an exceptional pedigree need not look any further than the first horse in the first race, Brooklyn Bobby (Frankel {GB}) [pedigree]. An Amerman Racing homebred named for the late Hall of Fame conditioner Bobby Frankel, the Brian Lynch trainee is set to become his famed sire's first North American starter. Brooklyn Bobby's dam is three-time Grade I winner Balance (Thunder Gulch), herself a half-sister to once-beaten 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). Watching over training from his barn on the Saratoga main track Thursday morning, Lynch said the colt has made a favorable impression.
“You always hope that a horse like that trains up to his pedigree,” Lynch said. “We're very happy with the way he comes into the race, and hopefully his class and pedigree will show up on Saturday.”
With stamina-laden bloodlines, Brooklyn Bobby figures to excel at longer distances, and Lynch is wasting no time giving the bay a chance to demonstrate that in a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile turf test. Frankel himself was unbeaten in 14 career starts and garnered two European Horse of the Year honors, winning at distances from seven to 10 furlongs.
“To me, with horses that are bred to run long, you're better off trying to run them long than you are to sprint them,” the trainer asserted. “Inevitably, that's what he's going to be doing, so hopefully we've got him legged up enough that he's fit enough to do it.”
Lynch acknowledged that there is quite a bit of pressure associated with training a horse like Brooklyn Bobby, and joked that he would rather not run the horse in a dirt sprint and increase the risk of a dull performance.
“His works have also been good on the dirt,” Lynch said. “But you'd look like a nice moron if you sprinted him on the dirt and he didn't show up. So you just place him where his pedigree suggests he'll go, and that will be two turns. Frankel is a world-class grass horse, so we'll go that avenue.”
Brooklyn Bobby had a light morning of training Thursday, jogging one circuit of the main track, a day after breezing three furlongs in preparation for Saturday's unveiling. Lynch added that Up Hill Stable and Head of Plains Partners' GSW Lightstream (Harlan's Holiday) has trained well ahead of Saturday's GI Test S., while GISW Grand Arch (Arch) is being pointed toward a title defense in the newly minted Grade I Fourstardave H. Aug. 13.
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