'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) looks to take his record to two-for-two as he steps up to the big leagues Sunday in Belmont's GII Pilgrim S. Out of the accomplished and well-bred My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), the Bass homebred circled the field in the stretch of his two-turn unveiling at Saratoga Sept. 4 and powered home to an ultra-impressive 4 1/2-length victory. Barnmate Midnight Worker (Outwork) makes his first start on grass here off a third in the Sapling S. at Monmouth Sept. 5.
“He trained like he was going to run well in his debut, but it's hard sometimes to win going a mile and a sixteenth first out,” trainer Todd Pletcher said to the NYRA notes team. “He did everything right, settled in well, put in a good run and kicked on. He moved up on a nice field of horses and I couldn't have asked for more on debut.”
Portfolio Company (Kitten's Joy) was also a debut winner going two turns at Saratoga July 17 and followed suit with a hard-to-handle second to Coinage (Tapit) in that venue's GIII With Anticipation S. Sept. 1. Also exiting the With Anticipation is third-place finisher Limited Liability (Kitten's Joy).
“We've been working with the horse,” conditioner Chad Brown said of Portfolio Company. “After that debut, he got a little keen with us and Irad [Ortiz, Jr.] had some trouble with him in that race, especially after he didn't break that well and he was trying to catch up. It just was a big mess. We're doing our best to get him to settle and changed some equipment on him. The horse seems to be doing pretty well.”
Completing the six-horse field are Doctor Jeff (Street Boss), who has never run on turf and exits a fifth in the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 14; and City At Night (Temple City), who was second in his career bow at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5.
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