By Brian DiDonato
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY–Barclay Tagg hasn't done much claiming since back he was just getting his career off the ground in the 1970s, but the Classic-winning conditioner dropped the right slip earlier this meet when he picked up Cassies Dreamer (Flatter) for $50,000 on behalf of Rusty Jones's Turf Stable Racing and Hayward Pressman. An $85,000 OBS June acquisition off a :10 1/5 breeze, the juvenile filly debuted for Loooch Racing Stables and trainer Anthony Quaratolo in the Saratoga mud Aug. 3, scoring by 2 1/4 lengths before heading back to Tagg's barn. After scratching as a main-track-only entrant from Thursday's P.G. Johnson S., the dark bay will contest Saturday's GI Spinaway S.
“Carl Domino used to train for these owners, but he's kind of retired now, so he asked me if I would take them and I said certainly,” Tagg said. “They wanted to claim a horse, and I said, 'I don't like to claim, I haven't really claimed in about 30 years, but if it looks like something promising I'll do as long as it isn't a personal friend of mine or something like that.' We were very pleasantly surprised. She seems like a lovely horse.”
When asked what about the filly caught their eye, Tagg said, “I didn't do much scouting–I didn't have time for a lot of scouting, but the last thing we wanted to do was watch her walk down that chute surrounded by people and see how she reacted to that and what she looked like. We were happy with that. She looked like a big, strapping, good-looking filly, so we went ahead and dropped the slip and that's about all there is to it.”
While Tagg says he wishes Cassies Dreamer had kept her condition on debut so she could've won right back in maiden company, he is pleased with what he's seen from her thus far.
Another promising juvenile filly in the Tagg barn is Brucia La Terra (El Padrino), who defeated some much pricier foes to don cap and gown first out by 3 3/4 lengths in a rained-off maiden special weight Aug. 12. Tagg will run her back at Belmont in a spot still yet to be determined.
“She's doing well; I like her,” he said. “I think we got lucky there. We bought her for $20,000 at Timonium [at last year's Fasig-Tipton October Midlantic Fall Yearlings] sale. She's developing very nicely.”
It's been a very productive Saratoga meet overall for the NYRA fixture. He took the restricted Alydar S. Aug. 5 with Realm (Haynesfield), who he co-owns, and also annexed a lucrative turf allowance with Im the Captain Now (Trappe Shot) the same day.
It could've been an even better meet for Tagg, however, as Verve's Tale (Tale of Ekati) finished third beaten only a neck in the GIII Shuvee S. July 29 and Dr. Edgar (Lookin At Lucky) was disqualified from first to second in an extremely controversial decision Aug. 26. Stakes winner and Grade I-placed Highland Sky (Sky Mesa) endured a tough trip in the Aug. 25 GI Sword Dancer S. in which he found himself bottled up behind horses until it was too late.
“He just got trapped the whole way,” Tagg said. “He's definitely a come-from-behind horse and he's got a great, big lopey gallop. He needs to get out and get free. He just couldn't do it. I watched the replay over and over and over and the head on and he was just stuck there and when he finally got out it was too late.”
Tagg will likely give Highland Sky another Grade I chance in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. back downstate Sept. 29.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
