By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–The easy thing would be to blame the racetrack. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert wasn't going to do that the day after his National Treasure (Quality Road) finished a non-threatening sixth in Saturday's $1 million GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
National Treasure, who had been at the top of most lists as the best older horse in the nation, laid an egg as the 4-5 favorite.
“He just didn't show up,” Baffert said on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday morning. “Once he didn't get into the race early, that was it. I knew right there that he was going to lose interest and he did. He did not bring his 'A' game. It happens.”
Arthur's Ride (Tapit, 6-1) from the Hall of Fame barn of Bill Mott, ran the way that Baffert hoped National Treasure would. He led the 1 1/8-mile race virtually gate-to-wire and won by 2 3/4 lengths.
In June, National Treasure won the GI Metropolitan Handicap by 6 1/4 lengths at Saratoga.
The Whitney was run over a track labeled “muddy (sealed).” National Treasure has finished off the board in the three times he has ran over an off track. He was fifth in the GI Travers Stakes last year at the Spa on a muddy track and fourth in the GI Awesome Again Stakes on a wet/fast surface at Santa Anita last September.
“I'm not blaming the track,” Baffert said. “The track was in good shape. I knew it was over on the first turn.”
Baffert said National Treasure will ship home to California on Tuesday. It remains to be seen whether Baffert will come back for the Travers Stakes Aug. 24.
He had said last week that it was possible that GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth (Good Magic) could make his first start since that March 30 race in the Midsummer Derby. He backed off of that, a little, on Sunday.
“I don't know,” he said. “I am a little behind. If you go to the Travers, you have to have a horse that is pretty well seasoned. Muth is seasoned, but he hasn't run in a long time. I am leaving the door open, but it's just open a little bit.”
Muth worked six furlongs out of the gate at Del Mar Sunday in 1:12 (1/4).
“We nominate everywhere and see who is doing the best,” he said.
Brightwork OK The Day After Flipping In Paddock Caused Her To Miss Test
There was disappointment at the barn of trainer John Ortiz Sunday morning, but also a sense of relief.
Brightwork (Outwork) was doing fine the day after she flipped in the paddock and was subsequently scratched from the GI Test Stakes Saturday by track veterinarians.
“She is ok,” Ortiz said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. “She has some superficial small cuts around her ankle, but, other than that, she is fine. She's in good spirits, she ate her food. This was just unfortunate.”
Brightwork, who won last year's GIII Adirondack and GI Spinaway at Saratoga, would have been making her 2024 debut. Her last start was the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies where she finished sixth.
Ortiz said there was nothing that spooked Brightwork and caused her to rear up and flip and then roll on her side. She was able to get up and walked back to the barn after the scratch.
“She was just a little too excited,” he said. “She reared up and lost her footing. I really believed she was going to do well.”
Brightwork was checked out back at the barn Saturday night and Ortiz said he will begin looking into options for her next race.
“We have to go find a Plan B,” he said. “This all happened in a split second. The day can go from maybe being the greatest day of your life and then it goes to the most disappointing.”
Thorpedo Anna paddock schools Sunday | Sarah Andrew
Thorpedo Anna Goes To Sunday School In Saratoga Paddock
If you were around the paddock before the seventh race on Sunday, you had the chance to get a peek at Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), the 3-year-old filly who is being targeted to face the boys in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24.
Trainer Kenny McPeek schooled his filly in the paddock, something he plans to do for the next two Sundays. He wants to give Thorpedo Anna as much race-day experience as he can as she prepares for the Midsummer Derby.
“Look, it's going to be the toughest race of her life,” McPeek said while sitting in his office at his barn in the Annex at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. “We want her to go over there as relaxed as possible. She is going to need every ounce of energy for that race.”
McPeek said that Thorpedo Anna has a high energy level and schooling her in the paddock, he hopes, will calm her down heading into the Travers.
Thorpedo Anna walked over to the paddock along the horse path through the picnic area with stablemate She's a Swede (American Pharoah), who was running in the seventh, a maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies.
Besides paddock schooling, McPeek will continue to school Thorpedo Anna in the starting gate once a week in leading up to the Travers.
Thorpedo Anna schooling in the Saratoga paddock Sunday as she gets ready for the Travers for @KennyMcPeek. @theTDN pic.twitter.com/3bPldKzJmm
— Tim Wilkin (@tjwilkin) August 4, 2024
Ferocious Gobbling Up The Spotlight After Blowout Maiden Win
Ramiro Restrepo gets the credit for the name.
The horse did everything else when he blew away the competition in his maiden special weight win on Saturday at Saratoga.
That horse, the aptly named Ferocious (Flatter) won his six-furlong race by 7 3/4 lengths, the most visually impressive win by a 2-year-old the Spa has seen in some time. Ferocious and jockey Javier Castellano were timed in 1:09.65.
He received a Beyer Speed Figure of 96, the best for a 2-year-old this year.
Restrepo and Gustavo Delgado Jr. spearheaded the $1.3 million purchase of Ferocious at the OBS March sale. Restrepo came up with the name.
“All the cool horses have great names,” Restrepo said at Gustavo Delgado Sr.'s barn on the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. “You have to have a good, strong name.”
It looked good on Sunday as Restrepo and Delgado Jr. received congratulations from well-wishers who came by the barn. Ferocious looked fit as he walked the shedrow, eyeballing those who stopped by.
Ferocious | Sarah Andrew
Despite the hype and the price tag on Ferocious, Delgado Jr. said he did not feel any pressure before saddling him.
“We were talking about that before the race,” he said. “Sometimes, you find these horses for a certain amount of money and then you start breezing them and you don't see anything. That is when you feel pressure! This horse, from the beginning, oh, he was something.”
Delgado Jr. said the decision on what comes next for Ferocious will be made when Gustavo Delgado Sr. comes back to Saratoga in the next few days. He was not here for the maiden breaker.
The GI Hopeful on Labor Day, closing day of the Saratoga meet, will be considered.
“That's on the table,” Delgado Jr. said. “He seems to be fine this morning; a couple of days we will know for sure. Let's see what the real boss says when he gets back here.”
He was referring to his father.
The ownership group was put together by Restrepo and Delgado Jr. It includes majority owner JR Ranch, owned by Jose Aguirre, Restrepo's Marquee Bloodstock, High Step Racing (Randy Guy, Joe Noble and Kevin Avera) and Delgado's OGMA Investments.
“When a horse like that comes into your barn and stars showing you the signs, it gives you more confidence,” Restrepo said. “It's like you are going to battle with Mike Tyson in your corner rather than you having to face Mike Tyson.”
Ferocious walking the shedrow at Saratoga Sunday morning at @GDS_Racing barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. pic.twitter.com/SJSxBt7CZR
— Tim Wilkin (@tjwilkin) August 4, 2024
Bauer Expected Two Sharp To Win, But Surprised With How She Did It
Trainer Phil Bauer was confident that Rigney Racing's Two Sharp (Twirling Candy) would run very well in Friday's first race.
He didn't think he would see what he saw though. Not that that is a bad thing.
Two Sharp romped to an 11 1/4-length 'TDN Rising Star' win in the 61/2-furlong maiden event for fillies and mares aged 3 and up. This was the second career start for Two Sharp, a 3-year-old filly.
She certainly lived up to her name.
“It's hard to expect that kind of performance,” Bauer said at his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track. “I thought she would win. I told the owner (Ricard Rigney) when he came in that I would be disappointed if she didn't win.”
Ridden by Junior Alvarado, Two Sharp was never threatened as she skipped over the fast track to win on the front end in 1:15.81.
In her first start, at Churchill Downs on June 28, she finished second as the choice.
Bauer had been raving about this filly before the meet started and she met his expectations.
“She might be one of the better ones we have ever had,” Bauer said.
Now, the question is what comes next? Bauer will let the dust clear for a bit before making a decision on that.
He could run in the $300,000 GIII Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept 21 or the $350,000, GII Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 19. Both races are for 3-year-old fillies and are run at seven furlongs. Another option could be an allowance race at Saratoga on Aug. 31.
“We are going to wait and see how some of the other ones that she beat runs back,” Bauer said. “She is a very good doer, very hearty. A lot of these fillies kind of melt away on you the harder it gets.”
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