By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher promised that he would enter three of his horses for Saturday's $1 million NYRA Bets GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park.
And that he did on Wednesday as a pair of 'TDN Rising Stars' in Fierceness (City of Light) and Mindframe (Constitution), plus Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso) were three of the eight 3-year-olds signed on to run in the signature race at the Monmouth.
It remains to be seen how many of them actually take the trip from the Spa City to the Jersey Shore at the end of the week.
“I don't know that yet,” Pletcher said outside of his barn on the Oklahoma Training Track Wednesday morning.
When asked what will go into a final decision, he said, “I think, everything. I want to see how they draw, see how they train the next couple of days.”
Fierceness drew post position five and is the 5-2 co-second choice along with GI Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch (Good Magic), who drew the rail. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who has ridden Fierceness in his last four starts, is named to ride in the Haskell.
Velazquez is also named to ride in eight of the 12 races on the Saturday card at Saratoga.
Mindframe, second in the Belmont, is the 9-5 morning-line Haskell favorite. Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride.
Mindframe is owned by Mike Repole's Repole Stable and Vinnie and Teresa Viola's St. Elias Stables LLC. Repole also owns Fierceness.
“I will get together with the owners and make sure everyone is on board with the same plan,” Pletcher said. “All three are being prepared as if they are going to run. Obviously, Mike is going to play a big role.”
Fierceness is already a Grade I winner; Mindframe is not. If one of the Pletcher horses does not run in the Haskell, he could be in the GII Jim Dandy a week from Saturday at Saratoga.
Spendthrift Farm LLC's Tuscan Sky, who is 9-2 on the morning line, will be ridden by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano from post position three. He earned an automatic bid into the Haskell after he won the Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth last month.
Tiz The Law's Babies Giving Sackatoga's Knowlton Reason To Hope Again
Four years ago, Tiz the Law (Constitution) put Jack Knowlton's Sackatoga Stable back on the thoroughbred racing map when he won the GI Belmont Stakes and the GI Travers Stakes.
Knowlton is hopeful it can happen again with the next generation of Tiz the Laws.
Tiz the Law | Coolmore
There are two little Tizzes running around trainer Barclay Tagg's barn and they are owned by Sackatoga. Tiz Dashing and Spirit of the Law continued their journeys to the races Wednesday morning when they worked five furlongs in company in 1:01.01 (3/8).
Tiz Dashing, a Kentucky-bred, was ridden by exercise rider Amanda Auwarter; jockey Junior Alvarado was on the New York-bred Spirit of the Law.
They are part of the first crop from Tiz the Law, who stands at Coolmore.
“It's exciting, it's fun,” Tagg said at his barn on the backstretch after the works. “You never quite know where a champion is going to come from. I've been around long enough to know that predictions don't mean a whole lot.”
Knowlton, who also campaigned Funny Cide to victories in the 2003 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness Stakes, mainly deals with New York-breds. Tiz Dashing is the second Kentucky bred he has owned in 20 years.
Sackatoga paid $215,000 for Tiz Dashingt at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale; Spirit of the Law went for $60,000 at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Preferred New York Bred Yearling Sale.
Wednesday's works were the seventh for each horse; they have breezed together every time.
“So far, so good,” Knowlton said after watching the works from the clubhouse near the finish line. “If we can get stakes horses at the New York-bred or open level for Sackatoga it would be a big deal. What we have seen so far gives us reason to believe it could happen.”
The two colts are scheduled to work five furlongs from the starting gate next week. After that, they could be racing in early August.
Horses Didn't Seem To Mind Storms That Blew Through Spa Tuesday Night
Huge limbs were ripped off trees throughout the backstretch after powerful thunderstorms passed through the area Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, it was time for cleanup as crews cleared up the mess and put power lines back where they belonged.
Outside trainer Mark Hennig's barn on the backstretch, there was evidence of the power of nature. One tree had a large branch hanging off it; another looked as though it may have been hit by lightning.
His horses, though, didn't seem bothered at all.
“They handled it pretty well,” Hennig said. “Lightning and thunder will get the horses going more so than wind. They sense everything. You can tell by their behavior when it's ready to rain.”
Hennig said he and his wife Rosemary were driving back from Belmont Park Tuesday. After dropping her off, he went to the grocery store when the storm hit.
“When we get off Exit 12 (off the Adirondack Northway), my phone went off saying there was a tornado warning,” Hennig said. “I went to the grocery store, and I started thinking, 'this is not the best place to be in a tornado.' If the glass starts flying around and the canned goods start flying around, I would have been in a world of trouble.”
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