By Mike Kane
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — George Krikorian's dependable War Like Goddess (English Channel) will make her age-matching seventh career Saratoga start Saturday in the GII $500,000 Flower Bowl.
War Like Goddess has never been worse than third at Saratoga Race Course. The turf distance specialist won the 1 3/8-mile Flower Bowl in 2021, its last year as a Grade I, and was second by a neck in 2022. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott did not run her in the race last year.
The Flower Bowl will be her third start this season. She was third by 3 1/4 lengths in the GI New York on June 7 that was part of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga meet. Exactly one month later, she won the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial Stakes at Delaware Park.
“We're well aware of the fact that she's getting a little older,” Mott said. “One day they eventually tire out, but she seems to be doing well at the moment. She's coming off of a good race, and she's going into this race seemingly quite good. There's other younger fillies in there that I'm sure are doing well, but we're still trying to compete.”
On the advice of bloodstock agent Donato Lanni, Krikorian purchased War Like Goddess for $30,000 in June 2019 of the OBS 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age sale. In two previous trips to auction she sold for $1,200 as a weanling and was an RNA as a yearling when bidding stopped at $1,000.
In a 2022 TDN story, Krikorian noted that he was not responsible for the filly's distinctive name.
“I bought her with that name and I told Donato 'I don't like that name,'” Krikorian said. “I didn't see the horse then because he was in Florida and I was out here in California when he called me about the horse. I didn't get to see her for maybe four months or five months later. When I saw her, I looked at her and I said, 'Hey, we don't need to change her name. She's beautiful. She is a War Like Goddess.'”
In her 20-race career she has proved to be a top-notch runner and a fabulous bargain with earnings of $2,775,184 from a record of 12-2-3. She has three Grade I wins, two of them over males in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. Mott has tried her twice against males in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at 1 1/2 miles and she was a rallying third by three lengths in 2022. She has at least one win in each of her five seasons of competition.
“The target this year would be the Breeders' Cup, the Filly and Mare Turf, because it's at a mile and three eighths this year at Del Mar,” Mott said. “The last two years, it's been odd distances. It's been a mile and three-sixteenths, which is a little short for her. We feel the mile and three-eighths might suit her a little better.”
In her lone appearance in the Filly and Mare Turf in 2021 at Del Mar, she made the lead in the stretch but was caught and was third by a half-length.
At 1 3/8 miles, War Like Goddess is 4-1-1 from six starts.
Pyrenees Will Try to Continue Ascent in Gold Cup
It's fair to say that Pyrenees (Into Mischief) has been a project for trainer Cherie DeVaux and owner-breeder Blue Heaven Farm that is turning into a success story. He enters the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup Sunday on an upswing with four wins and a second in his last five starts.
Pyrenees Thursday morning at the Spa | Sarah Andrew
DeVaux said the colt was a bit slow to develop, but after his career was interrupted has grown into a legitimate stakes horse. In his last two starts he won the GIII Pimlico Special and was second by 2 1/2 lengths to the now-retired Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) in the GI Stephen Foster on June 29.
“I just think it was time and maturity,” DeVaux said. “He had a really significant injury that caused him to be off for a year. When he came back from that, he was a completely different horse. Physically, he's always been slight and a bit feminine, but mentally, he really matured.”
DeVaux said Pyrenees suffered the leg injury early in 2023 and it kept him away from racing until mid-December, when he broke his maiden at Fair Grounds. Though he was by top sire Into Mischief, early on DeVaux and her staff did not see him developing into a stakes-caliber runner.
“It would be hard to justify saying that the way he trained, in the way he was running,” she said. “It's not because it was lack of talent. He just wasn't putting it out there on the track. You could tell that there was more in there, and he just wasn't putting it out. We had tried blinkers and were going to run him in blinkers, but then when he hurt himself, we just kind of regrouped with him.”
By year's end, Pyrenees was a different horse.
“When he came back, he was breezing much better, a lot more focused,” DeVaux said. “He was so aloof as a 2-year-old. That's the only word I can use for him.”
Following the maiden-breaker, Pyrenees took the next steps on his climb with an allowance victory in late January and a three-length score at Keeneland on Apr. 12 over a sloppy track. He edged Kingsbarns in the GIII Pimlico Special, giving DeVaux her third stakes win on the program that day. While it was an important victory for the colt in his first stakes try, DeVaux said the turning point had already occurred.
“I would say Maryland kind of just solidified that we were on the right track with him,” she said. “I was really impressed with his race at Keeneland. Then again, he followed it up with the Stephen Foster where then you're stepping up into Grade I company. It was a tough race, and he was there. I just think it actually might have been just a touch too short for him.”
DeVaux said the decision was made to bypass the GI Whitney and point Pyrenees for the 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup.
“He had done a lot in a short amount of time,” she said. “At some point we had the discussion that if he is going to make it to the Breeders' Cup, he's going to need a little break. Not a break from training, but just a break in racing. We decided that was probably the best opportunity after the Stephen Foster to just give him a little time for his next race.”
Summer Holiday is Over for White Abarrio
White Abarrio (Race Day)'s break from training and a vacation on a farm has ended and he has returned to the care of trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. at Saratoga Race Course.
“He's back here,” Joseph said. “He's back training. He's back galloping.”
White Abarrio on Friday | Sarah Andrew
White Abarrio's owners moved him from Abarrio's barn to Richard Dutrow, Jr.'s stable in May 2023. He went on to finish third in the GI Met Mile then won the GI Whitney Stable and the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. This year he was 10th in the G1 Saudi Cup. After finishing fifth in the Met Mile run at Saratoga, he was sent back Joseph, who decided he needed a break.
“It was just give him a change-of-mind piece and see if he could drop himself down and relax,” Joseph said. “And he did. It just felt like he had nervous energy. He just wouldn't let himself down and was anxious, anxious, anxious.”
Joseph said the goal is to prepare the 5-year-old for the GI Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.
“That's kind of where he needs to get to and everything's kind of working backwards from there,” Joseph said. “How we get there, we don't know yet. There's possibilities. He could run in October, November, if everything went right, but we don't want to set a date and have to be changing. He's going to tell us. After a couple breezes, then we'll be able to come up with a formal plan.”
Joseph said White Abarrio would remain at Saratoga for a while after the meet ends on Monday.
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