By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With apologizes to the rest of the horse population spending the summer at Saratoga Race Course, the most popular Thoroughbred on the grounds is the dominating 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna).
Winner of all three of her starts this season–by a combined 13 1/4 lengths–Thorpedo Anna took her next step towards the July 20 GI Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga early Saturday morning.
With regular rider Brian Hernandez, Jr. on board, Thorpedo Anna worked five furlongs in 1:01.55 (5/20) on the Oklahoma Training Track. She hit the track at 5:30 a.m. along with stablemate Gould's Gold (Goldencents), a 3-year-old colt who is being pointed to the GII Jim Dandy at Saratoga on July 27.
“She is a total pro,” trainer Kenny McPeek said right after the work. “I wanted her to go eyeball-to-eyeball with another horse. And (Gould's Gold) is a good horse. She needed someone to keep her interested.”
Normally, Thorpedo Anna works by herself. When asked when the last time Thorpedo Anna worked in company, he laughed.
“In the (GI) Acorn,” he said, referring to her last start, a 5 1/2-length romp at Saratoga on June 7.
This was the fourth work since the Acorn for Thorpedo Anna, who has also won the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs and the GII Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park this year.
“She just cruised around there and galloped out well,” Hernandez said back at the barn. “We went off in :13 and change and going into the turn, she switched leads and I let her pick it up and, from there, she was in hand the whole way. She is one of those rare fillies that is just so naturally fast that she wants to get pretty quick.”
McPeek has not ruled out a run against colts in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24. First though, he wants to see how she does in the Coaching Club American Oaks.
Pletcher's Haskell Trio Put In Final Works At Spa
Right now, the plan is to run three horses in the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 20. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said he will make a final decision early next week on whether or not all of them–Fierceness (City of Light), Mindframe (Constitution) and Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso)–make the trip south to the Jersey Shore.
Saturday, the trio made their Haskell cases to the boss as they had their final works before the $1-million race on the main track at Saratoga.
Fierceness outside Emmanuel | Sarah Andrew
Fierceness, the GI Florida Derby winner and a failure as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby (15th place), worked five furlongs under exercise rider Danny Wright and was timed in 1:00.47 (2/19) while working in company with 5-year-old multiple graded stakes winner Emmanuel (More Than Ready).
“I thought Fierceness was really impressive, like he can be when he is in good form,” Pletcher said outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track. “Not so much the time, but how effortlessly he was going around there. He looked fantastic.”
Fierceness and Emmanuel came on the track after the 6:30 a.m. renovation break
Mindframe and exercise rider Carlos Quevedo worked a half-mile in company with 5-year-old mare Surprisingly (Mastery) after the 8:30 a.m. renovation break. They were timed in :49.49 seconds (49/100).
Tuscan Sky, who won last start, Monmouth's Pegasus Stakes on June 15–which brings an automatic bid to the Haskell–worked four furlongs in :49.85 (69/100) right after the Fierceness move.
Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano was aboard for the move, which came in company with 3-year-old maiden Artempus (Real Solution).
“I was looking for more maintenance works for them,” Pletcher said of Mindframe and Tuscan Sky. “They have run more recently. Tuscan Sky is, historically, not a real ambitious work horse. I thought he did everything well in hand. Javier was on cruise control throughout. Mindframe looked like he was just galloping. He could not have done it any easier.”
Besides figuring out who will be heading to Jersey, Pletcher has to decide when his horses will ship to Monmouth.
“They lifted the requirement of having to be there three days in advance,” he said. “I probably don't want to chance (going on race day) that. We do it for other races all the time, but I don't know if I want to do it for that one.”
Dornoch Continues To Impress Gargan
Trainer Danny Gargan's confidence continues to grow when it comes to his 3-year-old stable star Dornoch (Good Magic). Fresh off his win in the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga last month, Dornoch put his final work in before he starts in the GI Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 20.
Dornoch (blinkers) and Society Man | Sarah Andrew
With jockey Luis Saez on board, Dornoch worked four furlongs in :47.88 (12/100) on the main track while working in company with Society Man (Good Magic), the recent winner of the GIII Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs. Society Man was ridden Saturday by exercise rider Priscilla Schaefer.
“He was just galloping out there,” Gargan said back at his barn on the Spa backstretch. “I wanted him to go in :48 flat. That is what we wanted and that is what we got.”
Dornoch's Belmont win thrust him into the conversation as to who is the best 3-year-old colt in the land. Gargan, of course, says there should be heavy consideration given to his horse, who also owns a win in the GII Fountain of Youth.
He acknowledges that GI Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan (Goldencents) is the leader right now, but if Dornoch can get the Haskell and then take the GI Travers, there will be a new leader in the clubhouse.
“If he does, he definitely is,” Gargan said. “We always enjoy when he gets a chance to run. If he runs his race, he is fun to watch.”
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