By Tim Wilkin
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–In his last eight starts, Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) has run at eight different racetracks.
If trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. chooses the $1 million GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for the 5-year-old's next start, it will be nine.
Joseph said he is mulling over what is next for Skippy, who was last seen finishing third–missing second by a head–in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 29. That was his first start since winning the GII Oaklawn Handicap on April 20.
Besides the Whitney, Joseph is considering the $1 million GII Charles Town Classic on Aug. 23–a race Skippylongstocking won last year–and the $1 million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga on Sept. 2.
If Joseph decides on the Aug. 3 Whitney, he said he might also be able to make the Charles Town Classic.
“Normally, he does better with spacing, but he is doing well here,” Joseph said outside his barn on the Saratoga backstretch Wednesday morning.
Running in the Whitney has plenty of appeal, of course. It is a prestigious race, one of the most important on the calendar for older horses.
“It's Saratoga,” Joseph said. “These are the races you want to win, there are no two ways about it. They are the races that put more horses in your barn.”
Skippylongstocking had his first Saratoga work this season last Saturday and went four furlongs in :48 (5/138). Joseph said a final decision on what race will be next will come after Skippy works this weekend.
The draw for the Whitney is Sunday.
The expected favorite for the 1 1/8-mile race is National Treasure (Quality Road) from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. National Treasure was last seen winning the GI Metropolitan Handicap on June 8. That race was held on the GI Belmont Stakes undercard, which was held at Saratoga.
“Bar National Treasure, (Skippylongstocking) is up there with the rest of them right now,” Joseph said. “The race at Churchill showed that; it gave us some confidence.”
Skippylongstocking will be making his 25th career start with his next race, more than any other horse that is nominated to the Whitney.
Owned by Daniel Alonso, He has eight wins, two seconds and five third place finishes. He does not have a Grade I on his resume but has multiple graded stakes victories.
“He has gotten better as he has gotten older,” Joseph said. “He has climbed the ladder because he has stayed consistent; some horses have consistently gone by the wayside but he has kept at it.”
McPeek Barn Sends Out Another 3-Year-Old in Jim Dandy
All during the spring, the barn of trainer Kenny McPeek was dominated by a pair of 3-year-olds: Mystik Dan (Goldencents), who won the GI Kentucky Derby and Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), champ of the GI Kentucky Oaks.
Thorpedo Anna has gone on to become the major player in the 3-year-old filly ranks with her wins in the GI Acorn Stakes and GI Coaching Club American Oaks. She might try the colts in the GI Travers Stakes at the end of August.
McPeek has another horse in his barn that will try and make some noise this weekend when Gould's Gold (Goldencents) runs in the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy at Saratoga on Saturday.
Gould's Gold, owned by Four G Racing, Lance Gasaway and Magdalena Racing (Sherri McPeek), will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., also the pilot of Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna.
Gould's Gold is the second longest price in the six-horse field at 15-1.
“He could throw an upset at 'em,” McPeek said at his office at his barn at the Oklahoma Annex. “He could sneak in there and get a big piece of that.”
McPeek said that with all the early speed signed on–Batten Down (Tapit), Seize the Grey (Arrogate) and Fierceness (City of Light)–the race could set up for a stalker. Like Gould's Gold.
Gould's Gold has just a maiden win in six career starts and has two seconds and a third. In his first graded stakes appearance, he was second, beaten 13/4 lengths by Batten Down, in the GIII Ohio Derby. Batten Down is the 5-1 third choice on the Jim Dandy morning-line.
“He has been working solid,” McPeek said. “But he has to find another level for sure. The way he worked here Saturday (four furlongs in 47.60 4/58), he very well could.”
Romans Has High Hopes For 2-Year-Old Colt Keep It Easy
It has been a while since trainer Dale Romans has had a big horse. He'll be the first to tell you that.
“I don't get frustrated,” Romans said at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch. “They will come along. I have had plenty of good ones, more than my share.”
Over the years, Romans has trained horses named Roses in May and Keen Ice and Little Mike and Promises Fulfilled, just to name a few.
He's hoping that Keep It Easy (Hard Spun), a 2-year-old colt might add to his share.
He has had just two starts, breaking his maiden by four lengths when going off at 23-1. In his first start, he was seventh of eight at 10-1 odds.
“I didn't know they were going to give up on him that quickly,” Romans said. “Everyone liked their horse in that (second) race. And he just blew them away.”
Sandman (Tapit), the even-money choice in the race, was a $1.2 million purchase at last March's Ocala Breeders' Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
If all goes well with Keep It Easy, who is owned by St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Thoroughbreds, Romans plans on running him in the GII Saratoga Special on Aug. 10.
“I think he is a top horse,” Romans said of the Kentucky-bred. “It's always nice to have something you are excited about. He has never had a bad day.”
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