By Alan Carasso
Ron Gilbert's Evacuation (Aus) (More Than Ready), a two-time winner from four Australian starts while under the care of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in 2016, is drawn gate seven in a field of 11 in a 5 1/2-furlong (1100mT) allowance/optional claiming event on the second day of the boutique Saratoga meeting in upstate New York. Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has the mount.
The October foal, who races as a 4-year-old in the Northern Hemisphere, broke his maiden in a single appearance at two over 1000m at Kembla Grange (video) last April and made it two straight with an impressive 2 3/4-length success at 1400m as the odds-on favorite over a heavy 8 track at Rosehill in August (video). The dark bay couldn't quite reproduce that form in two subsequent tries at group level in Melbourne, finishing seventh behind Sacred Elixir (NZ) (Pour Moi {Ire}) as a 17-5 gamble in the G3 Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Prelude S. Sept. 24 and 13th to Divine Prophet (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) in the G1 Ladbrokes Caulfield Guineas Oct. 8, though was not beaten far on either occasion.
Upon the recommendation of bloodstock agent James Harron, Gilbert, who operates Highgrove Stud in Westbrook, Queensland, transferred Evacuation to trainer Wesley Ward. The conditioner reports that the colt, who arrived about four months ago, spiked a fever for about 10 days to put him behind the eight ball in his training. But since returning to serious work, there have been no missteps.
“We gave him a bit more time to acclimate, which was probably a good thing,” Ward said. “Then he started his training and every one of his works was better than the previous one. He's a little light on the worktab, but his last couple of works have been great. I'd really like to have a couple of more works into him, but to watch those last two, you'd say he's ready.”
Evacuation completed his fast work at Ward's Kentucky base at Keeneland Race Course, including a fastest-of-six four furlongs over the synthetic training track.
“I've matched him up with some pretty nice sprinters–he outworked one that I really couldn't believe–and so we decided to go for this race,” said Ward, who won Royal Ascot's G1 King's Stand S. with Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) last month.
Ward is sufficiently confident heading into Evacuation's first run stateside.
“He's a big colt, so ultimately he'll go seven furlongs or a mile and this is a good starting point,” he said. “I would say we would win the race if I had a couple more breezes. He's ready to run a big race. I wouldn't be disappointed if he got beat, but I really do think he's going to run a good race and from this race, give him a month between starts, and I think move forward to the next one.”
Bred in Queensland by Gilbert and his wife Debbie from the Tale of the Cat mare Scattered (Aus), Evacuation was bought back when he failed to reach his A$150,000 reserve at the 2015 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale. The colt's half-brother Interspeed (Aus) (Sebring {Aus}) was a stakes winner, while half-sister Cana (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), an A$650,000 Easter grad from the 2014 Highgrove draft, was a three-time winner and Group 3-placed for B. Wayne Hughes's Spendthrift Australia. Scatttered, a daughter of SW & GSP Fragmentation (Aus) (Snippets {Aus}), is a half-sister to G1 Newmarket H. winner Wanted (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) as well as MGSW & G1SP Shrapnel (Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}).
Post time for the day's seventh race, which carries purse money of US$90,000 (A$114k), is 4.25 pm local time (6.25 am AEST Sunday).
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
