Jim Dandy Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It was a low-key celebration for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott Saturday night after Sovereignty (Into Mischief) continued his stampede through the 3-year-old male division. "Put a couple hamburgers on the grill," Mott said, sitting at his desk in his office at the Oklahoma Training Track on a soggy Sunday morning at Saratoga. "Good hamburgers, by the way. They were from Fresh Market. That was it. Then early to bed." When Mott got his barn Sunday morning, he looked down his shedrow and saw the...

Even though Nysos (Nyquist) was 1-10 on the board, Saturday's GII San Diego Handicap was a race he didn't have to win. He sprinted in his last two starts and had never been the distance of a mile-and-a-sixteenth. He also has a couple of large gaps in his form, suggesting that trainer Bob Baffert was having a hard time keeping him together. None of that mattered in the San Diego. Flavin Prat, who flew in from Saratoga for the ride, rode a patient race and saved ground into the second...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When he found out he was going to need a new jockey, John Shirreffs didn't blink. He knew who was going to ride Baeza (McKinzie) in Saturday's $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. And the jockey isn't all that new, not to Baeza. Baeza will be reunited with California-based Hector Berrios when he steps on the track to take on GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and three others in the 1 1/8-mile traditional prep for the Aug....

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--The work is done. Now, Sovereignty (Into Mischief) waits for the $500,000 GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course next Saturday. Winner of the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes, Sovereignty's connections are confident he is ready to make his first start since that Triple Crown campaign. Saturday, morning at 7:30, Sovereignty had his final work for the Jim Dandy--and third since the Belmont--going four furlongs in 49.82 (12/41) under Neil Poznansky, the assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. Sovereignty worked by himself; in...

SARATOGA SPRINGS - Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse wasn't going to lie. There is no joy in facing Sovereignty (Into Mischief), the clear leader of the 3-year-old division. But that doesn't mean Casse isn't chomping at the bit for another chance at the champ. That comes a week from Saturday when Casse's Sandman (Tapit) takes on the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Belmont Stakes winner in Saratoga's $500,000 GII Jim Dandy. "I don't know if you ever look forward to facing Sovereignty," Casse said outside his barn on the...

Sandman (Tapit), coming off a third-place effort in the GI Preakness Stakes, shipped from Belmont Park to Saratoga Race Course Monday morning and he is expected to make his next start in the July 26 GII Jim Dandy Stakes. "I wanted to give him a little bit of time," trainer Mark Casse said. "He ran all winter long and I knew when we decided to run him back in the Preakness that the Belmont was going to be out of the question." Sandman earned a spot in the GI Kentucky...

Harvey A. Clarke Racing Stables' Gosger (Nyquist), who opened a five-length lead in the May 17 GI Preakness Stakes into the final furlong before being run down in the final strides by Journalism (Curlin), will reportedly not contest the final leg of this year's Triple Crown, the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga June 7 trainer Brendan Walsh told Daily Racing Form Wednesday. The conditioner first mentioned the decision on At the Races With Steve Byk in the immediate aftermath of the Preakness Monday morning. Trained by Brendan Walsh, the homebred...

Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), who rallied from last to finish second behind Fierceness (City of Light) in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes Saturday, will continue on to the Aug. 24 GI DraftKings Travers Stakes, trainer Chad Brown confirmed Sunday. "I thought he ran great. He put in a really good performance," Brown said of his charge's Jim Dandy effort. "He's come out of it well, so we'll move forward and point to the Travers. We're looking forward to getting back out to a mile and a quarter." Sierra Leone won...

Trainer Chad Brown has long stated that a victory in the GI Travers S., not far from home in Mechanicville, would be one of the crowning moments of what will be a Hall of Fame career. 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) is the barn's main hope for the centerpiece of the Saratoga meeting and he can take one giant step towards fulfilling his trainer's dream as the likely favorite in Saturday's GII Jim Dandy Stakes. The colt, who topped the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale not far from the...

Saratoga Springs, N.Y. -- It is no surprise that Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas is confident that his GI Preakness Stakes winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate) is up to the challenge he will face Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes. Never shy about touting his horses, Lukas, 88, said that the MyRacehorse colt is ready to take on beaten GI Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness (City of Light) and beaten GI Belmont Stakes favorite Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) in the local prep for the...

Why didn't the New York stewards disqualify Forte (Violence) from his win in a controversial running of the GII Jim Dandy S. Saturday at Saratoga? The wagering public bet $3,167,647 on the race and that doesn't include any of the horizontal wagers. After Forte and Irad Ortiz Jr. bulled their way off of the rail near the top of the stretch, bumped Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) and took away his path, it looked like the horse deserved to come down. But that didn't happen. The bettors deserved an explanation....

Godolphin's Cody's Wish (Curlin) had his final work ahead of the Aug. 5 GI Whitney S. Sunday at Saratoga, going four furlongs in :48.28 (9/69) over the Oklahoma training track. With Neil Poznansky aboard, the multiple Grade I winner clocked the first quarter-mile in :24 2/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 and seven furlongs in 1:27. "I thought it was perfect. If there is such a thing as a perfect work," trainer Bill Mott said. "Neil did a perfect job. The warm-up was good, the breeze went...