As the speedy, gray colt Arthur’s Ride pulled away from more battle-tested rivals in the Aug. 3 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, I felt myself getting caught between the moon and New York City.
Arthur, he does as he pleases
All of his life, his master's toys
Deep in his heart, he's just, he's just a boy
Those lyrics, from Christopher Cross’ theme for the movie Arthur, remind us that to be a horse is to be carefree. Arthur’s Ride — named for his owner’s late father, who passed away a year-and-a-half ago — is only four years old.
But thoroughbreds are not human — age four or five typically represents their racing prime. And Arthur’s journey on the track has been shortened due to injury, with the Whitney marking just his seventh career race.
None of his prior six races came against graded company, yet the 6-1 shot still routed a seasoned Whitney field and staked his claim as the fastest horse in the land with the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the horizon. Sometimes class isn’t everything, and how you felt about Arthur’s Ride might dictate your feelings toward a trio of similarly priced horses in two Grade 1 races for 3-year-olds — the 7-furlong Jerkens and the 1 1/4-mile Travers — this Saturday at Saratoga.
Danno and the ‘Dam
The winner of six of eight career races, including the Grade 1 Woody Stephens on June 8 at Saratoga, Book’em Danno is a deserving favorite in the 11-horse Jerkens. It’s indicative of the field’s depth that his morning line price is no shorter than 7-2, but bettors can do better if they’re keen on following Arthur’s plan.
The Todd Pletcher-trained Speak Easy has only raced twice, spaced exactly six months apart. Yet despite that layoff, the undefeated son of Constitution followed a debut in which he popped a 100 Beyer Speed Figure with a 97 in a $110,000 allowance race against older horses at the Spa on July 27. Irad Ortiz gets the mount on the 8-1 shot, who found another gear in the stretch to overcome some early-race adversity and a wide trip to win that second race in commanding fashion.
Also at 8-1 on the morning line is World Record. Trained by Randolphe Brissett and set to be ridden by Luis Saez, World Record absolutely annihilated his rivals in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga on July 26.His four career races have seen improving Beyers in each, progressing from 75 to 89, 92 and 101, sequentially.
It’s reasonable to think that, despite superior connections, Speak Easy will go off closer to his morning line odds on Saturday since World Record has trounced classier company.
Early Fractions Could be Taxing
The dominant storyline in Saturday’s DraftKings-sponsored Travers is whether the top female in the 3-year-old division, Thorpedo Anna (3-1 on the morning line), can beat the boys.
It’ll be a tall order, what with the top two finishers in the Jim Dandy, Fierceness (3-1) and Sierra Leone (7-2), in the eight-horse field, not to mention the 5-2 favorite, Dornoch, who’s claimed the Belmont and Haskell titles in his last two races.
There’s a decent chance the early fractions could be extremely taxing with all the early speed in the field, which would set up nicely for a deep closer like Sierra Leone. But at odds of 8-1, Chad Brown’s Unmatched Wisdom might represent the best value.
With the always dangerous Ortiz taking the reins, Unmatched Wisdom will race a furlong further than he’s ever tried before. But he’s answered all three of his tests to date, with the $130,000 Curlin representing the latest triumph on his unblemished record.
It’ll be a big ask for Unmatched Wisdom to prevail in the summer’s premier race for 3-year-olds, in light of the step up in class. But it can be done. Just ask Arthur.
