Saratoga Day 25: Skidmore Stakes

By Rick Francis —-

Race 4), 5½ Furlongs. (Turf) Skidmore S. Purse $100,000 FOR TWO YEARS OLD

Post Time: ( 2:40)/ 1:40/12:40/11:40

Mentality (1), Ward/Santana; out of Freud and then field’s lone filly, posted a hard earned gate-to-wire victory in her debut over the Belmont lawn. She’s been consistently posting solid works since and should give the boys all the want.

Nuclear Option (2) MTO- Ward/Garcia; colt by First Defence broke from the maiden ranks last out with a “unchallenged” win at Churchill, on the main track.Ward, however is strong with last out maiden winner, 24 percent.

Nauti Buoy (3), McClellan/Conner; after a last jump maiden win at Laurel, Mizzen Mast gelding opted for the graded ranks and was soundly beaten; it may take one to get over that.

Joopster (4), Ward/Ortiz, I; Mineshaft gelding also was a debut gate-to-wire winner, his coming here last month over the main track; trainer is once again having an outstanding year with juveniles, 21 percent.

Flameaway (5), Casse/Castellano; after a bit of a rough start, Scat Daddy colt righted himself and cleared a Woodbine maiden bunch on the synthetic main track. He’s rested and today gets one of the best in Castellano.

Dial One (6), Pletcher/Ortiz, J; out of Dialed In, enters off a third place facing similar on the main track at Gulfstream. Pletcher starters have had a solid meet, you can’t ignore.

El Dulce (7), Pletcher/Velazquez; by Twirling Candy, colt broke his maiden here at the same distance and surface just a couple of weeks back. Johnny V stays, and with Pletcher, they’re a 40 percent tandem at the meet.

Mu Chinumado (8), Mejia/Lopez; Into Mischief colt weakened here last week going seven furlongs on the main; it’s going to be an uphill climb against these.

Selections : 7, 1, 4, 6