Saratoga Race Course Notes 8/21

NYRA COMMUNICATIONS —-

Friday, August 21, 2026

Saratoga Race Course Notes

The Puma ready to pounce in G1 DraftKings Travers
Apprentice jockey Camila Hargrove earns her first win at the Spa
G1 Whitney-winner Sovereignty gets back to work at Saratoga
Napoleon Solo all set for G1 DraftKings Travers
Tuning In steps up off debut maiden win for trainer Bond in Sunday’s Albany
George Briggs, Caroline St. Beat work on turf for Clement; trainer hopes for firm ground for Ozara in Saturday’s G2 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – OGMA Investments, JR Ranch, High Step Racing, TCC Stables and YNG Stables’ The Puma recorded a six-furlong breeze in 1:14.76 on Friday over the main track at Saratoga Race Course. The Essential Quality chestnut is slated to run in next Saturday’s local Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers, a 10-furlong test for 3-year-olds.

Trained by Gustavo Delgado, The Puma was fourth last out in the nine-furlong Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park. He has worked back three times over the Saratoga main track, covering five furlongs in 1:02.16 on August 6 and 59.80 seconds on August 14 before Friday’s move with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano up.

“Castellano said he [The Puma] is feeling good, happy,” said Delgado. “He said to me before the work, ‘I prefer 1:01, and 74 [seconds for three-quarters].’ Perfect. Galloping out very good.”

Castellano, the record-holding seven-time Travers winning jockey, provided his thoughts on the breeze.

“He did amazing, he worked really good,” Castellano said. “That was what I was looking for today. He’s had three works already on the course. In the first work, it was easy, 1:02, the last was 59 and change, 1:12. Today, I believe we went 1:01, 1:14 galloping out, our goal today was maintenance and good galloping out.”

Castellano has won the Travers aboard Bernardini [2006, odds-on favorite], Afleet Express [2010, 7-1], Stay Thirsty [2011, 2.4-1 favorite], V. E. Day [2014, 8-1], Keen Ice [2015, 16-1], Catholic Boy [2018, 7-1] and Arcangelo [2023, 2.7-1].

“I believe this is a very prestigious race to win, I’m very lucky and fortunate to win seven Travers, and mostly Travers with longshots,” Castellano said. “He [The Puma] could be a longshot, they have good horses, don’t get me wrong, they have Napoleon Solo, he won the [Preakness] and ran second in the Haskell, there’s the Jim Dandy winner Renegade, what an amazing horse the way he did it… We ended up with the Derby winner, Belmont winner, that’s the same horse [Golden Tempo].”

The Puma finished a nose behind Commandment when second in the Grade 1 Florida Derby in March at Gulfstream Park before missing the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with leg swelling. He returned from the nearly four-month layoff to finish fourth in the Haskell, where expected Travers contenders Baby Vino and Napoleon Solo landed one-two.

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Apprentice jockey Camila Hargrove earns her first win at the Spa

Apprentice jockey Camila Hargrove picked up her first career win with Bye for Now on Wednesday at Finger Lakes and doubled her tally on Thursday by winning a stretch duel aboard Essence L Vee, at Saratoga Race Course.

The 25-year-old native of Brussels, Belgium returned to the saddle for the first time since April 2024 on August 6 here when she guided the Ray Handal-trained Bye for Now to an off-the-board effort in a seven-furlong maiden claiming sprint. Just 13 days later, Hargrove piloted the 3-year-old Tapiture gelding to a frontrunning maiden claiming score traveling 5 1/2-furlongs versus elders in Farmington, N.Y.

“At Finger Lakes, it was a shorter race, and we knew we’d have a better shot. I knew we had to break sharp and keep him going,” Hargrove said. “He broke a little slower than I would have liked, but we kept him up there and he finished up for me. It was an amazing experience.”

In Thursday’s opening race, which scratched down to three horses, Hargrove rode the Mark Hennig-trained Essence L Vee from post 2 in the one-mile maiden claimer out of the Wilson Chute. Although off a step slow, Hargrove recognized the slow early tempo of 25.43 set by Spirit Forward and advanced up the rail to contest the pace, putting a head in front at the stretch call. Ready Rosie Jane loomed large on the outside under Katie Davis and the two foes battled to the wire with Essence L Vee prevailing by a head.

Hargrove said the final 70 yards was a learning experience as she struggled briefly to switch her crop from her right hand to her left hand while brushing against her fellow rider in a thrilling finish.

“Katie really fought me for that one,” Hargrove said. “I had a little technical difficulty with the whip there. I saw her coming up on my outside and we just went for it. I was really happy about it. My face hurts from smiling so much.”

The 10-pound apprentice is represented by agent Jose Santos, Jr.

“She’s been working horses all summer trying to get the right opportunities and this week it worked out,” Santos, Jr. said. “It’s never easy to win here and fortunately, it all came together. I thought she rode a really smart race, and she rode all the way through the wire.

“She has a really strong base when she rides,” Santos, Jr. added. “She sits very well on a horse. She has great hands. There’s a lot of learning to do from here to there, but she’s determined and works very hard.”

Hargrove has come a long way from her well-traveled upbringing.

“My father’s American and my mother is Argentinian. I was born in Brussels, and I lived there until I was nine-years-old,” Hargrove said. “Riding has always been a part of my life on and off. I always had an interest in horses and was lucky enough to have a family that supported it. I used to muck stalls to pay for lessons growing up in Brussels.”

The 4’11″ rider acknowledged she found racing a little later than most in the business.

“I didn’t even know racing was a thing until about six years ago. I graduated high school, and I Googled, ‘what can little people do’ and jockey came up,” Hargrove said, with a laugh. “I thought, ‘well, I love horses so let’s give it a go.’ I found the jockey school in Lexington, Kentucky – it’s the BCTC Equine Program now, which used to be the Chris McCarron school.”

Hargrove found her first job at the track in 2022 with Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. She finished seventh with her first mount, Stuck On You, for trainer Wesley Ward on April 13, 2024, at Keeneland and landed third one day later with her next try on the Kent Sweezey-trained Trotter there.

“Wesley Ward spotted me in winter 2023 and wanted me to ride but I didn’t feel ready yet. I’d been on the track for five minutes,” Hargrove said. “I took more time and galloped for a year and half and he gave me my first mount in the spring of 2024. I hit the board with Sweezey’s horse and then I rode my third mount, and they gave me my license, and I said, ‘Let’s stop, now I know what I need to work on. I need to practice and get fitter.’”

In September 2024, her riding career came to an abrupt stop.

“I had a bad fall breaking babies and I tore my ACL, MCL and they had to do a full reconstruction of my left knee,” Hargrove said.

Hargrove worked her way back to fitness and last year started riding regularly in the morning for Handal, including galloping the stakes-winning New York-bred mare Valtellina, who won Race 6 on Thursday here with Dylan Davis aboard.

“Special rider. She has a tremendous future. She works really hard,” Handal said. “She’s put in a lot of work. She came to me and hadn’t even ridden a horse in a year. I just liked her mindset and her work ethic. She seemed determined to get back.

“She’s been really selfless with the team,” Handal continued. “I see a lot of potential in her. I’m very proud of her getting her first win here. We got her first win at Finger Lakes the other day, first of many. I’m excited for her.”

Handal said Hargrove is learning each and every day and growing in confidence as a rider.

“She’s very receptive to everything. She takes criticism well. She does all the things that she’s supposed to do,” Handal said. “The things she doesn’t do well, the only way you get better at it is through reps and riding in races.

“It’s really encouraging to see her already have a good racing I.Q.,” Handal added. “She identified a slow pace [Thursday] and made a move. She saw the potential to come up the rail – they went in 25 and four. Just to have that natural instinct is huge and reminiscent of some of those bigger guys when they come along in this division. As long as you can identify pace and do all the early things well in races, the riding and finishing will come. I have a lot of faith in her.”

And Hargrove has a lot of faith in herself, following a mantra tattooed near her collarbone that reads, ‘per aspera ad astra,’ a classic Latin phrase that translates to, ‘through hardships to the stars.’

“I got that tattoo after surgery for an elbow injury,” Hargrove explained. “It’s been nothing but progress and setback and progress. It’s up and down and you just have to be really grateful for the moments when you’re up and not let the bad times knock you down too low.”

***

G1 Whitney-winner Sovereignty gets back to work at Saratoga

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Horse of the Year Sovereignty returned to the work tab on Friday at Saratoga Race Course’s Oklahoma training track for the first time since his stirring 4 3/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 8, covering a half-mile in 49.85 seconds in company with Thunder Roll [49.40] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Guided through the exercise by assistant trainer Neil Poznansky – who dubbed the work a “Sunday stroll” – Sovereignty began his work a bit ahead of the Junior Alvarado-piloted Thunder Roll and remained to the inside down the stretch, keeping about a half-length in front of his workmate through the wire and extending the margin in the gallop-out.

“He had another horse behind him just to kind of keep him going along,” Mott said, who noted he liked what he saw from the son of Into Mischief.

Sovereignty, who earned a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic for his Whitney win, is pointing to the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 18 when racing returns to the new Belmont Park. He notched his first win of the year in the Whitney after respective second and third-place finishes in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap and Grade 1 Stephen Foster to commence his 4-year-old campaign.

Mott reflected on Sovereignty’s talent and his return to the same top-level form that he showed last year in his dual Eclipse Award-winning campaign.

“It could be very boring if you don’t have one like that,” Mott said, with a laugh. “It’s challenging – believe me, it’s not without challenges. We expect a lot out of ourselves and him, and a lot of people expect a lot out of you, too. The comeback after having been beaten [was gratifying].”

Mott added he plans to keep Sovereignty in Saratoga to train for the Jockey Club Gold Cup until early in the week of race.

Mott mentioned C R K Stable and Grandview Equine’s Baeza, who finished fourth in the Whitney, is likely to target the nine-furlong Grade 1 Goodwood on September 26 at Santa Anita Park. The son of McKinzie will look for a sharper break after his three starts this year were hampered by slow starts, including a third in the Grade 2 Alysheba in May and a second in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster in June.

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Napoleon Solo all set for G1 DraftKings Travers

Espoir USA’s Napoleon Solo breezed a half-mile in 47.67 seconds on Thursday over the Saratoga Race Course main track in preparation for next Saturday’s local Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers, a 10-furlong test for 3-year-olds.

“He’s doing well,” trainer Chad Summers said. “Just continued growth. I mean he’s done everything the right way basically since he was a 2-year-old when it came to working.”

Napoleon Solo, the Grade 1 Preakness winner, was a half-length second to expected Travers foe Baby Vino last out in the nine-furlong Grade 1 NYRA Bets Haskell on July 18 at Monmouth Park. The Liam’s Map gray has worked back three times over the Spa main track, including a half-mile in 48.67 on August 5 and five-furlongs in a sharp 58.81 on August 12.

“He worked great up here last year and he’s had three really good workouts here since the Haskell. Now, it’s just bubble wrap time,” Summers said.

Napoleon Solo was a prominent 1 1/4-length winner of the 1 3/16-mile Preakness in May at Laurel Park. He was fifth in a pair of Grade 2 Kentucky Derby preps prior to that, following a 2-for-2 juvenile campaign that featured a one-turn mile Grade 1 Champagne trouncing in October at Belmont at the Big A.

***

Tuning In steps up off debut maiden win for trainer Bond in Sunday’s Albany

Trainer Jim Bond is hopeful that Tuning In will live up to his registered name and not his barn nickname when he competes on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course in the $200,000 Albany for New York-bred 3-year-olds.

“His nickname is ‘Kramer’ because he’s mentally all over the place,” said Bond, referring to the eccentric and erratic character from sitcom “Seinfeld.” “He just doesn’t focus. Most horses get things after three times. It takes him 5-to-6 times. Like I told somebody yesterday, he’s like a junior in high school, and next time he has to be a junior in college, but he has shown me signs of brilliance, and you only get to run against 3-year-olds a few times in your lifetime.”

Tuning In, a Joanne T. Nielsen homebred, enters the 1 1/8-mile Albany off a single start, having won by a half-length in a maiden special weight for New York-breds 3-years-old and up at one mile from the Wilson Chute on July 16. The gelding is by two-time graded stakes winner Upstart and out of the dual stakes-placed Smart Strike mare Forever Smart, who has produced eight winners from 12 foals, including Still There, who in 2018 won the Twixt Stakes at Laurel Park and was second in the Grade 1 Ballerina here at the Spa.

“He showed me every inclination he was going to run huge,” said Bond. “He’s out of a really nice mare. It’s a Smart Strike mare, and she produced nothing but winners. And Upstart can get you any kind of horse. He’s not a big sales horse, but he can get you good horses who run two turns.”

The debut came belatedly for Tuning In, who had been scratched out of a race on April 18 at Aqueduct Racetrack. Bond said the delay worked out well in the end as it allowed Tuning In to travel directly from the trainer’s private stable on Gridley Street here in Saratoga Springs to the track for his unveiling.

“He was loading onto a van and he just dropped to the ground and cut his leg, and he had to be scratched,” said Bond. “It was going to be his first start at Aqueduct, so we did not get to debut him until he got [to Saratoga]. It was kind of planned because I wanted him to walk out of his stall and walk over here and keep focused.”

Bond said he has seen signs of further development from Tuning In since the debut win. For the effort, he received a Beyer Speed Figure of 85, which ties him with fellow Albany entrants Sunday Boy and Onebigbeautfulbill for the top last-out figure. Edgard Zayas has the return assignment aboard Tuning In from the outside post in the field of seven.

“I have total respect for most of the horses who are in the race, but I think he is going to represent himself well,” said Bond. “The rest of is up to him. He’s ready to run, he’s focused, he’s doing awesome.”

***

George Briggs, Caroline St. Beat work on turf for Clement; trainer hopes for firm ground for Ozara in Saturday’s G2 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL

Trainer Miguel Clement’s stakes contenders George Briggs and Caroline St. Beat breezed in company on Friday over the Oklahoma training turf, with the former being clocked in 49 seconds flat and his younger stablemate being credited with a 49 2/5 move, according to NYRA clockers.

Clement said George Briggs, a 4-year-old owned by Peter Brant, is probable for next Friday’s $200,000 West Point presented by Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for New York-breds 3-years-old and up.

George Briggs, victorious in last year’s off-the-turf Cab Calloway division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series at Saratoga, was the easy winner of a second-level state-bred allowance in May at Belmont at the Big A before finishing third, beaten 5 1/2-lengths by Mi Bago, 17 days later in the Kingston at Saratoga.

“I ran him back on short rest; it was an amateur move on my part,” said Clement. “It was the only alternative we had, so I said ‘go for it.’ He’s doing well [following the Kingston]. I’m happy with him.”

Clement has not yet decided on the next race for Madaket Stables and Steven Bouchey’s Caroline St. Beat, who returned from a nine-month layoff to finish second by a neck to Chummers in the Rick Violette for New York-bred 3-years-olds locally July 24. The trainer said there is an “outside chance” he will enter Caroline St. Beat in the West Point and a “good chance” he will be entered in a 1 1/16-mile New York-bred turf allowance on August 29. Also under consideration are a pair of races scheduled for Labor Day: the $200,000 Gio Ponti for open company at one mile on the turf at Saratoga and the 1 1/8-mile Grade 3 Old Dominion Derby at Colonial Downs.

“He was very unlucky not to have won the [Rick Violette],” said Clement. “We’ll turn the page and try again. I’m very bullish for his future. I’m convinced he stays further than I have been able to run him. He does want to go further. Do you run against the wrong company at the right distance, or do you run against the right company but perhaps the wrong distance? Most likely, we’ll stick to New York-bred [races] at distances that are shorter than ideal. Nonetheless, I think he could be a top-class mile-and-a-half prospect.”

On Saturday, Cheyenne Stables’ Ozara will seek a repeat victory in Saratoga’s Grade 2 Ballston Spa presented by STIHL, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares. Now 5-years-old, Ozara has made three starts this year, winning the Listed Miss Liberty in May at Monmouth Park before finishing sixth in both the Grade 3 Royal North in June at Woodbine and the Grade 1 Dunkin’ Diana over yielding ground July 18 here at the Spa.

“The firmer [the turf], the better,” said Clement. “There was a little bit of cut in the ground yesterday, which worries me a touch for her. I think you can draw a line through her last race because it was soft turf. If she gets firm turf, she’ll be in a much better position. She has been unlucky. She has been the victim of a bad trip [in the Grade 3 Royal North] and bad weather [in the Dunkin’ Diana]. Whenever she gets firm turf and she is ridden forwardly, she always delivers. If it looks like it’s soft, you’re in trouble, and if she’s too far back, you’re in deep trouble. If she’s forwardly placed and it’s firm, she always runs a cracker.”

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