Highland Sky Takes to Sloppy Track in John's Call
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Highland Sky wins an off-the-turf John's Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Highland Sky tracked the early speed and had plenty in reserve entering the stretch, taking command from the outside and cruising to his first win in almost 14 months and first stakes win in three years in an 8 1/4-length romp in the 1 1/4-mile, $93,000 John's Call Stakes moved off the grass Aug. 21 at Saratoga Race Course.
With rain moving the race from 1 5/8 miles on the Mellon turf to a sloppy (sealed) main track, Turco Bravo led the four-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in :23.81, the half in :48.46, and three-quarters in 1:13.29 as jockey Manny Franco kept Highland Sky covered in third position near the rail.
Out of the turn, Franco tipped Highland Sky wide, where he overtook Turco Bravo and Red Knight at the top of the stretch and continued home under a drive, hitting the wire in 2:04.32.
"They told me to try to keep him together and don't be too far away from (the leaders). The horse was taking me the whole way around and was going really well," Franco said. "I was so happy when we passed the five-eighths pole. He was dragging me. I knew I had a lot of horse underneath me."
Owned by Joyce Young, Gerald McManis, and Jerrie Stewart McManis, Highland Sky, the 2-1 second choice, returned $6.90 on a $2 win wager. The 6-year-old Sky Mesa gelding registered his first win since June 2018 and his second stakes win overall, adding to his victory in April 2016 in the Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack.
"We usually scratch (when a race comes off the turf), but I thought it was going to be a real small field, and I didn't think he would mind the slop, which he didn't," trainer Barclay Tagg said. "He just has to be kept a good hold of early. If someone can just keep him collected and keep him quiet early, then he has a hell of a kick."
Red Knight, the 3-5 favorite trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Turco Bravo for second under meet-leading rider Jose Ortiz.
Redicean completed the order of finish. Pillar Mountain, Nakamura, and Proquestor were scratched.