Win Win Win Rallies to Take Forego
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Win Win Win takes the Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
It had been a while since Live Oak Plantation's Win Win Win was last seen in a seven-furlong sprint on dirt.
In more specific terms, it was more than 19 months ago.
"A one-turn seven-eighths race was something I wanted to revisit at the right time," trainer Michael Trombetta said.
On paper, the seven-furlong $300,000 Forego Stakes Presented by America's Best Racing (G1) seemed like an ambitious spot as opposed to the proper one, but Trombetta was indeed "right."
Running in the midst of a fierce storm that forced the race to be run about five minutes earlier than scheduled, Win Win Win did just that as he splashed through the mud from last in the field of 11 to catch Complexity by a half-length in the Aug. 29 stakes at Saratoga Race Course.
"I couldn't see him until the quarter pole," Trombetta said. "I thought it was absolutely hopeless, to be honest. When I looked across the infield, I could see nothing. He was completely off the screen. Then all of a sudden, I figured out who was who and it was nice to see him running so hard."
Collecting his first graded stakes win in a sprint stakes may seem odd for a 4-year-old son of Hat Trick who was unplaced in last year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1). Yet his previous dirt win came in January 2019 in the Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs when he set a seven-furlong track record of 1:20.89.
There was also the versatility Trombetta saw in a second in last year's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) and a win in the 2019 Manila Stakes on turf, plus an improved runner-up finish in a July 2 allowance optional claiming race—his second start at 4—that ultimately convinced Trombetta not to pass up the Forego.
"We threw around all our options," he said. "After his last race it looked like he was rounding into form at the right time, and we all like that third race after the layoff situation. We targeted this one and we've been working all summer to get here."
The victory was the fifth in 12 starts for the third and most recent foal out of the Smarty Jones mare Miss Smarty Pants, pushing his earnings to $601,600. He started his 2020 campaign by finishing 10th in the June 7 First Defence Stakes, a seven-furlong turf stakes at Belmont Park, ending 11 months on the sidelines that were intended to prepare him for his 4-year-old season.
As buckets of rain descended on the sloppy, sealed track, Complexity and Calumet Farm's True Timber battled for the early lead through fractions of :22.28 and :44.63. As they dueled, no one else seemed interested in joining the fray, except Win Win Win, who went about nine paths wide in the stretch and was sixth with a furlong left.
Klaravich Stables' Complexity won the battle on the front end, opening a length lead at the eighth pole, but Win Win Win and jockey Javier Castellano surged with a move reminiscent of the great Forego in his prime. Nearly five lengths back inside the final furlong, Win Win Win ($16.20) gobbled up the ground late and passed the 9-2 Complexity in the final strides to cover the distance in 1:21.71.
"What an amazing horse," Castellano said. "I was a little concerned at the eighth pole. I didn't have any contact with the field. I was way too far back. I felt like I wasn't going to get there, but the horse put in a lot of effort from the quarter pole to the wire. He made me look good."
Complexity, a son of Maclean's Music trained by Chad Brown, was second by three-quarters of a length over True Timber.
"It was a very tough beat," said Jose Ortiz, who rode Complexity.
True Timber, a Mineshaft 6-year-old, was one of three Calumet Farm starters sent out by trainer Jack Sisterson, who also notched a fifth from Lexitonian and a sixth from Everfast.
Funny Guy, the 3-1 favorite, was fourth.
Complexity was one of four grade 1 winners in the race and the only one who had a say in the outcome. Whitmore was seventh, followed by Mind Control in eighth and Firenze Fire in 11th.