Fire At Will Scores First Stakes in With Anticipation
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coglianese Photos/Janet Garaguso
Fire At Will wins the With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
Three Diamonds Farm's Fire At Will killed two birds with one stone Sept. 2 at Saratoga Race Course. The son of Declaration of War simultaneously broke his maiden and picked up his first stakes win with a half-length score in an off-the-turf running of the $93,000 With Anticipation Stakes.
On a rainy New York day atop a sloppy sealed track, heavy favorite Blame the Booze was the first away from the gate. Luis Saez guided the Blame gelding to an early one-length lead over Zippy Baby, who tracked the pace on the outside. Fire At Will, under Irad Ortiz Jr., broke a step slow and trailed the field back in fourth four lengths behind Winfromwithin.
Blame the Booze looked steady on the lead and showed the way through fractions of :22.60 and :45.61 for the half-mile. Turning for home, Saez spurred the gelding on with a right-hand whip. Fire At Will clung to the rail, seized an opening off the turn, and cut the corner to almost draw even with Blame the Booze.
Angled out slightly by Ortiz, Fire At Will dug in during deep stretch and managed to eke out a slim lead at the furlong marker. Blame the Booze battled on and tried to catch the new frontrunner. The pair dueled through the final strides but Fire At Will could not ignore the strong urging from Ortiz and managed to hold on for the win in the final strides.
Final time for the seven furlongs was 1:23.14.
"I talked to the assistant (Nolan Ramsey) and we talked about staying close to the pace," said Ortiz. "Speed is doing well so far, but I don't like to rush the horses too much, so I just broke out of there with good intentions. He didn't have the speed to stay close with them, so I just let him be him, let him settle, and tried to save some ground. When I asked him, he responded really well from the half-mile all the way to the wire.
"I was saving all the ground I could and stayed on the rail. I was thinking about getting outside but I saw the horse (Blame the Booze) get out a bit, so I just stayed on the rail and went for it."
Blame the Booze held for second followed by Zippy Baby and Winfromwithin. American Monarch and Nathan Detroit were scratched when the race was taken off the turf.
While the With Anticipation was listed as a grade 3 on the turf, the switch to dirt downgraded the race—originally slated to run over 1 1/16 miles on the grass—to a listed stake.
"With a short field, it made sense (to stay in the race)," said Ramsey, assistant trainer to Mike Maker. "The horse really seemed to get a lot out of his first start and he's been pretty sharp since. He worked a really nice half for us last time and we talked to Mr. Wycoff (owner of Three Diamonds Farm) and Mike and made the decision to stay in and we're clearly happy we did."
Fire At Will was bred in Kentucky by Troy Rankin out of the Kitten's Joy mare Flirt. Offered to the Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Select Sales, the colt was purchased for $97,000 by Three Diamonds.
Fire At Will's only other start came Aug. 8 at Saratoga where he finished sixth in a maiden special weight. Wednesday's With Anticipation victory increased Fire At Will's earnings to $55,432.