Ready for Rye Upsets Daredevil in Swale

Trainer Tom Albertrani entered the March 7 card at Gulfstream Park 0-for-60 at the current meet, with 12 seconds and a longshot in the $200,000 Fasig Tipton Swale Stakes (gr. II) .

Chalk Racing's Ready for Rye became the trainer's third winner on the day at odds of 6-1 when he upset 3-5 favorite Daredevil by 2 3/4 lengths under jockey Luis Saez in the seven-furlong test. Albertrani got off the duck with Ocean Telegraph in the second and also won with Biz The Nurse in the fifth.

Daredevil broke slowly from the inside post in the Swale and made a good closing effort in his first start of 2015, but could not get to the winner, who took over from X Y Jet after that one went an opening quarter-mile in :22.53. Ready For Rye then set splits of :45.36 and 1:09.46 before carrying on despite not switching leads to finish in 1:22.39 on a fast track.

"He broke well," Albertrani said. "The plan was to see how he broke and don't fight him, see what the inside horse (Daredevil) was going to do. Luis did a great job and let X Y Jet go out in front of him. We just sat off him."

The bay City Zip   gelding returned $14.60, $4.60, and $3 while Daredevil ($2.60, $2.10) and Senor Grits ($3.20) completed the trifecta 10 lengths back in third. Bluegrass Singer, Social Request, and X Y Jet rounded out the order of finish. Souper Colossal and Twotwentyfive A scratched.

Ready For Rye was bred in Kentucky by Soc. Agr. Santa Elena De Chimbarongo LTDA out of the More Than Ready   mare Embroidery. He came into the race off of a runner-up finish in the Jan. 3 Spectacular Bid Stakes to claim his second victory after breaking his maiden by seven lengths last October at Belmont Park. Ready for Rye debuted at Saratoga Race Course on Labor Day last year and was runner-up to highly regarded Carpe Diem, who on March 7 won the $350,00 Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II).

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"I think he really needed (the Spectacular Bid); I don't really tighten up on them off the layoff," Albertrani said. "I would hope they make that step forward off of the race. He really came back like he needed the race. He was a lot tighter for this one."

Chalk Racing purchased Ready For Rye at the 2013 Keeneland September yearling sale for $70,000 from the consignment of Brookdale Sales, agent. With the Swale victory, he improved his record to two wins and two seconds from four starts, with earnings of $203,360.

"My only question today was if he would go seven-eighths, that was the only doubt in my mind," Albertrani said. "We'll go back to New York and keep him short for now. I'll ask Luis how much horse he had galloping out."

"My trip was good," Saez said. "It was perfect. My horse broke good. I broke in front and I didn't want to have to go to the lead, but when I saw nobody was going, I thought I might have to go. The inside horse (X Y Jet) was moving and moving and that was good because I tucked my horse in a nice position in second, and with a half-mile to go I had a lot of horse. When I hit him he responded and I knew we were going to win.

"I feel so happy for (Tom Albertrani). He's a nice, good guy, and it's good for him. It's great that we were able to win a stakes."

Daredevil, making his first start of the season after resting from an 11th-place finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) following a victory in the Champagne Stakes (gr. I), will stretch out in future races.

"He broke OK, not great, but we got the position we wanted," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "It's difficult to analyze the track today because there have been mostly turf races. I'd say it was speed-favoring and we got out-sprinted a little bit. I thought he finished well considering the way the race was run. I think this sets us up for stretching out next time."

"He ran a good race; he did not disappoint us at all," jockey Javier Castellano said of Daredevil's performance. "I think he is still a very good horse. He was coming off a layoff in the Breeders' Cup and unfortunately today he came back in sprint race. They went pretty quick and the winner was able to dictate the pace. He still made a great effort today."