Standouts Top Saturday's Grade 1 Races at Saratoga

There's no shortage of notable names in the Saratoga Race Course entries for Saturday, Aug. 28, when the Runhappy Travers (G1) tops a seven-stakes card. 

The Ballston Spa Handicap (G2T) kicks things off early in the day, followed shortly thereafter by six straight grade 1 stakes: the Ketel One Ballerina Handicap, Forego, H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, Personal Ensign Presented by Lia Infiniti, Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer, and finally the 152nd "Midsummer Derby."

The Ballerina, Personal Ensign, and Sword Dancer are Breeders' Cup Challenge races for their respective divisions.

We'll go out on a limb and say the Ballston Spa goes through the red-hot barn of Chad Brown, who sent out eight Saratoga winners Wednesday and Thursday and has three of the six entered here—morning-line favorite Viadera , a Juddmonte homebred from Great Britain; second choice Tamahere , a French-bred; and third choice Kalifornia Queen , a German-bred daughter of Lope de Vega.

As mentioned, some supremely talented marquee names are scattered about the program. Bettors eyeing the all-grade 1 pick six and pick five may be able to get through the sequences on a modest budget. Gamine  is 3-5 and a potential single in the Ballerina; Jackie's Warrior  and Life Is Good  are even money and 8-5, respectively, in the Allen Jerkens; Letruska  is 6-5 in the Personal Ensign; front-running Tribhuvan  is the 2-1 choice in the Sword Dancer; and Essential Quality  is 4-5 in the Travers.

Of course, Saratoga isn't nicknamed the Graveyard of Favorites for nothing so it's likely a favorite or two will be knocked off. That's why it's important to have some price plays in backup mode, because you never know which of them might upset the apple cart on any given afternoon.

Let's briefly go through the grade 1 races in order, all times Eastern.

Ballerina (Sar, race 7, 3:02): After seven wins from as many starts in one-turn races, including a stakes record-equaling performance to win the 2020 Longines Test (G1), it's hard to see Gamine getting beat—provided she breaks alertly from the rail—a post she has handled with no problem twice before, notably a freakish win in the 2020 Acorn Stakes (G1) by almost 19 lengths.

Gamine (1) gives anywhere from three to 12 pounds to six opponents, the most formidable of which are Sconsin  (5) and Ce Ce  (7). Sconsin made Gamine work harder than expected in the Derby City Distaff Presented By Kendall-Jackson Winery (G1). Ce Ce (7) is nicely drawn outside and has won both of her starts at seven furlongs this season, capped by a fast score in the Princess Rooney (G2).

A - 1

B - 5, 7

Forego (Sar, race 8, 3:37): This is one of the most competitive races on the card. Five of the eight entrants are grade 1 winners but morning-line favorite Yaupon  (7) is not among them, at least not yet.

Yaupon reeled off four straight wins to begin his career last year, two of those victories coming at the Spa, including the Amsterdam (G2), but he was relegated to chasing as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) and ran into trouble through the stretch while fading to wind up off the board. Stretching out to seven furlongs for the first time and breaking toward the outside, Yaupon looks quickest of these and can set or stalk the pace depending on the break. His best races can take this race, and he gets weight from his main rivals under the allowance conditions.

The durable Mind Control  (4) is a dual grade 1 winner on the track, having won the Hopeful at 2 and the Jerkens at 3. Last out he was very game in prevailing after a race-long battle with Firenze Fire  (8) in the John A. Nerud (G2) off a freshening and trainer change to Todd Pletcher. He can revert to rate-and-finish tactics in this matchup.

Whitmore  (2) needs no introduction, and the 2020 sprint champion will race with bar shoes off for the first time since winning the 2018 Forego. Lexitonian  (3) picks up six pounds after notching a 34-1 upset in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) four weeks ago.

A - 4, 7

B - 2, 3, 8

Allen Jerkens Memorial (Sar, race 9, 4:12): An eagerly awaited showdown between Jackie's Warrior (2) and the come-backing Life Is Good (6) is in the offing.

Jackie's Warrior captured the Saratoga Special Presented by Miller Lite (G2) and Runhappy Hopeful last summer, and toyed with Drain the Clock in a sloppy renewal of the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) earlier at the current meet to make it 3-for-3 on the track. He again will face pace pressure from Drain the Clock , and it will be interesting to see whether Life Is Good—who sailed along on clear leads winning his first three starts—will opt to sit off the leaders from his outside post. 

Life Is Good was knocked off the Triple Crown trail in late March after exiting a workout with a chip in his left hind ankle for former trainer Bob Baffert. The son of Into Mischief has posted a series of impressive workouts for new conditioner Todd Pletcher.

Pletcher also entered Following Sea  (4), a Runhappy colt also transferred from Baffert earlier this year. He smoked an allowance field going 6 1/2 furlongs at Belmont Park two back, and gets a beneficial cutback in distance after checking in midstretch behind a spill in the TVG.com Haskell (G1) and being elevated to second. He must work out a trip behind the speedsters.

A - 2, 6

B - 4

Personal Ensign (Sar, race 10, 4:47): Letruska (6) already has won her way into the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) twice, thanks to front-running triumphs in the Ogden Phipps (G1) and Fleur de Lis (G2) stakes. Overall, the Super Saver   mare has won five of six since blinkers were removed, the lone defeat by a head while giving weight in the Azeri Stakes (G2).

Still, Letruska is a run-and-gun type drawn between potential speed rivals As Time Goes By  (2) and Miss Marissa  (7). If they go too fast early, the stage would be set for the likes of Swiss Skydiver  (4), Royal Flag  (5), and perhaps the potential bust-out Harvey's Lil Goil  (8).

Swiss Skydiver missed the Phipps because of a fever and also missed the Shuvee (G3) because of a quarantine situation. She was rerouted to the Whitney Stakes (G1) as a prep for this, and chased Knicks Go through fast fractions before fading to fourth in her first outing since an empty third to Letruska in the Apple Blossom (G1). Last year's champion sophomore filly won the Alabama (G1) geared down in 2020, and several of her "A" races put her right there, although a three-week turnaround is not ideal.

The Chad Brown-trained Royal Flag was second to Letruska in the 2020 Shuvee, and won it this year with a stirring stretch run over Horologist, who returned to win the Summer Colony Stakes by better than eight lengths.

Harvey's Lil Goil has run well twice previously in turf-to-dirt situations for Bill Mott, who employed the same surface switch with 2018 Woodward Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner Yoshida . She picks up leading rider Luis Saez and may outrun her 8-1 early line.

A - 6

B - 2, 4, 5, 8

Sword Dancer (Sar, race 11, 5:25): Tribhuvan (1) took some time to find his sea legs on these shores, but the French-bred gelding has improved leaps and bounds in three starts this season with wins in the Fort Marcy (G2T) and United Nations (G1T) stakes sandwiched around a runner-up finish to stablemate and divisional leader Domestic Spending in the Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T).

Tribhuvan breaks from the hedge in this three-turn test—which is ideal for him. That likely will relegate Channel Maker  (4)—last year's wire-to-wire winner of the Sword Dancer—into chasing mode, which doesn't bode well for the latter.

If Channel Maker can make Tribhuvan work hard up front, that could pave the way for closers such as Gufo  (2), Japan  (6), and Cross Border  (7).

Gufo stayed a bit closer to the early pace with blinkers added for a win in the Grand Couturier Stakes most recently, and prior to that was a close third in the Manhattan after lagging too far behind early.

Japan invades for Aidan O'Brien, who swept this year's Belmont Oaks (G1) and Belmont Derby (G1) with Santa Barbara  and Bolshoi Ballet . The 5-year-old by the late Galileo is a two-time group 1 winner overseas, and drops 20 pounds after toting 140 to win the Green Room Meld Stakes (G3T) at Leopardstown Racecourse last out.

Cross Border upped his record on Saratoga turf (inner or Mellon courses) to 6-1-0 from seven starts when he took the Bowling Green (G2T) four weeks back for Mike Maker, who topped the standings for a few weeks here until Brown got rolling.

A - 1, 2

B - 6, 7

Travers (Sar, race 12, 6:12): Other than a close fourth in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1)—when very wide throughout—Essential Quality has never tasted defeat. However, he has cut it rather close on several occasions, most recently when he was wide again but able to prevail for a half-length decision over rail-skimming Keepmeinmind  (3) in the Jim Dandy (G2).

Keepmeinmind got four pounds from Essential Quality that day, but they are at level weights this time. He has finished behind the favorite in all five attempts dating back to the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) last fall when both were second-time starters.

Midnight Bourbon  (1) looks like a dead-send from the rail, and apparently exited his spill in the Haskell none the worse for wear. It's questionable whether he can get the trip, particularly if he has to deal with Masqueparade  (6) early.

Our only backup here is King Fury  (7), who, like stablemate Swiss Skydiver, was victimized by a quarantine placed on Ken McPeek's barn—turning his schedule upside-down. The $950,000 Curlin   colt was super impressive winning the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) in his 3-year-old bow, then scratched from the Kentucky Derby because of a fever. He probably was best in the Ohio Derby (G3) when finishing between Masqueparade and Keepmeinmind in a three-way photo, after being shuffled back on the far turn and bumping with a rival at the head of the stretch.

King Fury then was forced to sit out the Jim Dandy. From a handicapping perspective, his form is now nicely "dirtied up" after prepping for this with a wide run in the Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1) on grass. Other than the favorite, King Fury is the only horse in the field with more than one stakes victory.

A - 2

B - 7