Tide of the Sea Seeks Winning Return in John's Call

Flying P Stable's Tide of the Sea  will look to return to winning ways Aug. 24 at Saratoga Race Course in the $135,000 John's Call Stakes, a 1 5/8-mile turf marathon for older horses who have not won a graded stake on the turf this year.

Trained by Tom Morley, Tide of the Sea made his first start off the claim for new connections in his last outing, finishing third in an off-the-turf, 1 1/4-mile optional claimer July 28 at the Spa, his first start over dirt. The effort came on the heels of a seventh-place finish over yielding Belmont Park turf in June when he was haltered for $62,500 from former trainer Mike Maker.

"He's a horse that doesn't seem distance-limited," said Morley. "We gelded him after we claimed him and he ran very disappointing the day we claimed him, so we were a little bit in trepidation of whether the horse still wanted to do it."

Morley said he was encouraged by the recent effort from Tide of the Sea, when he set the pace and lost place honors by a nose.  

"We brought a fresh horse over the other day. It rained just before the race, so the race came off the turf and he had never run on dirt," Morley said. "But fair play to Jay (Provenzano of Flying P Stable), he said, 'If we're ever going to find out if he can do it, today is the day.' So, we let him take his chance. I was very proud of the horse, he tried incredibly hard in that race. Hopefully, he tries as hard on Wednesday."

The 6-year-old son of English Channel is in search of his first win since a 1 3/4-length score in the Japan Turf Cup in October at Laurel Park. The bay gelding began his career with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott before being transferred to Maker in June 2020. From there, he scored two allowance victories that summer before earning the best win of his career in the W.L. McKnight Stakes (G3T) last January at Gulfstream Park.

Tide of the Sea, who was bred in Kentucky by Juddmonte Farms, boasts field-best earnings of $475,899 through a record of 5-5-2 from 25 starts. Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will ride from post 3.

Monmouth Stud's Oceans Map  will stretch out from a close second going 1 1/16 miles in allowance company July 29 at Monmouth Park for trainer Gregg Sacco. A dark bay son of Liam's Map  , Oceans Map earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort, the highest last-out figure in the field. Jose Lezcano has the call from post 4.

Maker will send out two contenders, Michael Ryan's 2021 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup winner Bluegrass Parkway  and Three Diamonds Farm's Girl Dad , an allowance winner claimed for $35,000 out of an eighth-place effort July 22 at the Spa, where he was defeated 2 3/4 lengths in a tight finish going one mile. Tyler Gaffalione rides Bluegrass Parkway from post 2, while Luis Saez has the call aboard Girl Dad from the inside.

Completing the field are 2017 Better Talk Now Stakes winner Hieroglyphics  and Buttonwood Farm's Sa'ad . The latter returns to the flat after two races over hurdles for conditioner Keri Brion. A 4-year-old French-bred son of Tamayuz , Sa'ad won over the flat going 1 1/2 miles May 7 at Great Meadow before a pair of off-the-board efforts stretching out over the jumps at Colonial Downs. Irad Ortiz Jr. rides from post 5. 

Entries: John's Call S.

Saratoga Race Course, Wednesday, August 24, 2022, Race 9

• STK
• 1 5/8m
• Turf
• $135,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:39 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Girl Dad (KY)	Luis Saez	118	Michael J. Maker	8/1
2	2Bluegrass Parkway (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	122	Michael J. Maker	3/1
3	3Tide of the Sea (KY)	Javier Castellano	124	Thomas Morley	2/1
4	4Oceans Map (KY)	Jose Lezcano	122	Gregory D. Sacco	5/2
5	5Sa'ad (FR)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Keri Brion	7/2
6	6Hieroglyphics (KY)	Jose Antonio Gomez	118	Naipaul Chatterpaul	12/1