Drefong Aims for Bing Crosby Rebound in the Forego

Looking to rebound from his last start in the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) July 29, when he ducked in at the gap and lost rider Mike Smith, reigning champion sprinter Drefong will attempt to add another Saratoga Race Course grade 1 to his résumé in the $600,000 Forego Stakes (G1) Aug. 26.

The 4-year-old Gio Ponti  colt drew the outside post 10 in Saturday's seven-furlong event. The setup is reminiscent of last year's Ketel One King's Bishop Stakes (G1), when he broke from post 12 under Smith, then crossed over to assume the lead and held on for a 3 1/4-length win. Baoma Corporation's runner will have Smith in the irons again Saturday.

"Plan A didn't work when he ducked into the gap," Baffert said of Drefong's Bing Crosby run. "I wanted to take him up there—he likes Saratoga and it's a good race.

"Since then (Del Mar has) extended the rail. They had a really short rail there, but since then they've extended it 60 feet. He saw that opening and got a little bit of a nudge from the outside horse and it just sent him down in there. A horse had done it earlier in the day there—the same thing—but they've corrected the problem so it won't happen again. It's just an unfortunate circumstance."

Despite that mishap, Drefong's career has been almost blemish free. Since he finished fifth in his debut in October of his 2-year-old season, the colt has steadily moved up the ranks. He broke his maiden by 9 1/2 lengths in November of 2015 and then started his 3-year-old season with two wins in optional-claiming allowance races by open lengths. After he proved his mettle with the King's Bishop win, he then took the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) by 1 1/4 lengths.

NOVAK: Drefong Gives Baffert Fifth BC Sprint

Drefong will face a tough challenger in Mind Your Biscuits, a colt he has beaten twice but is entering off of two top-level wins. 

"I really don't look at the competition as much as I worry about him," Baffert said. "As long as he brings his 'A' game, that's what's more important. ... He shipped well, he's doing well, we're going into it the right way, and hopefully he'll run well. 

"Jimmy (Barnes, assistant trainer) said they all shipped very well. Just need some racing luck."

The Chad Summer-trained Mind Your Biscuits has run first or second in his last six starts. After he finished second in the Gulfstream Park Sprint Stakes (G3) in February, the son of Posse traveled to Dubai and won the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored By Gulf News (G1) by three lengths. Last month he won the Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes (G1) and bested a field that included fellow Forego entrants Awesome Slew, Tommy Macho, and Stallwalkin' Dude.

NOVAK: Mind Your Biscuits Tends to Business in Belmont Sprint

Millionaire Stallwalkin' Dude enters off an Aug. 11 stakes win at Saratoga, grade 3 winner Tommy Macho has finished third in four straight graded stakes, and grade 3 winner Awesome Slew finished second to Mind Your Biscuits last time out in the Belmont Sprint Championship.

Entries: Forego S. (G1)

Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 26, 2017, Race 9

• Grade I
• 7f
• Dirt
• $600,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:12 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	Stallwalkin' Dude (FL)	Joe Bravo	118	David Jacobson	-
2	Ross (IRE)	Andrasch Starke	118	Peter Schiergen	-
3	Tom's Ready (PA)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	118	Dallas Stewart	-
4	Divining Rod (KY)	Javier Castellano	118	Arnaud Delacour	-
5	Awesome Slew (FL)	John R. Velazquez	120	Mark E. Casse	-
6	Mind Your Biscuits (NY)	Joel Rosario	124	Chad Summers	-
7	Tommy Macho (KY)	Luis Saez	120	Todd A. Pletcher	-
8	Tale of S'avall (KY)	Manuel Franco	118	Barclay Tagg	-
9	Very Very Stella (FL)	Carlos J. Hernandez	118	Jose Noda-Fernandez	-
10	Drefong (KY)	Mike E. Smith	124	Bob Baffert	-