Spring Quality Seeks More Grade 1 Glory in Sword Dancer

Seven starts into his career, Spring Quality wasn't doing a whole lot wrong.

Aside from a fifth-place outing at Keeneland in April 2017, the Quality Road  gelding hadn't crossed the wire outside of the top two. He was holding his own against some solid stakes performers and even scored a black-type victory of his own in the 2017 Robellino Stakes. He was doing a perfectly fine job of being a perfectly fine runner on the dirt, but that wasn't sitting fine with trainer Graham Motion.

"Perhaps I should have moved him (to turf) sooner than I did, but he's by Quality Road, and he was a horse who had handled the dirt pretty well," Motion said. "He was eligible for some state-bred races, and I think that's what finally got to me, is he ended up running against Page McKenney and those locals, and I was like, 'This is crazy to be knocking heads against a horse of this caliber.'

"His numbers were always very respectable on the dirt. I just thought he might go to the next level on turf—and he did."

Four turf starts and a grade 1 victory later, Augustin Stable's homebred Spring Quality has become everything his connections hoped for and more. On Aug. 25, the 6-year-old Pennsylvania-bred will shoot for his second top-level triumph against nine challengers in the $1 million Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) going 1 1/2 miles at Saratoga Race Course.

Since being switched to the lawn in October, Spring Quality has recorded a pair of graded victories, with his most recent triumph being a neck win over Sadler's Joy at odds of 18-1 in the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Stakes (G1T) June 9 at Belmont Park. He closed out his 2017 season with a win in the Red Smith Handicap (G3T) and ran second to eventual Arlington Million XXXVI (G1T) winner Robert Bruce during his season debut in the May 5 Fort Marcy Stakes (G3T)—an effort that looks even better to Motion through the lens of hindsight.

ANGST: Spring Quality Upsets Manhattan for Motion

"I think I was surprised when he got beat in the prep by (Robert Bruce), who is obviously a very nice horse, because I wasn't sure we could be beaten that day," Motion said. "But when Chad's horse came back and won the Million, it showed he's obviously a really nice horse. But I thought he was capable of winning (the Manhattan) for sure. Since he won in the fall at Aqueduct, that was my goal, to point for the Manhattan."

Spring Quality was supposed to run in the Arlington Million but was scratched after becoming dehydrated on the ship from Motion's base at Fair Hill to Chicago. The bay recovered well enough to train the morning after the Million, giving Motion the confidence to send him onward to Saratoga for what will be his first try over 12 furlongs.

"It is awkward because we … had him ready to run last weekend, but having said that, he seems to handle being here well," Motion said. "We're lucky we did have a 'Plan B.'"

Spring Quality has six wins from 11 starts, with earnings of $860,797. He will break from post 2 under regular rider Edgar Prado in the Sword Dancer.

Sadler's Joy is seeking to become the second straight horse to win back-to-back editions of the Sword Dancer, following Flintshire  in 2015 and 2016. When last seen, the son of Kitten's Joy  was closing with authority to finish third, beaten a half-length in the Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) July 28 over a soft turf course.

ANGST: Sadler's Joy Rallies to Sword Dancer Victory

"He's coming into the race looking fantastic and training as well as he's ever trained all year round. He's just been a little unlucky," trainer Tom Albertrani said. "It's just been a couple of tough beats, but the horse shows up. He's there every time, and hopefully we encounter a good trip and he comes back and runs the same race he has been."

Another grade 1 winner in the Sword Dancer is Three Chimneys Farm's Funtastic, who led all the way in a half-length upset at 23-1 in the United Nations Stakes (G1T) June 30 at Monmouth Park. It was the second straight win for the 4-year-old More Than Ready  colt, who was immediately pointed to the Sword Dancer by Saratoga meet-leading trainer Chad Brown.

EHALT: Funtastic Speeds to United Nations Upset

"He's had a little bit of a gap between the races, but he's been training particularly well. We've had this race in mind all along. I didn't want to run him in between. He's kind of a light-framed horse, and too much racing might be counterproductive for him," Brown said. "He's legit. I know he was a big longshot in the U.N. and he surprised a lot of people, but he had been training really well, and he's a pure mile-and-a-half horse. He's got the pedigree, and he doesn't necessarily need the lead, either."

Entries: Sword Dancer S. (G1T)

Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 25, 2018, Race 10

• Grade I
• 1 1/2m
• Inner turf
• $1,000,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:49 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Glorious Empire (IRE)	Julien R. Leparoux	120	James L. Lawrence, II	10/1
2	2Spring Quality (PA)	Edgar S. Prado	124	H. Graham Motion	4/1
3	3Funtastic (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	124	Chad C. Brown	9/2
4	4Hi Happy (ARG)	John R. Velazquez	124	Todd A. Pletcher	6/1
5	5Highland Sky (KY)	Manuel Franco	116	Barclay Tagg	12/1
6	6Bigger Picture (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	122	Michael J. Maker	8/1
7	7Channel Maker (ON)	Joel Rosario	120	William I. Mott	5/1
8	8Seahenge (KY)	Wayne Lordan	112	Aidan P. O'Brien	30/1
9	9Revved Up (KY)	Junior Alvarado	116	Jorge R. Abreu	15/1
10	10Sadler's Joy (KY)	Javier Castellano	122	Thomas Albertrani	7/2