Sombeyay Aims to Give Pletcher a High Note in Hopeful

Were he almost any other trainer on the Saratoga Race Course backstretch, the meet Todd Pletcher has had would not just be perfectly acceptable, but welcomed in most barns.

The seven-time Eclipse Award winner began the Sept. 2 card second in the Spa standings with 18 wins, including victories in the Sanford Stakes (G3) and With Anticipation (G3T) Stakes. They are numbers many of his contemporaries would take in a heartbeat, but considering Pletcher is coming off a 2017 Saratoga stint that saw him notch a then-record-equaling 40 wins en route to taking his 13th title at the track, his standards can't help but frame his 2018 outing as a letdown.

Before anyone starts feeling too badly for racing's all-time leading money earner, however, consider that even in a so-called down stretch he still has bullets like Starlight Racing's Sombeyay to fire in the meet's final grade 1 test. The graded stakes-winning son of Into Mischief  will aim to put a salve of sorts on Pletcher's Saratoga run when he starts from the inside post in a field of eight for the $350,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1) going seven furlongs Sept. 3.

With three starts under his belt, Sombeyay is already a veteran of sorts heading into his first top-level try. The bay colt broke his maiden first time out April 27, winning by 6 1/4 lengths going  4 1/2 furlongs at Gulfstream Park. That effort merited a move into stakes company, with Sombeyay finishing second in the June 8 Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park before closing well to prevail in the six-furlong Sanford Stakes (G3) at Saratoga July 21.

Within those starts has come a fair bit of education for Sombeyay. In his maiden, he was bumped out of the gate and hit two more times after that before taking command. His Tremont outing saw him stumble at the break and end up next to last in the field before coming on to fall three-quarters of a length short.

Overcoming adversity is something fellow Hopeful entrant Dream Maker also has done in his short career. John Oxley's homebred son of Tapit  put himself behind the eight ball in his debut when he came out at the start and ended up trailing the field but recovered to sweep past rivals and score a three-length win going 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs June 7.

Trainer Mark Casse called that effort the most impressive he has seen from a 2-year-old in his barn since champion Classic Empire 's maiden win. They are big words for the gray/roan colt to try and live up to, but his connections are confident they have a talented work in progress in front of them.

"He's a colt that, right now, he's still a little boy," Casse said. "If he can continue to improve and become a man, I think he can become a very serious horse. I don't think we've had a 2-year-old since Classic Empire win as impressively, and I was so impressed because he got in a lot of trouble early and just circled the field.

"He still has some filling out to do, especially over his back. He's big and tall and rangy. A lot of people would look and say they think he needs a few pounds. I think he will get those pounds. But right now, he's like a skinny teenage boy."

Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas has won eight editions of the Hopeful, including last year's race with Sporting Chance. The living legend has the ambitiously named Derby Date—a son of his former trainee and champion Will Take Charge —for Monday's test and has been talking up the chestnut colt who has already run twice during the Saratoga meet.

The Calumet Farm homebred finished seventh in his debut July 28 but showed improvement last time out when running second going seven furlongs Aug. 11.

"I just think he's a pretty talented horse," Lukas said. "He's a real laid-back horse, a quiet horse. He's so laid-back, you almost worry about him. When he ran the other day, (jockey) Luis (Saez) told me that he thought he (wasn't) going to beat anybody. When he went in the gate, he drooped. Then he thought he might not break. He was really concerned.

"He had two outs. One that I don't count, one that was very good, just a bad job by the trainer. He got tired. You look at the replay, he did everything right except he got tired, and that's my fault, not the horse's fault. He got tired, which is correctable, and it will be. He won't be tired."

Entries: Hopeful S. (G1)

Saratoga Race Course, Monday, September 03, 2018, Race 10

• Grade I
• 7f
• Dirt
• $350,000
• 2 yo
• 5:38 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Sombeyay (KY)	Javier Castellano	122	Todd A. Pletcher	5/1
2	2Mind Control (KY)	John R. Velazquez	118	Gregory D. Sacco	5/1
3	3Nitrous (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	118	Steven M. Asmussen	7/2
4	4Thatwouldbegrand (MD)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	Dale Capuano	20/1
5	5Dream Maker (KY)	Julien R. Leparoux	118	Mark E. Casse	4/1
6	6Backtohisroots (KY)	Dylan Davis	118	John P. Terranova II	20/1
7	7Mucho (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	118	William I. Mott	8/5
8	8Derby Date (KY)	Luis Saez	116	D. Wayne Lukas	15/1