Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Vino Rosso starting season in Stymie
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Vino Rosso began his career with a victory at Aqueduct at age 2 and five months later recorded his biggest victory to date here when he won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial.
Saturday, Vino Rosso will return to Aqueduct to kick off what his connections hope is a successful 4-year-old campaign when he runs in the $150,000 Stymie Stakes.
The Stymie, run as a one-turn mile, will be Vino Rosso’s first start since he finished fifth, beaten nine lengths by winner Catholic Boy, in the Aug. 25 Travers Stakes at Saratoga.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said it seemed unlikely Vino Rosso would be a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, so after the Travers the decision was made to back off and point Vino Rosso to a 4-year-old campaign.
Vino Rosso is by Curlin out of the dam Mythical Bride, making him a half-brother to 2014 Belmont Stakes runner-up Commissioner. At 4, Commissioner, also trained by Pletcher, won a trio of graded stakes – the Skip Away, Pimlico Special, and Hawthorne Gold Cup.
“We’ve always felt like with his pedigree he’s the type of horse that could have his best years at 4 or 5,” Pletcher said of Vino Rosso.
Last year, Vino Rosso had Pletcher, owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola, as well as jockey John Velazquez believing they had a legitimate Kentucky Derby horse. He ran spotty in his first two starts before putting it together in the Wood Memorial, winning by three lengths.
Vino Rosso finished ninth to Justify in the Kentucky Derby and fourth to him in the Belmont Stakes.
“I think, physically, we’ve seen development,” Pletcher said. “I thought his last breeze in particular was very good. What he needs to do now is come back and put up some consistent top performances. He showed he could do it on occasion, but then he’d lose focus a little bit. Hopefully, as he’s matured, he’ll be more locked in.”
Pletcher said the Stymie gives him a chance to see how Vino Rosso handles the oneturn mile, which could then open up various options later in the year.
“Everything’s in play,” Pletcher said. “We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves.”
The Stymie is one of four stakes on a program that also features the Grade 3 Gotham, the Grade 3 Tom Fool, and the Busher Invitational.
Others pointing to the Stymie include Curlin’s Honor, Hero’s Welcome, Preservationist, Stan the Man, Sunny Ridge, and Title Ready.
Avery Island, who has not run since winning the Grade 3 Withers in February 2018, is nominated and in training, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he is not quite ready to run.
Tom Fool has co-highweights
Skyler’s Scramjet, winner of last year’s Grade 3 Tom Fool, and Heartwood, winner of the King Cotton Stakes at Oaklawn Park last month, are expected to be the starting 122-pound highweights in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Tom Fool Handicap.
Skyler’s Scramjet has finished second in his last two starts, beaten a head by Recruiting Ready in the Gravesend in December, and 1 1/2 lengths by Solid Wager in the Grade 3 Toboggan on Jan. 19.
Last November, Heartwood finished second to Life in Shambles in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap here.
Others expected for the Tom Fool, at six furlongs, are Life in Shambles (120), Hoffenheim (115), Syndergaard (115), and possibly Do Share (119), Bavaro (116), and Fully Vested (115).