A CLASSIC SARATOGA MATCH-UP IN DANDY
Derby winner Always Dreaming faces Preakness winner Cloud Computing in Jim Dandy
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » It doesn’t shape up to be the most compelling Jim Dandy ever, when the $600,000 Grade 2 attracts only five starters. The field includes two maiden winners and another horse who has yet to run on dirt. What saves the race is that the other two starters just happen to be classic winners, Always Dreaming (Kentucky Derby) and Cloud Computing (Preakness).
Small fields are not uncommon for the Jim Dandy. Two years ago the race drew only four starters, and the average since 2000 is only 6.5. This is the first time in at least a quarter-century — and perhaps in the race’s 54-year history — that the field has included two classic winners.
At even-money and 6-5, respectively, Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing are of course the overwhelming morning-line favorites. Neither horse has raced since the Preakness, a race in which Always Dreaming finished eighth as the 6-5 favorite. Both have been working well since at Belmont and Saratoga.
On paper, Always Dreaming looks to have an edge. Toss the Preakness result, and the son of
Bodemeister is less than two lengths short of being unbeaten in six career starts. The Derby was his fourth straight win, races he won by more than 23 combined lengths.
He is also 2-for-2 at the Jim Dandy’s nine furlongs.
Cloud Computing was a maiden winner when he won the Preakness at 131, out-gaming Classic Empire by a head in an exciting finish. In his one try at a mile and an eighth, he was beaten seven lengths in the Wood Memorial. The Jim Dandy is only his fifth start, so it may be that the Maclean’s Music colt still has room to improve.
The two favorites have different running styles, with Always Dreaming being more of a forwardly placed type and Cloud Computing preferring to stalk from just off the pace. Cloud Computing’s chances may hinge on whether Pavel (6-1), the only other apparent speed in the race, is able to make Always Dreaming work up front. However, since Pavel has raced only once — a 4 ½-length maiden victory at Santa Anita four weeks ago — it may be premature to draw any conclusions about his running style. Doug O’Neill conditions the son of Creative Cause. Mario Gutierrez flies in for the ride.
Giuseppe the Great (101) is 1-2-1 in five starts, all of them this year. He comes in off a second in the Woody Stephens (G2) and a fading fourth in the Dwyer (G3).
The Lookin At Lucky colt has never raced longer than a mile.
The fifth and final starter is Good Samaritan (12-1), who has been off the board in just one of six starts. The thing is, all of his races — which include five graded events — have been on turf.
The son of Harlan’s Holiday has had one recent work on dirt, covering four furlongs in 49 and 4/5 at Oklahoma.
A. P. Indian looks to repeat in Vanderbilt
A. P. Indian faced some pretty tough horses in winning last year’s A. G. Vanderbilt Stakes (G1), among them Holy Boss, Anchor Down and Delta Bluesman. How this year’s group stacks up by comparison — as A. P. Indian attempts to repeat in the $350,000 race — is hard to say. But the seven-yearold gelding, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, faces several horses who are enjoying the best year of their career.
One of them is second choice Limousine Liberal (3-1), who has won his last three starts, including a pair of graded races at Churchill Downs.
The five-year-old gelding has almost always run well against top competition, but until this year had had trouble finding his way into the winner’s circle. A win in the Vanderbilt would put the son of Successful Appeal over the $1 million mark.
Bird Song (6-1) cuts back in distance after competing in races around two turns for the past year.
The Marylou Whitney Stables standard-bearer was a gate-to-wire winner in the Fred Hooper Stakes (G3) and Alysheba (G2), but comes in off a disappointing eighth in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster. Bird Song is 2-for-3 at the six-furlong distance and 1-for-2 on the Saratoga strip.
Other entrants include El Deal (7-2), who put up big numbers while winning his last two starts. The Monmouth shipper has won 6-of-10 starts at six furlongs, and as the main speed in the race, will probably try to take this group gate to wire. Green Gratto (20-1) won the Carter Handicap (G1) back in April but has been well-beaten in three starts since.