Accomplished field takes aim at Friday’s Tale of the Cat
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Jim and Susan Hill’s Silver Ride returned from an 11-month layoff to post a win against allowance company last June at Belmont Park. The 6-yearold Candy Ride gelding will now look to take a step up in class as part of a small but accomplished five-horse field in the fifth running of the $100,000 Tale of the Cat for 3-yearolds and up on Friday at Saratoga Race Course.
Trainer Brian Lynch said Silver Ride suffered a small hairline fracture in his shin that required multiple screws following a fourth-place finish in an optional claimer in May 2017 at Belmont Park. He finally returned nearly a year later, edging Wonderful Light by a nose to win a six-furlong optional claimer on June 22 on Big Sandy. Silver Ride, owned by Jim and Susan Hill, will now stay at that distance in the Tale of the Cat for his first stakes appearance in his 19th start.
“He has been a horse over the years where if you give him some time between races - though not by design a year - he always runs big when he’s fresh,” Lynch said. “He beat Stallwalkin’ Dude and a classy field of older allowance horses that day. He really gutted it out and I thought it was a courageous effort.”
Luis Saez, who was aboard for Silver Ride’s last start, will have the return call. Silver Ride will be making his first start at the Spa since winning an allowance race in September 2016.
“Sometimes, I’ve found that when you put screws in them, they come back better,” Lynch said.
Always Sunshine has a graded stakes to his credit, winning the 2016 Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap at Pimlico. The Edward Allard trainee has continued to face challenging competition in his 6-year-old campaign, running fourth in the Grade 2 True North on the day before the Belmont Stakes, June 8, before capitalizing on a drop in class, winning the Hockessin last out on July 14 at Delaware Park.
Jockey Frankie Pennington will make his first start at Saratoga of the meet when he rides Always Sunshine.
My Boy Tate will look to come back strong from a six-month layoff looking to extend a five-race winning streak that stretches back to his last Saratoga appearance, when he broke his maiden at fourth asking on August 13, 2017. The New York-bred ended the year with back-toback allowance wins at Aqueduct Racetrack before posting victories in the Say Florida Sandy on January 13 and the Hollie Hughes on February 19, with both of those wins coming at the Big A.
Trained by Michelle Nevin, My Boy Tate is 5-1-1 in eight career starts with earnings of $252,300. Manny Franco will be in the irons.
Mr. Crow has already made an appearance at Saratoga in the meet, running fourth in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on Jim Dandy Day July 28. His best performance in a stakes came with a runner up effort in the Grade 3 Aristides on June 2 at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Ben Colebrook, Mr. Crow will have Jose Ortiz in the saddle.
Pop the Hood, trained by Rodrigo Ubillo, will make his stakes debut with Abel Lezcano aboard.