Heart to Heart looks for better conditions on better turf, Oscar Performance evaluated

Heart to Heart finished last of six in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap on Saturday at the Spa. While the onemile race was contested on an inner turf labeled good, consistent rainfall in the area made the ground soft, which Lynch said was not conducive to the 7-yearold son of English Channel, who was the 2-1 morning line favorite.

“I tried to scratch Heart to Heart because I knew he hated the soft turf and when that happened, I knew it was going to be a funny day,” Lynch said. “He’s a funny old horse. On days he decides he doesn’t want to play, he just looks after himself. He’s done that to us before.”

Lynch said he’s seen similar behavior before, including the 2015 Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile when he ran 10th over soft turf.

“He got real soft turf and didn’t like it and he just looked after himself, very similar to yesterday,” Lynch said. “In the [Grade 2] Ft. Lauderdale this year, he reared up in the gate and couldn’t get into the race, and he did the same. He takes care of himself for himself. But Heart to Heart came back perfect.”

Oscar Performance sent to Rood and Riddle as precaution; Heart to Heart looks for better conditions after detesting soft turf in Fourstardave

Oscar Performance is being checked out by Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital after being pulled up near the wire and vanned off in the Grade 1 Arlington Million, trainer Brian Lynch said back at his Saratoga barn Sunday morning.

Running in the stretch on a turf course listed as firm at Arlington Park, Oscar Performance was pulled up by jockey Jose Ortiz before he could complete the race. Lynch said nothing seemed apparent on initial inspection, but they sent the six-time graded stakes winner for further evaluation.

“He seems OK. To us, it wasn’t anything real apparent after the race, but Jose said he definitely took a bad step,” Lynch said. “He did the right thing and eased him up. When he got back to the barn, you couldn’t see anything on him, so just to be on the ultra-conservative side, we’re having [Rood and Riddle] to do an evaluation and make sure there’s nothing that we’re missing.”

Oscar Performance had breezed twice on Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf track before shipping to Arlington. The 4-year-old Kitten’s Joy colt was coming off a win in the Grade 3 Poker on June 17 at Belmont Park, building on a 3-year-old campaign in which he won the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington and both the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and Grade 3 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park.

“Hopefully, it’s not an early retirement and it was just one of those things,” Lynch said. “There was nothing pronounced, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that everything’s OK.”