Elate, Game Winner in action on Saturday
By Stan Hudy
SARATOGA SPRINGS – The opening of the Saratoga meet is the main national racing story this week, and Saturday’s Diana Handicap – with its expected showdown between Sistercharlie and Rushing Fall – is the biggest single race. However, there are other important events this weekend, notably at Delaware Park and Los Alamitos, that could impact Saratoga later in the summer.
At Delaware Park, Elate (the 7-5 m/l favorite) will attempt to repeat in the Delaware Handicap, a race she won last year by 3½ lengths. The 5-year-old Medaglia d’Oro mare finished behind division leader Midnight Bisou in her first two starts this year but returned to the winner’s circle last month with a victory in the Fleur de Lis (G2). She’ll face a somewhat tougher field this time around, giving 2-9 pounds to eight rivals. Chief among them is Blue Prize (7-2), the 6-year-old G1-winning millionaire who was second behind Elate in the Fleur de Lis.
A good performance on Saturday could inspire Elate’s connections to once again look to Saratoga Race Course, where she is a neck or so shy of being unbeaten in three G1 starts. The logical place to land would be the Personal Ensign on Aug. 24, a race in which last year she was necked by Abel Tasman.
Meanwhile, out in California, reigning juvenile champ Game Winner is slated to make his first start since the Kentucky Derby (he finished fifth) in the Los Alamitos Derby (G2). Only three horses could be rounded up to face the three-time G1 winner. Kingly, another Bob Baffert trainee and a full brother to multiple G2 winner Mohaymen, is the only stakes winner among them (California Derby). The other two entrants are Feeling Strong, a winner of 2-of-11 starts, and Parsimony, who is winless in a dozen tries.
Plans for Game Winner beyond Saturday have not been announced, but it is worth remembering that Baffert used the Los Alamitos Derby as a stepping stone to the Travers two years ago. His horse then was West Coast, who romped in the Travers by 31/4 lengths at a generous 6-1. West Coast went on to be named champion 3-year-old male.