Basin sinks Hopeful field
After Green Light Go scratches, colt dominates 2-year-olds in a sea of slop
The big horse in Monday’s 115th running of the Grade I Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga didn’t leave the barn.
That left the door wide open for trainer Steve Asmussen, who had all the players for the final Grade I of the season that is supposed to give us a glimpse into the future.
The Hopeful is for 2-year-old colts and if these horses continue to show promise, they could be players in next year’s Triple Crown series.
Asmussen has to like what he saw Monday on a closing day that started with plenty of rain and turned the track into a sea of slop.
The 8-5 morning-line favorite for the Hopeful, Green Light Go, was scratched early Monday because trainer Jimmy Jerkens did not want to run his undefeated colt on an off track.
That opened the door for Asmussen and he kicked it in.
His horses ran first, second and third in the seven-furlong race, which was reduced to six horses after the scratch.
The winner of the race was Basin, who broke his maiden at the Spa on July 21. Jockey Jose Ortiz, riding the son of Liam’s Map, got a powerful performance from the colt, who won the race by a dominating 6 1/2 lengths.
Second place went to another Asmussen horse, Shoplifted, who was a neck in front of Gozilla, also trained by Asmussen.
Basin was the longest price of the three as he went off 3-1. Shoplifted was 5-2 and Gozilla 6-5.
“We felt great about them coming into the meet,” Asmussen said of his young trio. “We thought we had some extremely talented 2-yearolds, and I think they proved that.”
Basin and Ortiz sat behind the early pace-setters Gozilla and American Butterfly. After early fractions of 22.66 seconds for the quarter mile and 45.84 seconds for the half, Basin and Ortiz pounced. They swung three wide into the stretch and motored right past the leaders and won going away.
“I saw them going at it, and it was the first time going seven furlongs, so you’ve got to be careful,” Ortiz said. “I just took my time. I could have moved a little earlier, but I didn’t want to since they were fighting (up front). I gave my horse a really nice breather from the half mile to the quarter pole and that made a difference. I made just one move with him.”
When he broke his maiden, Basin beat a horse named Three Technique, who came back to win here by 51/2 lengths on Aug. 31.
In his first two starts, Basin was ridden by Asmussen’s go-to rider Ricardo Santana Jr. He also rode the ultra-hyped Gozilla, who rolled to a 41/2-length maiden win in his first career start on Aug. 10 here.
Gozilla’s appearance in the Hopeful also brought back Ahmed Zayat, who owns him along with Gary Barber.
Zayat said this was the first time he was at Saratoga since the 2015 Travers, when his Triple Crown winner American Pharoah lost to Keen Ice in the Midsummer Derby.
Zayat sat in a front-row box and watched Gozilla lose.
“Disappointed,” Zayat said as he prepared to leave the track. “It’s horse racing. I guess we will live to fight another day. I don’t see any excuse.”
Zayat said he was here because he comes when he believes he has a live horse and has a “good one.”
“I haven’t lost faith in him,” Zayat said. “They are not machines. It was his second race.”
Basin was timed in 1:23.48 and paid $8.20, $4.00 and $2.60.