Sophomore sprinters tangle in wide-open Amsterdam Stakes
A dozen 3-year-old sprinters meet today in the $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) to see which one gets to join an accomplished group of recent winners of the race that includes G1 winners Mind Your Biscuits and Promises Fulfilled; twice G1placed Holy Boss; and Coal Front, who went on to triumph in this year’s Godolphin Mile.
Four of today’s entrants are coming out of the Woody Stephens Stakes, which was elevated to G1 this year. Hog Creek Hustle, upset winner of that race, is not in the Amsterdam field, but four of the next five finishers are – and not surprisingly, they are among the top choices on the morning line.
Morning-line favorite Shancelot (3-1), however, did not run in the Woody Stephens. Unraced at two, the Shanghai Bobby colt was a neck winner in his Feb. 16 debut at seven furlongs, and followed that with a 6¼-length romp in an opening-level allowance on Jun 23. The Jorge Navarro trainee looks like the speed of the speed but will need to work to get position from the no. 12 hole.
Honest Mischief (7-2), who faded to sixth as the 2-1 favorite in the Woody Stephens, was coming off an eight-length win in his second maiden try. Toss the Stephens result, and this Juddmonte Farms homebred son of Into Mischief figures to be right in the mix. Chad Brown trains.
Nitrous, beaten only a neck in the Woody Stephens, broke his maiden at Saratoga last summer and followed that with a decent third in the Hopeful. The Tapit colt appears to be on the improve for Steve Asmussen and owner/ breeder Winchell Thoroughbreds.
Lightly raced Super Comet and Wendell Fong are both pegged at 8-1. Super Comet won his first two starts, a MSW and an opening-level allowance at Churchill. The latter race was at the Amsterdam’s 6½ furlongs. Mark Casse conditions the John C. Oxley homebred. Wendell Fong, 3-for-5 lifetime, will try to rebound from a fifth-place finish in the Stephens.
Strike Silver (10-1), fourth in the Woody Stephens, makes his second start back on dirt after an unsuccessful experiment on turf. Dismissed at 31-1 in the Stephens, the Violence colt led well into the stretch before giving way.
The rest of the Amsterdam field consists of Garter and Tie (10-1), Achilles Warrior (15-1), Lemniscate (20-1), Bourbon Calling (301), Classy John (30-1) and The Big S (30-1).