King’s Bishop

Two highly talented horses will go postward at Saratoga on Saturday as HENNY
HUGHES (Hennessy) and SONGSTER (Songandaprayer) face off in the $250,000 King’s
Bishop S. (G1). Both look evenly matched, but Songster has more starts
under his girth while Henny Hughes has only one outing since last year’s Breeders’ Cup
Juvenile (G1). Because Songster is a little more battle tested, we’ll give him
the slight edge here.

The winner of both the Woody Stephens Breeders’ Cup S. (G2) and Hirsch Jacobs
S. (G3) this year, Songster comes off a 1 1/2-length second to COURT FOLLY (Royal Academy)
after being caught in the stretch of the Amsterdam S. (G2) last out. Since that
race was just a prep for the King’s Bishop, we won’t put a
whole lot of focus on that effort. The black colt drilled four furlongs in :47
1/5 on August 18 in his last workout for this, and the Tom Albertrani-conditioned
sophomore looks in good shape with Edgar Prado returning to the saddle.

Henny Hughes came back off his layoff in excellent form, easily capturing the
Jersey Shore Breeders’ Cup S. (G3) by 10 lengths while earning a 110 BRIS Speed
figure. He has been training well for Kiaran McLaughlin and has never finished
worse than second in seven career starts. Henny Hughes will put up a good effort
in this seven-furlong affair as John Velazquez takes the irons for the first time.

Court Folly’s wait-and-see running style should benefit him in a contest that
could open with quick fractions. He captured the Amsterdam in his
last effort after sitting off the pace and finishing strong in the straightaway.
Trainer Ian Wilkes brings back jockey Calvin Borel to pilot the bay gelding. Two
back, Court Folly finished up well after being taken seven wide in a Churchill Downs
allowance and could emulate that performance here.

Although STAR DABBLER (Saint Ballado) is making his stakes debut for trainer
Michael Hushion, the bay colt impressed when breaking his maiden two back by
seven lengths before turning around to defeat allowance/optional claiming rivals by
2 1/2 lengths last out. He earned Speed figures of 102 and 105, respectively, for those efforts
and, if he improves off those, should pay well at 10-1 on the morning line.

LEWIS MICHAEL (Rahy), who is cross-entered and expected to run in Saturday’s
St. Louis Derby, would be racing at less than a mile for the first time in his career and
could be
another gunning for the early advantage, although he has had some
success in the past coming from off the pace. The Wayne Catalano-conditioned bay
has done well on the turf, but comes off a dominant 8 1/4-length victory against allowance company over Arlington Park’s main track and would
be interesting to watch in this spot.

MASTER OF DISASTER (Dance Master) could try for the early lead, but the six-furlong specialist
might be hindered by the extra distance. Still, he
finished up well when scoring in a six-furlong allowance/optional claimer two back and could hold on to round out the exotics. MACH RIDE
(Pentelicus) exits a second to Too Much Bling (Rubiano) in the Carry Back S.
(G2) last out and posted a two-length score in the Valid Video prior to
that. However, this is a step up in class, and we will
overlook this time.

EL NINO (Storm Cat) got the early lead in the Amsterdam, but fell off as he
tired in the latter stages of the race. He still managed to hold on for third,
but looks overmatched here. QUIETLY GO (Real Quiet) switches back to the main
track after a disappointing seventh on the turf at Del Mar in his last start, but
lacks the qualifications for this Grade 1.

LAPTOP COMPUTER (Notebook) could attempt to make an early go of it, but should be
caught in the later stages of the race. GARIBALDI (Golden Missile) was claimed
off his last start and will be outclassed.