Pletcher expected to send out four in Frizette; Ice Box to
try turf in Jamaica
Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won last year’s Frizette S. (G1) with Devil May
Care (Malibu Moon), looks to repeat next Saturday when he sends out a quartet of
fillies for the $300,000 race, one of three Grade 1s on the card along with the
Champagne and the Jamaica H.
Heading the group is E. Paul Robsham Stables’ R HEAT LIGHTNING (Trippi),
already a Grade 1 winner with her four-length victory in the Spinaway at
Saratoga on September 5. The filly will be making her fourth start in the
one-mile Frizette, having broken her maiden in July at Delaware Park and
finished second in the Colleen S. at Monmouth Park in August.
“She seems to have been handling the gradual progression of stretching out
nicely,” said Pletcher, who will also saddle TAP FOR LUCK (Tapit), MAPLE FOREST
(Forestry) and VALIANT PASSION (Lion Heart) in the race.
Tap for Luck, owned by Summit West Racing, will be making her second start in
the Frizette, coming off a 2 1/4-length win in a five-furlong maiden event at
Saratoga on August 20.
“It’s a big jump up going from a five-furlong maiden win, but she is bred to
stretch out and we’re optimistic she’ll handle that,” Pletcher said.
Maple Forest, front-running winner of her maiden effort at Saratoga on August
5 and most recently the beaten favorite in the Sorority S. at Monmouth on
September 6, looks to be the speed of the group, while the late-running Valiant
Passion, a 9 1/4-length maiden winner at Saratoga on August 12, was subsequently
purchased by Team Valor International and finished third in the Spinaway for her
new connections.
“I think she ran a credible race in the Spinaway,” Pletcher said of Valiant
Passion. “Because of the negotiations, she’d had only one work between her first
race and the Spinaway, and since then she’s had a steady series of works.”
JOYFUL VICTORY (Tapit), a debut winner over a route of ground at Delaware
Park on September 11, will make her first start against winners in the Frizette,
trainer Tony Dutrow confirmed Saturday morning.
“We think she is a Grade 1 filly,” said Dutrow of the decision to have Joyful
Victory compete in the one-mile event. “I think we have a horse that can tackle
such a feat.”
Owned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farm, Joyful Victory will look to live up to
the potential she has been showing in the mornings.
“She has been promising for the previous two months that she is a special
filly,” Dutrow said. “Our expectations have been high.”
According to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes, the remaining Frizette
probables are A Z WARRIOR (Bernardini), AFTER LATER (Orientate) and COAX LIBERTY
(Successful Appeal), with PROMISE ME A CAT (D’wildcat) listed as possible.
Pletcher will also hold a strong hand in the $300,000 Champagne. In addition
to saddling Repole Stable’s sensational maiden winner and likely favorite UNCLE
MO (Indian Charlie), Pletcher revealed that he may also enter STAY THIRSTY (Bernardini)
in the one-mile race. Also owned by Repole Stable, Stay Thirsty was most
recently second to Boys at Tosconova (Officer) in the Hopeful S. (G1) at
Saratoga on September 6.
Also probable for the race, according to Byrnes, are BROTHER IN ARMS (Yes
It’s True), JUSTIN PHILLIP (First Samurai) and WINE POLICE (Speightstown), with
Sanford S. (G2) winner MAYBESOMAYBENOT (Sunday Break [Jpn]), MERIDIAN MAGIC
(Mineshaft) and MOUNTAIN TOWN (Cape Town) listed as possible contenders.
Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito said Saturday afternoon that Florida Derby
(G1) winner and Kentucky Derby (G1) runner-up ICE BOX (Pulpit) will make his
next start on the grass in the $250,000 Jamaica.
Ice Box, who was unplaced as the favorite in the Belmont S. (G1) and
subsequently sixth in the Haskell Invitational (G1) and eighth in the Travers S.
(G1), has worked twice over the grass at Saratoga, going a half-mile in :51 2/5
on September 10 and again in :49 1/5 on September 24.
“Bob (owner Robert LaPenta) and I talked about it, and we decided we have to
make a change,” Zito said. “The Triple Crown, obviously, is so tough on horses
and you have to try something. So Bob thought, being that (his dam Spice Island)
won on the grass and with his style of running, let’s just try the turf. He’s
worked a couple times on the grass, so we’ll try it. So we will see what
happens. Hopefully this changes him around and he can step up.”
ADMIRAL ALEX (Afleet Alex), most recently last in a field of 11 in the
Travers, will also be making his turf debut in the Jamaica. Owner and trainer
Leon Blusiewicz plans to send the half-brother to Lexington S. (G3) and Fort
Marcy S. (G3) winner Woodlander (Forestry) out for his first work over the turf
on Monday at Belmont Park.
“His whole pedigree is loaded with turf,” Blusiewicz said. “She (his dam
Madam Lagonza) comes from one of the powerful families in Europe.”
Admiral Alex, who entered the Travers off a 1 1/8-mile maiden win at
Saratoga, has worked three times since the race, with his most recent move a
six-furlong breeze over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga in 1:14.
“He had a lot of things going against him in the Travers,” Blusiewicz said.
“He was bothered a bit early in that race. After the race, I gave him two weeks
off. He’s been working well since then.”
Also among those expected in the Jamaica are LETHAL COMBINATION (Broken Vow),
TURF MELODY (Maria’s Mon) and FANTASTICO ROBERTO (Ire) (Refuse to Bend [Ire]),
the respective top three finishers from the Saranac S. (G3) at Saratoga on
September 5, along with KRYPTON (Rock Hard Ten) and BEAU CHOIX (Elusive
Quality).