Dakota Gold upsets favored Spirit of St Louis in Sunday’s West Point Handicap at Saratoga. Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo.
The five horses that contested Sunday’s $194,000 West Point Handicap at Saratoga Race Course were the same quintet that raced in the Hudson Valley Stakes July 7 at Aqueduct. The similarities between the two races pretty much end there.
For starters, there were some anxious moments in the Saratoga paddock when Itsallcomintogetha got loose after being saddled. An outrider caught him before he could get too far and nobody was hurt in the incident. Jose Gomez mounted the Weekend Hideaway colt and led the post parade with no further problems.
With Spirit of St Louis a 3-length winner over the same four opponents in the Hudson Valley, bettors sent him off as the 2-5 favorite in the West Point. This time, Hudson Valley runner-up Dakota Gold took his turn in the spotlight as he closed from last to win the 1 1/16-mile turf event by a nose over Spirit of St Louis for trainer Danny Gargan.
“Any time you beat Spirit of St Louis, you’ve run huge,” Gargan said. “He’s been an unbelievable horse to have his whole life. We won stakes at 2, 3, 4, now at 5 with him. He’s been a pleasure to have. He’s one of those horses that you love to look in the barn at every year and see. We gelded him this year. He’s lightly raced right now, and he’s been training spectacular. But, you know, it’s a big upset because Spirit of St Louis is a serious horse. We couldn’t be more happy with how he ran today.”
Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Dakota Gold broke from the rail Sunday and immediately took his spot at the back of the field. Jerry the Nipper appeared intent on going to the lead and set moderate fractions of :23.43 and :48.30.
Dakota Gold remained last under Dylan Davis going into the far turn as Spirit of St Louis started making his bid from fourth. Dakota Gold swung widest of all turning for home with some work to do to catch Spirit of St Louis, but had just enough to chase him down in the final strides. The 5-year-old gelding by Freud finished in 1:41.24 with Spirit of St Louis second, followed by City Man, Jerry the Nipper and Itsallcomintogetha.
“We were able to get him in some good striking distance down the backside and I knew that he was going to make a good run even though I was going to be wide around the bend,” Davis said. “The main focus was to get him running and in the clear, and that’s what we did today. He was able to run down (Spirit of) St Louis.”
Gargan noted that Dakota Gold could race against New York-bred company again in the Ashley T. Cole September 27 at Aqueduct.
“Most likely,” he said. “He’ll stay against New York-breds until we go to Florida.”
Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Ronald Bowden Living Trust, Dakota Gold is out of the winning Lemon Drop Kid mare Dakota Kid.
Dakota Gold sold for $83,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga fall mixed sale. Of three half-siblings who have raced, two have won, including multiple stakes winner Ramblin’ Wreck and stakes-placed mare Dakota Dancer. Dakota Gold, now a five-time stakes winner, improved to 6-3-3 in 17 starts and boosted his bankroll to $880,950. – Alec DiConza
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Moonage Daydream rolls to 13-1 upset of Yaddo Handicap Sunday at Saratoga. Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo.
Moonage Daydream pulled off a 13-1 upset in the $200,000 Yaddo Handicap to give Jorge Abreu a training triple on Sunday’s card. He won with Silver Satin in the third race and Busy Morning in the seventh. Prior to Sunday, Abreu had one win at the meet with seven seconds.
“It was frustrating early on with the turf, off the turf, the rain,” he said. “A lot of horses finishing second with a good race, getting tough beats. I was just waiting for things to turn around.”
Moonage Daydream sat second behind Venti Valentine early on in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares. Under Jose Ortiz, the 4-year-old daughter of Candy Ride overtook that rival to gain the lead turning for home and established a gap between herself and the competition. The filly owned by Chris Larsen ran home to a 1 1/4-length score in 1:42.81. Marvelous Maude closed late for second, a neck ahead of Whatlovelookslike..
“We broke really clean,” Ortiz said. “I had to wrestle with her in the first turn to take her back, but I did take her back. She settled on the backside. Three-eighths pole, I was traveling really well and I was very confident. I rode her last time and knew her well. She ran good that day, but she was a little bit rank early on. Today, I tried to settle more, and there was still a lot of room to improve. She needs to settle a little bit more.”
Moonage Daydream came into the Yaddo off a fourth in the Perfect Sting against open company after setting the pace. Seeing his filly tire to finish 4 1/2 lengths off the winner, Abreu came into the Yaddo with a plan to be less aggressive early.
“When she ran at Aqueduct, the stakes she ran before this one, she would make the lead and she got a little tired toward the end,” Abreu said. “Jose told me we just want to try to relax her a little bit, and we did. I told Jose, ‘Whatever you do, do not make the lead with this filly. I don’t care if you have to stand up in the stirrup. Do not make the lead.’ He did a good job.”
Abreu said he isn’t quite sure where Moonage Daydream will run next, but noted that he wouldn’t likely stretch her out in distance.
“I don’t think I’m going to stretch her out any more than this,” he said. “We’ll see how she comes out of it and then make a decision of where we want to go next.”
Ortiz won the Seeking The Ante with Accelerating earlier on the card, making his win in the Yaddo a stakes double for New York Showcase Day. After the Yaddo, he praised the New York-bred racing program.
“It is a great program, I fully support,” he said. “It is a great program for New York breeders and owners. It is a very rich program. They put a lot of money into New York-breds here at NYRA, which is very important for the program to keep growing. It is in a great place right now.”
Moonage Daydream is out of Elatha, a winning Malibu Moon mare who has produced two other foals to race, including the two-time winner Guardian Moon. Moonage Daydream was bred by 3C Stable and now has four wins in 10 starts with career earnings of $301,910. – Alec DiConza
