Seven runners are in contention for the 2023 Sword Dancer Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga.
There will be a new name on the trophy after Gufo won the last two editions of the 1 mile 4 furlong Grade 1 on the New York state turf, and the favourite this time is Stone Age; 2.75 with bet365.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 24th, 6:00 P.M. (BST)
Chad C. Brown’s four-year-old’s last five runs have all been in different countries, but that travel seems to have taken its toll after he finished last in the H H The Amir Trophy in Qatar, with a second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland the only result of note.
Top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien has brought Bolshoi Ballet over for this. The five-year-old will be ridden by John Velazquez for the first time after coming a distant sixth in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July.
Also very much in contention are the two 5.50 chances, Soldier Rising and Channel Maker.
Gufo’s trainer Christophe Clement is in search of a third-straight win, this time with five-year-old Soldier Rising. He was second in back-to-back Grade 1s at Belmont Park earlier this year; the Man o’ War Stakes and the Manhattan Stakes, but Jose Ortiz’s mount was only seventh last time, in Saratoga’s Bowling Green Stakes.
Winner of the Bowling Green was Channel Maker, the winner of this race in 2020. Now nine-years-old, July’s run was William Mott’s runner’s first graded win in over a year, having only managed sixth in the Man o’ War.
The 2020 winning jockey was restored to the saddle for the first time since 2021 for the Bowling Green, and he rides again this weekend.
The only other runner coming into this race on a winning streak is Pioneering Spirit (12.00), who has won his last two for Linda Rice. The four-year-old has won two allowance races in recent weeks, though he has never ridden in graded company. Today (August 24th) a gelded notification was given and Irad Ortiz will be on board for the first time.
Also at 12.00 is four-year-old Verstappen who will surely attract the Formula 1 fans! He was runner-up in the Bowling Green for Brendan Walsh and has a Grade 2 win over Saturday’s distance this year, in the Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland, but his one Grade 1 outing resulted in a seventh of eight, in the Man o’ War.
Making up the field is 34.00 chance Daunt, the mount of Flavien Prat, who came fourth in the Bowling Green.
