Sardella’s Column

Promising Futures for Local Three Year Olds

It was a brilliant start to the season for three three-year old pacers that competed on Friday night at Saratoga Casino and Raceway.  The evening’s first race featured the debut of a well-bred three year old making his lifetime start. Trainer Jose Godinez brought Action Brad to town for his first career race. The Bettor’s Delight bred freshman came in with two strong qualifiers as preps, the first of which saw him come a final quarter of :27.4 over the half mile track of Yonkers. Bet down to 1-5 in his debut, Action Brad cruised wire-to-wire to break his maiden. A back half of :57.4 highlighted a mile in which Action Brad posted a 1:58.3 win to establish a lifetime mark.

Upfront Miss Major made her seasonal debut on Friday in a return to the Spa, where she had competed a few times last year as a two year old. The Perry Simser trainee hit the board twice in six starts as a freshman and this year made her first start of the year on Friday. It looks as if the filly, who was winless in limited tries in 2011, is primed for a big year in ’12. Dan Cappello Jr sat behind Upfront Miss Major as she sat back early before unleashing a second half attack. Like Action Brad earlier in the night, Upfront Miss Major was heavily backed by the betting public to the tune of 1-5 and she certainly raced like an odds-on favorite should. A final half in 56 seconds is almost unheard of for a filly in her situation. That is, one that is making her first start of the year with just one qualifier as a prep. While she showed promise in the ’11 season, it looks like Upfront Miss Major may be in store for a big year in stakes competition as we move forward towards the summertime.

Trainer Sam Schillaci brought a good portion of his stable to Saratoga a few weeks ago and the Ohio based conditioner is off to a big start to the meet at the Spa. Bettor’s Delight filly Marinade Hanover had made two starts at Northfield for Schillaci before coming east. While only finishing fourth and fifth in her first two races, Marinade Hanover did post a final quarter of :27.1 in her final try in the Buckeye State. That kind of final panel for a young filly on a half mile track is pretty much unheard of. For her local debut on April 20^th, Marinade Hanover had Schillaci’s brother-in-law John Stark Jr doing the driving. After sitting back early, the freshman filly unleashed a first over move, very similar to the one we would see on Friday night from Upfront Miss Major, and sprinted away from her rivals for a nearly ten length victory, breaking her maiden in 1:57.3. Not too many maidens record their first win in a time as fast as that.

On Friday night, after Action Brad and Upfront Miss Major did their thing, Marinade Hanover faced a daunting task of her own. She would have to start from post seven and square off against a strong group of young fillies and mares. Out of town shipper Pfortyseven Girl was the race’s 3-5 favorite but it was Wygant Belle that would cut the mile on Friday. Marinade Hanover got away last and not only was more than a dozen lengths off the lead at the quarter pole, but was still last by almost nine lengths at the half. Stark sat patiently with the talented filly but what followed was pretty special, especially for a horse making just her fourth lifetime start. Marinade Hanover moved three wide at the three quarter pole while still seventh. It was apparent that she had a lot of pace but could she pass six rivals in the final quarter? Wygant Belle still had a two length lead in mid-stretch and was pacing quickly but Marinade Hanover’s brush was too much and she got up to win by a nose. The move was an eye-popping one to all that watched, especially considering that she is so young and inexperienced. Whether or not Action Brad and Marinade Hanover will compete in the New York Sire Stakes remains to be seen but with stakes starts on her resume from last year, Upfront Miss Major is sure to participate in the upcoming stakes season.

It’s hard to believe but the New York Sire Stakes season is on the horizon. We have seen a host of talented youngsters, such as the three that won on Friday night, race at Saratoga thus far but in the coming weeks, we are sure to see more and more debuts by not only talented three year olds but also a host of up-and-coming two year olds. Usually, starting in May the new crop of youngsters start to prep with qualifiers and ultimately begin to compete for real very soon thereafter. We are currently only two weeks away from seeing the New York Sire Stakes season start at Saratoga as three year old trotting fillies will square off for the big money on Wednesday, May 16^th.

Look for some of the talented youngsters that Saratoga has to offer, including the trio that won on Friday night, to do some damage this summer in stakes competition.

Live racing takes place on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evenings with first post times set for 7:05pm. Sunday matinee racing starts each week at 12:45pm. I will be on vacation  for the next couple of weeks (honeymoon following my wedding!) so this column will resume on Monday May 21^st. Until then, I’m Mike Sardella wishing you the best of luck and we’ll see YOU at the finish line!