The prestige of winning the first graded event of the Saratoga Race Course meet did little to sway trainers as the $175,000 Kelso Stakes (G3T) drew only five entrants, plus a main-track only, to compete at a mile July 13.
What the field lacks in size, it gains in competitiveness, as all five are consistent hard-knocking runners. Three of them know each other fairly well by now as they have traded blows in the past.
The June 8 Poker Stakes (G3T) at Saratoga featured Mysterious Night finishing second, Talk of the Nation third, and Carl Spackler fifth. However, Carl Spackler defeated Mysterious Night by 7 1/2 lengths in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T) last summer at the Spa and edged Talk of the Nation by a head in the May 2 Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs.
Video: Poker S. (G3T)
The loss in the Poker snapped a three-race win streak for E Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ Carl Spackler. It was his first loss at the Spa, where he also won the Saranac (G3T) last year, in three starts and at the one-mile distance in four starts.
If the Chad Brown-trained Lope de Vega colt were to get back on top of his rivals, he would do so while carrying top weight of 122 pounds, an honor he shares with Godolphin’s Mysterious Night.
A grade 1 winner in Canada at age 2, the Dark Angel gelding went winless at age 3 before starting his 4-year-old year with consecutive wins at Meydan, including the Al Fahidi Fort (G2T). After a botched performance in the 1351 Turf Sprint (G2T) on Saudi Cup day, Mysterious Night returned from his three-month freshening with his runner-up effort in the Poker.
“He ran a good race there in his first start this season in America,” said trainer Charlie Appleby. “He came out of it well and I feel he’ll be a live player.”
Allen Stable and CHC Inc.’s Talk of the Nation will carry only 118 pounds despite being the field’s highest earner with $945,610. The son of Quality Road has hit the board in eight consecutive starts, including wins in two stakes, but has yet to earn the elusive graded victory.
To achieve millionaire status, Talk of the Nation will need to turn the tables on his foes.
“I thought (the Poker) was a good effort,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “He just couldn’t quite get by the pacesetter and then hold on for second, but it was a good effort, as was his race at Churchill. He’s a remarkably consistent horse and I expect him to show up and give us a good effort again.”
Also in the field
- West Point Thoroughbreds and David Ingordo’s Northern Invader makes his first start in New York since winning the Gio Ponti Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack last October.
- Trainer Rick Dutrow has two entered: Michael Dubb’s Call Me Harry , who makes his graded stakes debut, and Double B Racing Stables’ two-time grade 3 winner Repo Rocks , who is entered as a main-track only.
The Kelso will be race 2, with post time at 1:07 p.m. ET.
Entries: Kelso S. (G3T)
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, July 13, 2024, Race 2
- Grade III
- 1m
- Inner turf
- $175,000
- 4 yo’s & up
- 1:07 PM (local)
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