NYRA: Mage tunes up for G1 Travers with six-furlong breeze

Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Mage logged his penultimate breeze on Friday at Saratoga Race Course in preparation for the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on August 26. The chestnut son of Good Magic covered six furlongs in 1:12.98 over the Spa’s main track around 7:45 a.m. under regular exercise rider J.J. Delgado.

“He did pretty good. He was a little more in the bridle today,” said Gustavo Delgado, Jr., son and assistant to trainer Gustavo Delgado. “His exercise rider was happy about it and the best thing is how he came back. He took a couple rounds [cooling out] and that was it. It’s always good to see that.”

Owned by OGMA Investments, Ramiro Restrepo, Sterling Racing and CMNWLTH, Mage put in a more serious effort than last week when covering five furlongs in 1:01.03 over a Spa main track that held some moisture after steady rains in the days leading up to the breeze.

Delgado, Jr. said he expects Mage to have one more maintenance breeze next week ahead of the 1 1/4-mile Travers.

“It will depend on the weather, but hopefully Friday on the main track again,” said Delgado, Jr.

In addition to his win in the Kentucky Derby, Mage boasts two runner-up efforts in Grade 1s this year in the July 22 Haskell at Monmouth Park and the April 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park where he was defeated one length by the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Forte. He was a closing third two starts back in the Grade 1 Preakness 2 1/4 lengths back of the victorious National Treasure, who he will likely face again in the Travers.

The Delgado barn will look to kick off their Spa stakes action on a high note in Saturday’s $150,000 Galway, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, with Isabel Alexandra, who seeks her first stakes victory for owners Restrepo, OGMA Investments, Global Racing Stables and Inverdeco. The daughter of Expert Eye was a last-out winner by a neck on June 24 in a five-furlong allowance over the Horseshoe Indianapolis turf.

Delgado, Jr. said he is hopeful Isabel Alexandra is back to her best form after finishing fifth in her two other starts this year in the one-mile Ginger Brew in January at Gulfstream Park and an off-the-turf allowance sprinting five furlongs in May at Pimlico Race Course.

“She’s doing pretty good and we like her in here,” said Delgado, Jr. “When horses get here to Saratoga, they start improving and you see things in them you didn’t see before. We had tried to get her to go longer at Gulfstream and then we made a mistake in Pimlico when they took the race off the turf and we still raced her. We wanted to regroup and put her in a good spot to get confidence, which she did, so now we’ll see. It’s a tough race.”

Isabel Alexandra enters the Galway from a sharp half-mile bullet in 47.60 seconds on July 30 over Saratoga’s Oklahoma turf training track. Delgado, Jr. said he was impressed with the work and is pleased to have the opportunity to breeze horses over turf at Saratoga.

“She likes it here and she was able to breeze on the turf, and that helped,” said Delgado, Jr. “We have galloping on turf in Lexington, but we can’t breeze them. It’s 100 percent a big plus to have that here.”

Isabel Alexandra boasts a lifetime record of 6-2-1-0 with $60,785 in earnings. The Irish-bred filly is out of the Dutch Art mare Duchess Power, a half-sister to multiple group-winner and French stallion Slade Power. She will be ridden from post 3 by Reylu Gutierrez with a morning line assessment of 8-1.

G1-winner Leave No Trace breezes; Queen’s Plate-winner Safe Conduct to the Oceanport

WellSpring Stables’ Leave No Trace breezed a sharp half mile over the Saratoga main track in 47.44 seconds on Thursday, leaving trainer Phil Serpe with a decision to make regarding when his Grade 1 winning filly should return to the starting gate.

“She did very well. We’re very happy with the work,” said Serpe. “We’re just looking at some options for some races and will know more in a couple of days.”

Leave No Trace certainly left her mark at Saratoga during her juvenile campaign, winning her debut by 2 3/4 lengths sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs here en route to a 14-1 upset in the Grade 1 Spinaway, 1 1/2 lengths ahead of eventual Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Wonder Wheel.

Serpe’s Outwork filly next tried the Grade 1 Frizette in October at Belmont at the Big A and finished third despite a troubled break. Her 2-year-old campaign concluded in November with a second to Wonder Wheel in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland.

Leave No Trace returned as a sophomore in March in the Grade 2 Davona Dale, going one mile over the Gulfstream Park dirt. The dark-bay broke sharply to the lead setting a fast quarter of 23.01, but was eased after a half-mile by jockey Tyler Gaffalione.

She returned to the work tab on July 2 and has worked weekly since, with her fastest coming in Thursday’s move which ranked second out of 76 workers.

“She’s doing really well. She’s pretty close to a race,” Serpe said. “We want to get her in a race before we leave Saratoga, so hopefully towards the end of the meet. She’s going to get to run.”

A potential landing spot could be the Grade 2, $250,000 Prioress on September 2, a six furlong sprint for sophomore fillies.

Serpe will send out WellSpring Stables’ Safe Conduct in Sunday’s Oceanport at Monmouth Park, a 1 1/16 miles turf route for 3-year-olds and up.

The 5-year-old horse was entered in an allowance optional claimer on July 30 at Saratoga, but scratched and re-routed to New Jersey.

“He doesn’t like soft turf and the ground was pretty soft. I think the race down there looks like a decent spot, hopefully he can rebound and get something done,” said Serpe.

Safe Conduct broke his maiden going 1 1/16 miles over the Saratoga turf in August 2020. Since then, his earnings have climbed to $768,694 through a lifetime record of 18-4-3-3, featuring a stakes win in the 2021 Queen’s Plate at Woodbine.

Last summer, Safe Conduct became graded stakes placed with a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Monmouth, earning a lifetime high Beyer Speed Figure of 94 before heading into the Lure at Saratoga, where he ran fifth after a wide trip.

The Bodemeister bay last ran third in an optional claiming race for older horses on July 4 at Belmont, three lengths behind Portfolio Company, who returned to finish a neck off of a win in the Fasig-Tipton Lure on August 5 here.

Bred in Ontario by Mitchell Kursner, Safe Conduct is out of the Congrats mare Duchess Dancer, who is a half-sister to Canada’s 2008 Horse of the Year Fatal Bullet.

Trainer Adam Rice looking to continue Spa success

Trainer Adam Rice ships with intent to Saratoga, sporting a record of 7-4-0-1 dating to a debut maiden special weight score at 9-1 odds with Don’t Be So Salty in August 2015. The Tiz Wonderful gelding followed up two weeks later with a third-place finish in the Spa’s Schenectady.

“I don’t see any reason to go places or venture off unless I feel strongly about it,” said Rice, who oversees a stable of nine horses at Presque Isle Downs. “I don’t like to be wrong. If I’m right, I’m right, but if I have a question mark about it then I should probably stay away. New York is no place to get really adventurous unless you feel good about it.”

The 32-year-old conditioner’s other Spa winners include Moster Bea [MSW, 2015], Shekky Shebaz [CLM, 2019] and Closethegame Sugar, who won a restricted maiden special weight over good turf here last summer and is entered in Sunday’s $150,000 Mahony, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomores.

The runner-up in Closethegame Sugar’s maiden score, Webslinger, is now a graded-stakes winner with more than $1 million in purse earnings.

“We were prepared that day. I don’t like to come unprepared. My horse is an honest animal and it was one of those things where he gave me everything he had and we managed to get there that day,” Rice said. “That horse [Webslinger] has really excelled as a 3-year-old, and I’ve been sitting around trying to find a place where I’d like mine to be at.”

Co-owned by Rice with Sugar Diaz, the Girvin gelding, a $10,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, enters from a prominent runner-up effort to the dual stakes-winner Dreaming of Kona in the six-furlong Tom Ridge on June 5 over the Presque Isle Downs synthetic.

He will now face an experienced field of turf sprinters, as well as a pair of accomplished surface switchers in dual graded stakes-placed Drew’s Gold and Uncashed, who enters from a win in the off-the-turf Quick Call presented by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation on July 16 here.

Rice said his lightly-raced charge needed time to mature and may have been at a disadvantage to his more experienced foe in the Tom Ridge.

“It was just baby stuff. He needed to grow up a little bit. It seemed to help. He’s not changed drastically – he’s still the same little horse he was – but he got stronger and grew up,” Rice said. “I was worried he would be a little bit short going into the Tom Ridge, but he made a nice effort. I had entered him back in a ‘3-and-up’ stake here that also ended up being pretty tough, so I scratched out of that and was waiting to find my spot. I was looking at the Quick Call and passed on that. I like to choose my spots. I don’t want to beat the horse up.”

Rice indicated he would likely scratch Closethegame Sugar should the race come off-the-turf.

“That race has come up pretty tough. It looks like everybody entered according to the weather. If it stays on the turf, we’ll look pretty good. If it comes off, I think we would scratch out of it,” Rice said.

The Kentucky-bred Closethegame Sugar drew post 3 with Jose Lezcano aboard and a 15-1 morning-line assessment.

Rice will also send out Dancing Spirit in Race 2 on Sunday, a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight over the inner turf for juvenile fillies.

The Pennsylvania-bred Social Inclusion bay is owned outright by Rice and enters from a runner-up effort in a five-furlong maiden special weight on July 17 at Presque Isle, earning place honors by a head over next-out maiden winner Rotondo.

“We might be reaching a bit there. She’s a Pennsylvania-bred filly that I ran in open company and the horse that ran third behind her came back and won here last week going five [furlongs],” Rice said.

But Rice is cautiously optimistic of his chances with a filly he said is training forwardly for a stretch out in distance, which often leads to a prominent trip.

“I don’t think she needs to be on the lead. She’s handy. I like her. I think the distance will suit her well,” Rice said. “The more I ask of her here, the better she’s gotten for me. I don’t necessarily need the front end. If we can get there, it’s nice to be in charge, but the filly will tell me what it’s like.”

Dancing Spirit, listed at 8-1 on the morning line, will exit the outermost post 10 in rein to Rice’s brother-in-law Jose Ortiz – husband of Taylor Ortiz, née Rice.

Rice, the nephew of the Spa’s current co-leading trainer Linda Rice, also boasts a 3-1-1-0 record at Belmont Park led by a maiden win last July from Oxymore, who was sold privately and subsequently won Saratoga’s Skidmore.