Saratoga Race Course: Brightwork rolls to victory in Adirondack to stay undefeated

By Mike MacAdam/The Leader-Herald

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Brightwork made short work of the Grade III Adirondack field in the home stretch at Saratoga Race Course on Sunday.

Ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr., she stalked the early pacesetters and pulled away to win by five lengths over betting favorite Here U Come Again.

“It was perfect,” trainer John Ortiz said. “It was pretty much what I told Irad. She’s got tactical speed. He goes, ‘Yeah, she’s quick out of the gate.’ I said, ‘Don’t take anything away. Just let the race set up. You’re going to win the race in the end, so don’t worry.’ ”

“He told me in the paddock, ‘I’m pretty confident she’s going to run her race, so ride her with confidence,” Irad Ortiz said. “Just don’t leave too early. Save something for the end.’ ”

John Ortiz won’t be saving Brightwork for a fall race for her next start on the way to the Breeders’ Cup in November..

He liked her Adirondack performance so much that he plans to bring her right back in the Spinaway on Sept. 3.

“I think she’s still got more gears going longer,” he said. “Eventually, we’re going to try her around two turns, but we’ll head to the next spot here at Saratoga, and you know what that is. I’m feeling confident for that race right now.”

Brightwork improved to 3-for-3 this year, including wins at Keeneland in April and Ellis Park in July.

“She blows me away every time, not only in the mornings, but in the afternoon,” Ortiz said. “It magnifies what I see in the mornings. She comes out for every race with such class. We were walking up here, she had a lip shank, and I told my brother to take it off. She doesn’t need that. She was very professional.”

Schuylerville winner Becky’s Joker was never a threat in the Adirondack and finished seventh in the field of eight.

“She didn’t fire,” trainer Gary Contessa said. “He [jockey Javier Castellano] said she was acting really squirrelly in the gate, like maybe she was in heat. We’ll take a look to see if it was something physical, or maybe she was in heat.”

ARCANGELO, MAGE BREEZE

Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo breezed five furlongs on Sunday in 1:00.21 over the main track in preparation for the Aug. 26 Travers.

Castellano was aboard for the work.

Trainer Jena Antonucci said Arcangelo nearly got two works for the price of one when the colt attempted to join in on another breeze during his impressive gallop-out.

“He swapped leads and went to go again,” Antonucci told the New York Racing Association. “That’s a good quality for a horse to have. We finally got him pulled up over the three-eighths pole. He was kind of pleased with himself.

“In the turn, I asked a little bit and he took off,” Castellano said. “I just dropped my hands and let him roll. The boss wanted me to put on a good show today. I had been holding and keeping him fresh, but we are in a stage to make it serious because we are facing the best 3-year-olds in the country. You have to put a good foundation in, and I think he does.”

Castellano is also the regular rider on Kentucky Derby winner Mage, who breezed at Saratoga for the first time on Saturday, with exercise rider J.J. Delgado in the irons.

Castellano hasn’t yet decided which colt he’ll ride in the Travers.

Mage was scheduled to breeze on Friday, but the workout was pushed back a day because of a thunderstorm.

“The rider said to me, ‘No complaints,’ ” trainer Gustavlo Delgado, Sr. said. “Very intelligent and concentrated. He came back and wasn’t breathing heavy and was quite focused. It’s two weeks after the Haskell, so we had no expectations, and he didn’t need to hit a mark.”

WHITE ABARRIO TRAINING UP TO BC

There are options on the racing calendar for White Abarrio to run again before the Breeders’ Cup in November, but trainer Rick Dutrow, Jr. won’t be exercising any of them.

Following White Abarrio’s victory in the $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, the horse will train up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park.

The Whitney was a “Win And You’re In” qualifier for the Classic.

Dutrow told the New York Racing Association that White Abarrio likely will train for the race in California.

“I didn’t have to think about it,” he said. “All you have to do is read his PPs [past performances] and you’ll see the more time he gets between races, the more he shows up. I’d be willing to wait four months or five months to run him. He just shows up when he’s fresh.”

ANOTHER HORSE DEATH

Ever Summer broke down at the quarter pole of the inner turf course in the fourth race on Sunday and was euthanized on the track with a catastrophic injury to her left front leg.

Irad Ortiz, Jr. fell from the saddle and was sent to First Aid, but he was cleared to ride the rest of the card.

Not long after, NYRA moved the remaining three turf races onto the main track “in consultation with the jockeys, who expressed concern with the overall condition of the courses following heavy rains throughout last week,” NYRA vice president of communications Pat McKenna said. “NYRA will be evaluating both turf courses over the next two days and will adjust the temporary rail positions for Wednesday’s live racing program.”

“Unfortunately, two horses got hurt in the same race, but before that we were on the turf course and it wasn’t really that bad,” Ortiz said after winning the Adirondack on Brightwork. “It was soft a couple days ago. I think it’s a little beat-up. I don’t think it’s really bad. They know what they’re doing, and hopefully it gets better soon.”

In the fourth race, Ortiz had replaced Joel Rosario on Ever Summer after Rosario was injured in the Grade I Test on Saturday when Maple Leaf Mel broke down at the finish line. Rosario was sent to the hospital for stitches to some facial abrasions.

Besides Ever Summer being euthanized out of that race, Frivole was vanned off after being eased by Manny Franco. Trainer Graham Motion said via Twitter that Frivole was OK and back at her stall.

Maple Leaf Mel was on the verge of winning the Grade I Test on Saturday, but broke her right front leg two steps from the finish line and was euthanized on the track.

She and Ever Summer represented the third and fourth horse deaths of the meet, respectively, due to injuries suffered during racing. Three of the four occurred in the last four days.

Sopran Basilea finished fourth in the Glens Falls last Thursday, but was pulled up by Manny Franco on the clubhouse turn and was euthanized with a catastrophic injury to her right front leg.