Here and There…

Trainer Nick Zito announced Friday that Jorge Chavez will ride Albert the Great in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga on Aug. 26. Albert the Great finished last in Saturday's Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) when ridden by Richard Migliore. "This is my decision," said Zito. "I've had a lot of success with Jorge in the past and I feel comfortable with him." Zito continued to say that Migliore "did nothing dramatically wrong" in Saturday's race before concluding, "Albert might have failed in the Jim Dandy but Albert's not a failure."...Honorable Miss Handicap (gr. III) winner Bourbon Belle breezed five furlongs in 1:00 over the main track at Saratoga Friday morning, preparing for a likely start in the Aug. 20th Ballerina Handicap (gr. I) at Saratoga. Others pointing for the seven-furlong race include Honest Lady, Cash Run, Foil, Cassidy, Debby D'Or, Awful Smart, and La Galerie. Hurricane Bertie and Saoirse are also under consideration for the race...Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) winner Artax continued his preparation for this year's renewal of that race, working four furlongs in :47 3/5 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga on Friday. "He did it very easily, we never had to ask him at all," said trainer Louis Albertrani. Artax is unraced since his Breeders' Cup win but did stand at stud during the breeding season. "He's even better now than he was before," continued Albertrani. "He's not studdish around the mares at all, it's really amazing. I'm not sure where we're going to run him next. The horse will let us know when he's ready."...The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association has restored the grade II status of the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Handicap, run at Saratoga on Monday. Because the race was switched to the main track after originally being carded for the turf course, it was automatically downgraded to grade III under the graded stakes committee's format, subject to later review. As a result of the race's grade II status being restored, winner Turnofthecentury is now credited with a grade II win, and Aldo and Polish Miner, the respective second- and third-place finishers are credited with grade II placings…Sheikh Mohammed Obaid's High-Rise, winner of the 1998 Epsom Derby, will stand at stud in Japan. The 5-year-old horse will stand at Lex Company under management of Darley Stud Management. In addition to his Derby victory, High-Rise won the Coloroll Derby Trial (Eng-III) as a 2-year-old and finished second to Swain in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes (Eng-I). High-Rise finished third in last year's Japan Cup (Jpn-I) and this year he won a stake in Dubai before placing in the Dubai Sheena Classic. High-Rise was retired after finishing unplaced in the Manhattan Handicap (gr. I). Darley also manages Carnegie, Japan's leading freshman.