I Spent It tries to become the first 2-year-old since City Zip to sweep the Saratoga Special and Hopeful (gr. I) stakes if the son of Super Saver starts in the latter race Sept. 1, closing day at Saratoga Race Course.
While Tony Dutrow entered I Spent It in the Hopeful, the trainer says the colt likely will be scratched in favor of the Foxwoods Champagne Stakes (gr. I) at Belmont Park.
"We entered because we thought we'd keep our options open," said Dutrow. "Our horse is doing fantastic and there's nothing stopping us from running, but the owner and I will make a decision on whether we do run him."
In the Toyota Saratoga Special Stakes (gr. II) Aug. 10, Alex and JoAnn Lieblong's I Spent It rallied from fourth and drew off in the stretch of the 6 1/2-furlong race to post a 2 3/4-length victory over runner-up Mr. Z. The strong finish for a son of a Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) winner suggests the stretch out to seven furlongs in the Hopeful should present little problem, but the one-mile Champagne may be even more attractive.
City Zip is the most recent horse to sweep Saratoga's two biggest main-track races for juvenile males. The now successful veteran sire completed the double with a dead-heat victory with Yonaguska in a memorable edition of the 2000 Hopeful.
Bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Farms, I Spent It would spot the field from two to six pounds if he attempts to improve to 3-for-3 in his initial season. He's set to carry 122 and draws post 5 under jockey Javier Castellano on Monday. Dutrow teamed with Castellano Aug. 23 at Saratoga to win the Ketel One King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) with The Big Beast .
Trainer Todd Pletcher is scheduled to saddle just one starter in this year's Hopeful in Competitive Edge , who also is a son of freshman sire Super Saver. Off an impressive debut maiden win at Saratoga, Competitive Edge figures to be a decisive favorite if I Spent It is scratched.
Pletcher will be looking for his second Hopeful win in three years and third overall when Competitive Edge breaks from the outside in the field of seven. Nancy Favreau, Kathy Psoinos, and Michael Tabor's Competitive Edge enters off a 10 1/4-length victory in his maiden special weight debut July 26 at Saratoga.
Racing Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who secured his seventh Hopeful win last season with Strong Mandate , will send out Zayat Stables' Sharm, who enters off a third-place finish in a maiden special weight race Aug. 16 at Saratoga.
Starting from post 2 will be Gennadi Dorochenko's Dekabrist, who won the Kodiak Island Stakes in June at Gulfstream Park but enters off a fifth-place finish in the 5 1/2-furlong Birdonthewire Stakes there July 12. Dorochenko also will saddle maiden Maratik.
Rounding out the field are Requite, a debut maiden winner for trainer George Weaver; and California-bred Signature Cat, a maiden trained by Eric Guillot.
Saratoga Race Course, Monday, September 01, 2014, Race 4Entries: Hopeful S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 2 1Maratik (KY) Shaun Bridgmohan 116 Gennadi Dorochenko - 6 1ADekabrist (KY) Edgar S. Prado 120 Gennadi Dorochenko - 1 2Sharm (KY) Rajiv Maragh 116 D. Wayne Lukas - 3 3Requite (KY) Joseph Rocco, Jr. 118 George Weaver - 4 4Signature Cat (CA) Jose L. Ortiz 116 Eric J. Guillot - 5 5I Spent It (KY) Javier Castellano 122 Anthony W. Dutrow - 7 6Competitive Edge (KY) John R. Velazquez 118 Todd A. Pletcher -
