After watching both his sensational 2-year-olds work Monday morning, trainer Patrick Biancone has decided to start Zavata in Saturday's Hopeful (gr. I).
Zavata and stablemate Whywhywhy both worked in 1:00 handily on the main track, but Biancone said he felt Zavata was better suited for the Hopeful, which is the first seven-furlong race of the year for juveniles.
"I think he have much more speed than Whywhywhy," he said. "I think Whywhywhy will need more distance. The more distance the better he will be. I'll tell you, the day they run together will be a helluva race."
Whywhywhy won the Sanford (gr. II), Saratoga's first race for 2-year-old colts, on July 25, and Zavata followed with a victory in the Saratoga Special (gr .II) Aug. 14, romping by 7 1/4 lengths.
"I think he's as good as a horse can be at this age," Biancone said. "He's just dominating the situation so much. He dominate them physically, he dominate them in the race, he dominate them from A to Z. If we're lucky enough to keep him like that, we'll be in good shape."
Whywhywhy will be pointed toward the Futurity (gr. I) at Belmont Park Sept. 15.Rosetti, who Biancone at one time considered for the Travers (gr. I), had to be retired with a leg injury after just one race.
Biancone said the 3-year-old Seattle Slew colt purchased by Michael Tabor and Mrs. John Magnier for $1 million suffered a hairline fracture of the cannon bone in his left front leg following an Aug. 18 workout.
The injury happened exactly one week after Rosetti's race debut, a three-length victory over fellow maidens in 1:11 3/5.
"He was really a very, very good horse but, unfortunately, he had a soundness problem," Biancone said Monday. "We were starting to bring him back to race and I was hoping he could stand two, three races, but he couldn't make it. Some horses cannot make it."
His breeding makes Rosetti a good stud candidate, Biancone said. In addition to Seattle Slew, his dam, Chic Shirine, was a multiple stakes-winner.
"He's got a great pedigree. He went to the track once, and he win smoking," Biancone said. "He's got a chance to be a good stallion."
Frankel Has Busy Morning
Several of trainer Bobby Frankel's top horses were out for workouts on Monday, led by sprinter Squirtle Squirt, who is prepping for his return to racing in Sunday's Forego (gr. I).
Last fall's Breeders' Cup Sprint winner breezed five furlongs in 1:01 on the main track, although he was given a six-eighths work in 1:12 by NYRA clockers.
"We try to slow him down as much as possible or he goes off very fast," Frankel said. Squirtle Squirt broke off from a lead pony before beginning his work.
"We put a lip chain on him just to slow him down this morning," he said. "He'll go. If you let him roll, a half-mile in 45 is nothing for him."
Squirtle Squirt has not run since having a chip removed from his knee following his lone start of the year in January at Santa Anita.
"It could be his last start before the Breeders' Cup," Frankel said. "It depends on how he runs."
Lido Palace, aiming for the Woodward (gr. I), went five furlongs in 1:00 3/5, while Aldebaran, who is being pointed toward the Atto Mile (CAN-I) at Woodbine, went in 1:01 3/5.
Denon, second in the Sword Dancer (gr. I) here Aug. 10, worked a half-mile in :49 4/5.
"He's doing great, that horse," Frankel said. "You almost hate to run them and waste a race with them, he's doing so good. I'll wait and see. I've run him fresh, and he's run well."
The Turf Classic (gr. I) at Belmont Sept. 29 is a possibility
for Denon's next start.A Hopeful Gelding
Rights Reserved, a 2-year-old gelding purchased privately last week by John Ball, Elliot Masie and Ray Paris, arrived at trainer Chuck Simon's barn here Aug. 23 and will make his next start in Saturday's Hopeful (gr. I).
A winner of the Colin Stakes July 14 at Woodbine for former trainer and majority owner Gail Casselman, Rights Reserved is a son of With Approval out of the Forty Niner mare Royal Reserves.
"He looked great. He came off the van super," Simon said. "He trained the next day and went super, and the other morning he went and schooled in the paddock and was perfect. Based on his breeding and his physical makeup, he looks like a horse that would run long. He's winning sprinting and running very competitively going short, which leads me to believe he has a lot of talent."
A $14,000 yearling purchase last fall in Keeneland, Rights Reserved ran three times for Casselman with earnings of $98,961 in Canada. No gelding has won the Hopeful since Gusty O'Shay in 1973.
"He hasn't run in a while so the Hopeful is kind of a stepping-stone race," Simon said. "You don't use a grade I as a stepping-stone race often, but I think the horse should really like two turns. The Hopeful looks like it's gonna be a short field. We'll see how good he is. I don't think he's in Zavata's league as a sprinter by any means, but by the same token you can't be afraid of one horse."Spa Notes
Take Charge Lady, with Edgar Prado aboard, breezed five furlongs in 1:00 2/5 on the main track, said trainer Ken McPeek, three-fifths of a second faster than she was caught by NYRA clockers. She will return to racing in the Belmont Park's Gazelle (gr. I) Sept. 7... Atelier worked three furlongs on the Oklahoma training track in :37 2/5 for trainer Shug McGaughey. She was sixth in her last start, the Go for Wand (gr. I) here July 28, and is nominated to the Matron (gr. III) at Arlington Sept. 2... Storm Cadet, working toward the Hopeful, breezed five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 for trainer Gary Contessa... Jockey Pat Day was shaken up but unhurt when Ravish Me, a 4-year-old Wild Again filly, stumbled and threw him a stride out of the gate for Monday's third race.