2010 Whitney Handicap Invitational preview
Saturday, August 7, Saratoga Racecourse will host the Whitney Handicap Invitation, where six older horses will be racing for $750,000. The chosen contenders have been preparing for the Grade 1 race, one of the most prestigious horse-racing events, which will be the tenth of eleven races at Saratoga on Saturday. In it’s 83rd edition, the race will be contested by Mine That Bird, Blame, Quality Road, Harnesfield, Jardim, and Musket Man.
Todd Pletcher-trained Quality Road is the favourite for the race, with wins in the Amsterdam Stakes, Metropolitan Mile and Donn Handicap so far this year. Unless the track is muddy, the leading male thoroughbred will bring an exceptional performance. The four-year-old colt will run the one-and-one-eighth-mile race with jockey John Velazquez.
“In the case of my horse, I think he’s going to be fairly close to the lead. If he won’t be on the lead, he’ll be laying second, so there’s not much choice for me,” said Velazquez. “They’re going to have to run hard to go by him with that long stride that he has, and not only that long stride, but he can keep that pace all the way around.”
Quality Road’s record in his three starts this year is 48.31, 46.02, and 45.19 seconds for the first half-mile, always in first or second place. The horse’s closest competitor, Al Stall-trained Blame, is coming to Saratoga with a four-race winning streak, including the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, and won the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga last year.
“If he [Quality Road] goes :45 flat [for a half mile], I’ll be smiling; Garrett [Gomez] will be smiling. We’ll be way off him, that’s for sure,” Stall said.
Blame has six career wins including both of his starts this year, and will ride at 4-1 to Quality Road’s 5-2.
"We gave him a tremendous break during the winter, we let him mature, let his pedigree take over, let him develop on his own, brought him back meticulously,” said Stall. "Here's his third time back off an extended layoff, we feel like we're ready. It's time to catch the best horse in the country when we're at the top of our game also."
Mine That Bird hasn’t been collecting any wins since the Kentucky Derby last year, who will be running against the rail with jockey Calvin Borel, the same who road him to victory at the Derby and has been known for his tight against-the-rail riding.
“I love him being on the rail,” Borel said. “It’s the shortest way around the track and he likes to run on the fence. He’ll sit back, but he’s a little sharper, so he probably won’t be as far back as usual.”
Quality Road holds the most wins of the competitors, most recently the Metropolitan Handicap on May 31 in his last start, but unexpected results are nothing new to horse racing, which is why Jardim will race.
“Number-wise he’s totally overmatched, but there aren’t many races for him to run in and we knew it was going to be a short field,” trainer Eduardo Caramori said. “This is the graveyard of favorites, and we’re not a favorite.”
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