Shackleford supplemented into the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga
Shackleford, trained by Dale Romans, is extremely versatile. Over the course of his career, he has tackled a variety of distances and on 5th August, 2012, he will take on the distance of six furlongs for the first time in his career, when he runs in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga.
The connections decided to run him in this race in order to prepare him for the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at the Spa on 1st September, 2012, which covers a distance of seven furlongs.
The son of Forestry, out of mare Oatsee, has competed and won at seven furlongs twice, including his maiden at Churchill Downs in 2010 and the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes at Churchill Downs this season.
Dale Romans seemed excited about the prospect of this race as he stated:
“Looking at the big picture, I’m working him anyway, might as well get a race into him going into the Forego and for the rest of the fall.”
Regarding the six furlong distance, Romans said:
“I think he’s fast enough for it.”
Owned by Michael Lauffer and W.D. Cubbedge of Phillip Racing Partnership, the runner did not hold an entry into the race and was supplemented for $8,000.
The trainer is running the four-year-old over shorter distances after he faced a setback in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park on 11th February, 2012, where he finished 7th at about 1 1/8 miles.
The Kentucky bred runner has earnings of $2,741,381, and has an overall record of 5-4-1 from 16 starts.
The multiple graded stakes winner has some big victories to his name including the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Racecourse in May, 2011, where he defeated, Animal Kingdom, over 1 3/16 miles.
He has also competed in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, the Grade 1 Haskell, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, and the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby among others.
This race will expand the potential of this runner, and give him the opportunity to excel on shorter distances.
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