Baby Talk Info & Intel: Saratoga – Races 4 & 6 – Friday, August 1, 2025
Race 4
This affair is scheduled to go on the lawn, and it will stretch the fillies out to One and one-sixteenth miles. Twelve ladies have been entered, but they’ll only have ten load into the starting gate. Three of the ten in the main field have started previously, with two having been out twice and one that’s been in one afternoon tangle. The sire list is a ‘Who’s Who’ of stallions, including two from Not This Time (who also has a third on the AE list), and one each from Curlin, Medaglia d’Oro, Dubawi, Tapit, Uncle Mo, Twirling Candy, and Kingman. Both Mark Casse and Chad Brown will each saddle two, and Clement, Cox, Pletcher, Mott, and McPeek will tighten the girth on one. I’m excited for this one, so let’s get right after it…
#2 Americathegreat (7/2) - Curlin (15.0%) is the stallion responsible for this Morning Line favorite. Mama was a Grade 3 stakes winner and earned over $1/2 million going five for 22, including a victory in her second start as a juvenile at Belmont Park. In the breeding shed, she’s thrown four other foals of racing age and one of those, a full sibling, won twice at the G3 level and banked $662K, going five for 22. This pricey baby demanded $1.2 million last year when she was sold for a yearling (5/58). She’s raced twice previously, both at Churchill Downs. She finished second in her first start, three lengths back, after an unhurried start and big finish. Wesley Ward (11.9%) then ran her in the Debutant Stakes, again on the dirt, where, like her debut, she began slowly, but ran hard down the lane to claim fourth place. She was then shipped to Saratoga and has had two brisk, half-mile works over the main strip.
#4 Blue Madam (5/1) – The first of two that Chad Brown (19.0%) will saddle this filly is by the wonderful European sire, Dubawi (2/10, 20.0%). Her dam is no slouch either, having won four of her six races, including her debut and also a stakes while a juvenile, before winning two Grade 1 events later in her career. She ended with $741 in the bank and her sire is Deep Impact. John Stewart’s Resolute Bloodstock scooped her up from the Keeneland September Yearling sale in 2024 for a half million dollars (11/14). Chad has had her working at Belmont Park’s training track, and she’s been out eight times (29 furlongs). Her times have been modest.
#5 Scratch It (10/1) – Tapit (15.5%) sired this filly; her dam is by Forestry. 20YO Mama was 4 for 11 on the track, won her third start as a baby, scored in both a G2 and a G3, and banked over $300K. She’s thrown nine other foals of racing age, and one has claimed a G3 trophy. The cost to buy her came at $490K when she was a yearling (12/35). Brad Cox (20.9%) has the pleasure of conditioning her, and he’s sent her out for nine morning spins in KY (39 furlongs), the first five at Keeneland and the next four at Churchill. Four of her last five works covered 5/8th of a mile. Her times have been solid, but nothing jumps off the page.
#8 Tax Holiday (9/2) – Chad Brown’s (19.0%) second filly in this affair is by Kingman (4/34, 11.8%), and her dam is Street Cry. Mom was unraced in the States, and she’s tossed four other foals of racing age. Klaravich bought today’s competitor out of the Tattersales October Yearling Sale last year for $242,044 (25/40). Just like her stablemate in this race, she’s worked eight times on Belmont Park’s training track (29 furlongs). It appears that they worked together in all of their breezes.
My Pick – There are a few fillies in this event that are quite interesting. Both of Chad’s fillies are intriguing, but honestly, I struggle to be able to separate them. So, my pick is #2 Americathegreat. I like her prior runs and, being a daughter of Curlin, I think the stretchout to 1 1/16th miles will be just what she wants. Mom was precocious, and this gal has been working well. Let’s give her a shot.
Race 6
Another event is scheduled to take place on the grass, assuming we can keep the heavy rains at bay. This one will be a spring covering only Five and One Half Furlongs. Exactly ten colts have passed through the entry process, but one of those will only start if this race is moved to the dirt. War Front, Not This Time, Munnings, and Twirling Candy are the better-known sires. The trainer list includes the likes of Miguel Clement (2), Kevin Rice, Donk, Ward, Motion, McPeek, and Amoss has the MTO. Let’s have a deeper look at those that spark my interest…
#4 Schwarzenegger (6/5) - The Morning Line favorite comes out of the Wes Ward (5/42, 11.9%) barn, and he’s sired by Not This Time (19.9%). His dam only ran one time, but she scored in that one as a juvenile for HOF Bill Mott and banked $30,000. Mom, by Lemon Drop Kid, has one other foal of racing age. Today’s competitor sold as a weanling for $410K (1/13) and then brought $950K last year as a yearling (5/121). WW has been reading this guy with 11 total works (42 furlongs), with the first six coming at KEE and the most recent five here at SAR. Four of his works here in upstate NY have come over the Oklahoma turf track. Three back, on the 4th of July, he went four panels in 46.62 seconds on the grass (4/66) and then on 7/14/25 he zipped 5/8th of a mile in 59.84 seconds, again on the lawn, to earn a small bullet (1/12).
#7 Brooklyn Styles (8/1) – One of the two colts that Miguel Clement (barn = 18.5%) has entered is by Munnings (15.5%). His dam, by Duke of Marmalade, was 4/14 on the track, including a win second time that she was out as a juvey in Europe, and ended with $216K in the bank. From her other three foals for racing age, she had one juvenile winner who scored in their first start at Remington Park. Today’s competitor RNA’d as a short yearling in early 2024 (couldn’t bring 105K), then sold for $130K as a yearling later last year (32/71), and finally brought $140K as a 2YO earlier this year down in Ocala (14/33). The Clement barn started his workout regimen here at Saratoga in early June and has sent him out eight times, once on the grass (31 furlongs). His fastest was three back on the dirt when he went three poles in 36.42 seconds (1/7).
#10 Oscar’s Hope (2/1) – This colt is entered as MAIN TRACK ONLY. He is by Twirling Candy (18.2%) and was tossed by a Not This Time mare who only raced twice in his short career. However, he made his debut a winning one while still a 2YO at Churchill Downs. She ran back as a baby in a G3 in her only other start and finished third. Today’s runner is her first foal, and she hammered for $150K as a yearling in 2024 (26/86). Trainer Tom Amoss (7/31, 22.6%) has only worked this fella out five times (20 furlongs), twice at Keeneland and then three times at Churchill. He’s been working rapidly; last out, he zipped 5/8th of a mile in 59.8 seconds to earn a small bullet (1/7).
My Pick – is #4 Schwarzenegger. His daddy, Not This Time, has been fabulous with his babies on the lawn (and dirt, too). His mom was a FTS 2YO winner for Bill Mott, who never pushes his juveniles, especially in their first race. I really like that he’s tested the grass four times in the morning and has worked well over the green surface, and 42 furlongs is a terrific base to have under him. Ward? Well, we all know that he can get a juvey into the Winner’s Circle and certainly enjoys competing on the grass.
We’ve got three more unrestricted MSW baby races on Saturday. Will we be covering them? You better believe it, but first, enjoy these two dandys!