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First Mission is on a mission to secure a G1 win in Saturday's $1 million Whitney

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• First Mission is on a mission to secure a G1 win in Saturday's $1 million Whitney
• Russell takes another “big swing” with G1 Whitney contender Post Time
• Il Miracolo breezed Wednesday, may skip G1 Whitney
• Outlaw Kid ready for G2 Troy; Please Advise set for G2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame
• Atomic City steps up in G3 Adirondack; Normandy Coast possible for G1 Hopeful

Godolphin’s 4-year-old Kentucky homebred First Mission is lining up Saturday to see if his third mission to capture a Grade 1 win will be a successful one in the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney, a nine-furlong test for older horses at Saratoga Race Course. The Whitney offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in November at Del Mar.

The Brad Cox trainee burst onto the scene as a 3-year-old last March when he smashed a 1 1/16-mile maiden field at Fair Grounds by 6 3/4 lengths. He followed with a rail-skimming win in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland over eventual Grade 1-winner Arabian Lion and fellow Whitney entrant Disarm.

Cox entered the Street Sense colt in the Grade 1 Preakness but had to scratch after First Mission sustained a left hind ankle injury that caused him to take the remainder of the spring and summer off. He reasserted himself as a serious horse in his October comeback, winning an allowance optional claiming race at Keeneland by a neck after overcoming traffic trouble in the stretch.

First Mission has since contested solely stakes company, falling a nose short to Trademark in the Grade 2 Clark in November at Churchill Downs before failing to fire in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup in January at Gulfstream Park to begin his 4-year-old campaign.

He took down both the Grade 3 Essex in March at Oaklawn Park and Grade 2 Alysheba in May at Churchill before trying Grade 1 company again in the Stephen Foster on June 29. There, he went to the front immediately out of the gate and was headed in the stretch before fading to fourth beaten 3 1/4-lengths by Kingsbarns and just behind Whitney contender Skippylongstocking.

Cox said First Mission will look to employ different tactics Saturday.

“Our hope is to let them run away from him and try to just come running at the end,” Cox said. “We’ll see if that works out better than last time when we put him on the lead. We’ll see if he will go by horses.”

Cox said he decided to switch tactics after a number of forward types entered, including Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s last-out Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap-winner National Treasure and impressive last-out gate-to-wire optional-claiming victor Arthur’s Ride for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

“The Mott horse and National Treasure will both be going so hopefully they soften each other up and we can come running down the lane,” Cox said.

First Mission will break from post 5 under returning rider Florent Geroux.

The Cox barn will send out two contenders in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Test presented by Ticketmaster, a seven-furlong event for sophomore fillies.

Stonestreet Stables’ last out Grade 3 Victory Ride winner Emery [post 1, Tyler Gaffalione] will be looking for her third straight stakes win and first Grade 1 coup. The daughter of More Than Ready has put together a flawless season so far, winning all three of her starts.

“She’s doing very good. After the Victory Ride win, she came right to Saratoga and had a couple of good works here,” Cox said.

The barn’s second Test starter is Red White and Blue Racing’s Denim and Pearls [post 2, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], a daughter of Into Mischief.

A full sister to Grade 1-winner Newgate, Denim and Pearls was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling sale for $500,000 and has put together a stellar race record winning or placing in 5-of-6 starts and taking down the Grade 2 Beaumont in April at Keeneland by a widening 9 1/4-lengths.

Her last appearance in the Grade 2 Eight Belles in May at Churchill proved to be her lone off the board finish.

“After the Eight Belles we gave her a break and sent her to WinStar. When we brought her back, she has been training very well in Kentucky and that is why we are going to take a shot in a Grade 1,” Cox said.

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Russell takes another “big swing” with G1 Whitney contender Post Time

The burgeoning operation of trainer Brittany Russell has become a force with which to reckon since the native of Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, went out on her own in 2018.

Making her mark with calculated and mindful horse placement, the 34-year-old won the Maryland training title in 2023—becoming the first woman to do so—and in 2024 has struck at a smart 21 percent with purse earnings good enough to be ranked 19th, nationally. The Maryland-based conditioner will take an admitted “big swing” on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney with 20-1 morning-line chance Post Time.

“We know we’re in a tough race and he’s never been a mile and an eighth, but he seems to show up every time and that gives us a lo of confidence,” Russell said. “He’s become more mature physically and mentally as he’s aged and, while he’s still a bit of a character, he’s a very good horse and seems to always make his run.”

If the Maryland-bred son of 2016 Whitney winner Frosted hopes to emulate his sire, a fellow gray, he will have to do so from post 1, as well as improve upon his 6 1/4-length second to re-opposing National Treasure in the Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap eight weeks ago. Racing two paths off the rail in fifth throughout much of the race, he passed three horses in the stretch and ultimately out-willed Hoist the Gold and Castle Chaos for runner-up honors.

Sheldon Russell, husband, jockey and very much an integral part of the enterprise, will do the negotiating in the saddle for the ninth consecutive time. A winner of eight graded stakes, Sheldon earned two of those earlier this year on Post Time in the Grade 2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets at Aqueduct and Grade 3 General George at Laurel. Like Post Time, Sheldon seeks his first Grade 1 win, while Brittany seeks her second top-level tally, following Doppelgänger’s Grade 1 Carter in 2023.

“I told Sheldon in the Met Mile that he was going to have to use him and take him out of his comfort zone against those types of horses and he really gutted it out,” Russell reflected. “We were really proud of that effort, finishing second to a very good horse in National Treasure. This time, we drew the rail of a 12-horse field, which doesn’t seem ideal, but it’s still the shortest trip around and Sheldon will have to come out and get comfortable. Our horse is battle-tested and will take the dirt, so we just have to see how the cards fall.”

Saturday’s Whitney also marks Post Time’s first run around two full bends and beyond one mile - a distance at which he has thrice raced, resulting in a win in January’s restricted Jennings at Laurel and seconds in the aforementioned Met Mile and Grade 3 Westchester five weeks prior. The Met Mile was contested from the Wilson Chute, thus being 1 1/2 turns. Like his sire, he will hope to thrive upon the stretch out.

“Of course [being a son of Frosted] gives you a little confidence, but in the end, we’ll take what we can get,” Russell laughed. “So many things can happen in horse racing. All we know is that our horse is doing really well, he’s very happy and he’s settled in well back at Saratoga, which is important.”

A winner of eight of his 11 starts, the $85,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Eastern Fall Yearling Sale grad is owned by Hillwood Stable and is out of the graded stakes-placed Fairbanks mare Vielsalm. Ellen Charles of Hillwood noted, after his Carter win, that she selected him because his second dam, Maryland-bred Opening Verse mare Merriweather, shared a name with her grandmother, Marjorie Merriweather.

A growing rolodex of top-class clientele from various walks of life, as well as the acquisition of increasingly impressive stock, has kept the 90-strong Russell barn - spread between Laurel Park, Fair Hill and Colonial Downs - on the rise. Post Time seems to be more than indicative of an operator who knows when and how to take her swings.

“It’s been a good year,” Russell concluded. “We’ve had plenty of unlucky moments and we always try to focus on the good. Horse racing is all about ups and downs and you naturally feel like you get down a little when your horses run bad, but we also have great owners and some young horses we’re trying to figure out who could be very promising. Hopefully, towards the end of the year, we’ll figure out what we have while we keep trying to win races and make the most of it all.”

***

Il Miracolo breezed Wednesday, may skip G1 Whitney

Eduardo Soto’s dual graded stakes-winner Il Miracolo is entered in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Whitney at Saratoga Race Course, but may skip the prestigious nine-furlong test for older horses in favor of a softer spot after the race drew 11 other entrants, according to trainer Antonio Sano.

Il Miracolo has not raced since finishing third in the Grade 2 Alysheba on May 3 at Churchill Downs, and has posted four works over the Saratoga main track since July 13, most recently covering a half-mile in 49.02 seconds yesterday.

Sano said the Whitney may prove too difficult a challenge for the son of Gun Runner after three months away from the races.

“He worked very good, very well,” Sano said of the Wednesday breeze. “It’s a tough race right now and I wait for the decision from the owner if we run or don’t run. Maybe we find another race more easy. It’s fifty-fifty. It has been three months, long time since he run.”

Should Il Miracolo skip the Whitney, Sano said the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Phillip H. Iselin on August 17 at Monmouth Park may be the next target, with a later goal being the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 1 here.

“Maybe we try the Phillip Iselin at Monmouth and after that the Jockey Club Gold Cup here,” said Sano. “I will talk to the owner.”

The 4-year-old chestnut contested four Kentucky Derby prep races last winter and spring ahead of an off-the-board effort in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. He went on to score a breakthrough win last August in the Grade 3 Smarty Jones at Parx Racing en route to in-the-money finishes in three more graded events to close out the year. This year, his lone win from four starts came in the Grade 3 Ghostzapper by a neck over Whitney contender Tumbarumba in March at Gulfstream Park.

Il Miracolo drew post 6 [20-1ML] in the Whitney with Manny Franco slated to ride.

***

Outlaw Kid ready for G2 Troy; Please Advise set for G2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame

While North American record-holder for the 5 1/2-furlong distance on turf Cogburn is the talk of Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Troy, trainer George Weaver is also sending a last-out record-breaker in Outlaw Kid, who enters from a six-furlong Aqueduct Racetrack outer turf course-record of 1:06.73 on July 4.

The 5-year-old Violence gelding traveled in 8th-of-10 in his last-out optional-claiming score before closing to a neck victory over returning rival Big Invasion. The effort earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure, second to only a 100 earned for an optional-claiming score at the same distance last June at Belmont Park.

“We want him to be a graded stakes winner,” Weaver said of the stakes-winning Ontario-bred. “He deserves a shot. He just went six furlongs in 1:06.73, so we are looking forward to trying him in there.”

Weaver, who enters Thursday’s card with 997 career wins, said with a good trip, his 15-1 shot on the morning line could make an impact.

“Cogburn ran well last time, and it is going to be hard to beat him if he runs an equivalent performance, but it is a horse race and this is the ‘graveyard of favorites,’” said Weaver. “It is all going to be about the trip. All I know is our horse is doing well and we are going to give him a shot.”

Owned by R. A. Hill Stable and SGV Thoroughbreds, Outlaw Kid is set to break from post 2-of-11 with meet-leading rider Flavien Prat aboard.

A slightly lower price on the morning line is R. A. Hill Stable’s stakes-winner Please Advise [Post 1, Flavien Prat, 10-1 ML] in Friday’s Grade 2, $500,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. The Palace Malice gelding enters the one-mile test for sophomores off a last-out fourth in the Grade 3 Manila, beaten three lengths by returning rival Neat.

“He’s had less than ideal trips three times in a row now. We have the leading rider aboard and are happy to be running him,” said Weaver. “He was back of a slow pace last time after breaking sharply, even Eric [Cancel, jockey] came back and said that he wasn’t happy with how things went down.”

Before that effort, Please Advise was sixth in the Grade 3 Penn Mile on May 31 at Penn National after having to check hard in the first turn, then traveling wide.

“At Penn National, he was out there wide, without cover. He’s had some troubled trips,” Weaver explained. “The horse has some talent and deserves a shot in there.”

Please Advise’s last win came in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach in November at the Big A.

Weaver will also take a chance with the graded stakes-placed Nimitz Class in Sunday’s Listed $150,000 Birdstone, a 1 3/4-mile main track marathon for older horses. There, the 5-year-old Munnings dark bay will square off with dominant dirt marathoner Next, who is on a five-race win streak, each score coming by nine or more lengths in the last four outings.

Nimitz Class’ last effort was an off-the-board finish sprinting seven furlongs in May at Belmont at the Big A. Campaigned by Qatar Racing, Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Steve Adkisson, and Scott Rice, he will now experiment with a much longer distance.

“We’ve kind of been having a hard time finding the right spot for the horse, so we thought we will give him a try. He has some back class, not sure about the distance,” said Weaver. “We thought it was worth entering the race, short field, you never know when a horse might have to scratch or this or that, we put him in there and will see what he does.”

The horse enters off three consecutive bullet works, including a five-furlong breeze in 1:01.34 on July 29 over the Spa main track.

“He’s a talented horse. He’s capable. He’s kind of a heavy horse so when he does get to work, I let him work,” Weaver said. “That’s why he goes fast.”

Nimitz Class, out of the stakes-winning Flatter mare Five Diamonds, made his first 21 starts for conditioner Bruce Kravets including a close second in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile last June at Monmouth Park.

Weaver also provided an update regarding the next spot for sophomore turf sprinters Amidst Waves and No Nay Mets.

The graded stakes-placed Amidst Waves is probable for the 5 1/2-furlong Listed $150,000 Galway next Saturday, while No Nay Mets will likely race one day later at the same distance in the Listed $150,000 Mahony with blinkers off.

***

Atomic City steps up in G3 Adirondack; Normandy Coast possible for G1 Hopeful

Castleton Lyon’s Atomic City will make her stakes debut in Sunday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Adirondack, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Eddie Kenneally, the Twirling Candy bay made every pole a winning one in her June 28 debut at Churchill Downs to score by 1 1/4-lengths in a six-furlong maiden special weight under returning rider Luis Saez.

The $360,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase exited post 3-of-11 and showed the way through splits of 21.72 seconds and 45.02 over the fast main track, stopping the clock in 1:10.90 to earn a 60 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She was in a full field and broke sharp, but immediately was pressed from the outside and she had pressure the whole way,” Kenneally said. “They went awful quick the first part of the race, and for a first timer, she hung in there and took all that pressure and battled and kept running to the wire.

“It was a very big effort,” Kenneally added. “She's a quality filly and she's tough. For a lightly-raced filly, she acts like an older horse.”

Atomic City, out of the stakes-winning Tale of the Cat mare Knit One Purr Too, has worked back three times over the Churchill main track, including a bullet half-mile in 47 flat on July 27 in company with Heart’s Compass, a 2-year-old daughter of Into Mischief and the Kenneally-trained 2017 Grade 1 Ashland-winner Sailor Valentine, who debuts in Race 6 on Saturday at Ellis Park. The sharp breeze was ranked best of 118 efforts at the distance.

“They both worked well and did it the right way,” Kenneally said. “She [Atomic City] went quick but she did it without any encouragement or urging. She went head-and-head all the way with that other filly. It was a very good work. She hasn't missed a beat since she ran at Churchill and the spacing to this race is ideal. We couldn't be happier with her.”

Listed at 8-1 on the morning line, Atomic City will break from post 3-of-9 with Saez up.

“If she breaks sharp, she'll be up there because she has natural speed,” Kenneally said. “If you don't break sharp, it wouldn't be the end of the world - she could sit off because there's quite a bit of speed in the race and you don't want to end up in a speed duel, so we'll just play it by the break. Luis knows her and he'll ride her with some confidence.”

Kenneally noted that another promising 2-year-old, Normandy Coast, could make his next start in the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful on September 2, Closing Day of the Saratoga summer meet.

The Omaha Beach colt finished fourth in his June debut sprinting six furlongs at Churchill Downs and followed last out with a frontrunning three-quarter length score when stretched out to seven furlongs on July 27 at Ellis Park.

“He's a big horse that would have benefitted from a race and maybe not totally the type that could win first time out,” Kenneally said. “He's the type of horse that needed a run and evidently, he did - he came back and won. He's an improving horse and I think seven furlongs is the ideal distance for him right now.”

The $60,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale purchase is out of the winning Congrats mare Alliteration, who is a half-sister to graded stakes-winner Sorryaboutnothing.