John's Call dominates the field in the Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap. Turnofthecentury wins as National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Handicap comes off the grass, Successful Appeal gets A. G. Vanderbilt Handicap victory on disqualification of Intidab, I'm Indy Mood triumphs in the Glens Falls Handicap, and License Fee takes the Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Handicap

Other nine-year-olds besides John's Call have won Grade 1 stakes, but not many, and none at Saratoga Race Course-ever-on the flat. No horse of that advanced age-and few at any age-has won at that exalted level with the utter disdain this former steeplechaser displayed in blowing away seven opponents by 9 1/4 lengths in the 26th running of the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap (G1) on a soft inner turf course on August 12.

Sword Dancer Invitational H. (G1)
Saratoga Race Course, August 12, $500,000, 11/2 miles, turf, soft, 2:32.17
1-JOHN'S CALL, g. 9, Lord At War (Arg)-Calling Guest (Ire), by Be My Guest.
2-Aly's Alley, c. 4, Alwuhush-Aly Capri, by Alydar.
3-Single Empire (Ire), h. 6, =Kris (GB)-Captive Island (Ire), by Northfields.

"He doesn't know he's nine," trainer Tom Voss said. John Henry, on the way to being named Horse of the Year at the age of nine in 1984, won four Grade 1 stakes by a combined margin of 3 1/2 lengths. Kelso? Well, the five-time Horse of the Year was eight when he won the Whitney Handicap by a nose at Saratoga on August 7, 1965, in the days before the invention of the grading system.

John Henry and Kelso constitute pretty rarefied company for John's Call, a Lord At War (Arg) gelding who had frequently raced in claimers on the flat and also competed in five steeplechase races, the most recent on November 22, 1998, when he fell at Camden, South Carolina. His most recent start in a claimer was for $50,000 at Laurel Park on December 12, 1998.

At eight, John's Call won the Laurel Turf Cup (G3) on a yielding course and the Bald Eagle Breeders' Cup Handicap. He also won the Sussex Handicap at Delaware Park but was disqualified and placed second.

In his 2000 debut on July 23, John's Call won the Cape Henlopen Stakes at Delaware Park at 1 1/2 miles as the 3-to-1 favorite.

In the Sword Dancer, he was lumped with Aly's Alley as part of the mutuel field even though John's Call had a previous record of three wins, two seconds, and a third in eight Saratoga starts.

"Some horses do very well here; some don't," said his jockey, Jean-Luc Samyn.

Incessant rain the previous two days had resulted in a soft turf course, convincing five trainers to scratch their horses from the original 13-horse field. But the sun was shining at Saratoga as the eight remaining horses headed to the post.

Boatman, coming off a second-place finish to Manndar (Ire) in the Manhattan Handicap (G1) on June 10 at Belmont Park for trainer Robert Frankel, and Neil Drysdale's California shipper Single Empire (Ire) got the most attention at the windows, going off as the 2.75-to-1 and 3.15-to-1 betting favorites. John's Call and Aly's Alley were at 7.40-to-1.

Jockey Robbie Davis shot Aly's Alley to the lead from the outside post and set all the fractions in the 1 1/2-mile race while Samyn kept John's Call behind horses on the inside of the inner turf course. "That was the golden spot," Samyn said. "I knew I had a ton of horse all the way around." At the top of the stretch, everybody knew.

John's Call spurted past the horses in front of him with a powerful whoosh up the inside, drawing away to his 14th career victory in 32 starts in 2:32.17. A $300,000 paycheck increased his career bankroll to $756,607 for the Trillium Stable of Douglas Joyce. Aly's Alley was a clear second-best, 5 1/4 lengths in front of Single Empire, who was a neck ahead of Williams News. Elhayq (Ire), Deploy Venture (GB), Drama Critic, and Boatman completed the order of finish.

Appeal successful in Vanderbilt

For trainer John Kimmel, the August 9 running of the $200,000 A. G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2), formerly known as the A Phenomenon Handicap, must have seemed like last year's Forego Handicap (G2) when his Crafty Friend dueled Affirmed Success the length of the stretch before prevailing by a neck. But in the Vanderbilt, Kimmel's horse, John T. L. Jones Jr.'s and Starview Stable's Successful Appeal, battled Shadwell Stable's Intidab shoulder to shoulder for an eighth of a mile and finished second by a head.

A. G. Vanderbilt H. (G2)

Saratoga Race Course, August 9, $200,000, 6 furlongs, fast, 1:09.21
1-SUCCESSFUL APPEAL, c. 4, Valid Appeal-Successful Dancer, by Fortunate Prospect.
2-Intidab (disq. from 1st), h. 7, Phone Trick-Alqwani, by Mr. Prospector.
3-Chasin' Wimmin, g. 5, Belong to Me-Open Marriage, by Deputy Minister.

Then the inquiry light came on.
"Actually, I didn't even get my hopes up at all," Kimmel said. "In my wildest dreams, I didn't expect to get put up. I figure I'm dead here. It really didn't look all that bad when I watched it. I just thought he got beat." But the head-on shot showed that Intidab, ridden by Robbie Davis, had come over on Successful Appeal, racing on the inside of him. There was light contact for a moment, but the stewards reversed the order of finish, disqualifying Intidab and placing him second.

Intidab's trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, handled the decision with a ton of class. "It's a tough break," he said. "I never could argue the call because you're supposed to maintain a straight course, and we did not. It was a 50-50 call, and it didn't go our way."

Kimmel empathized. "It's a tough way to win and a real tough way to lose. I feel sorry for the owners and the connections of the winning horse." Final time for the six furlongs was 1:09.21. Chasin' Wimmin, the longest shot in the field of eight at 46.25-to-1, was third, 31Ú2 lengths behind Successful Appeal.

License Fee's Ballston Spa

After watching WinStar Farm's License Fee score an easy victory in the $206,500 Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Handicap (G3) on August 13, trainer W. Elliott Walden did not suggest a rematch with division leader Perfect Sting-even though License Fee was beaten just a half-length by Perfect Sting in Aqueduct's Beaugay Handicap (G3) on May 7.

Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup H. (G3)
Saratoga Race Course, August 13, $206,500, 11/16 miles, turf, yielding, 1:43.53
1-LICENSE FEE, m. 5, Black Tie Affair (Ire)-Star Deputy, by Deputy Minister.
2-Pico Teneriffe, f. 4, Red Ransom-Ballerina Princess, by Mr. Prospector.
3-Hello Soso (Ire), f. 4, Alzao-=Silver Echo (Ire), by Caerleon.

"It was her (Perfect Sting's) first race off a layoff," Walden said. "We felt like that was a good time to take her on. This (License Fee) is a very good mare, but I don't know if she's in Perfect Sting's category, to be brutally honest."

That does not diminish Walden's appreciation of his five-year-old mare, purchased last November at the Robert and Bea Roberts dispersal at Keeneland. "License Fee is the kind of mare you appreciate," said Walden, who won last year's Ballston Spa Breeders' Cup Handicap with Pleasant Temper.

"She gives you her best, whatever surface, whatever distance. I inherited a good filly when we bought her. Being stakes placed, we felt she was worth $200,000-$250,000 as a broodmare and we paid $330,000 for her." Pat Day, who rode License Fee, said his only anxious moment in the Ballston Spa was when a goose walked onto the course. "When we turned up the backside, there was a goose dead in front of us, kind of waddling across the racetrack," Day said. "But, praise God, he kept going and everybody avoided him."

Sent off at 3.20-to-1 in the field of seven fillies and mares, License Fee led at every call and coasted to a 1 1/2-length victory while covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.53 on a yielding turf course. Pico Teneriffe rallied from last to finish second in a three-way photo, a neck ahead of Hello Soso (Ire), who had a head on Fickle Friends. Horatia (Ire), the 2.95-to-1 favorite, was fifth.

Indy Mood in Glens Falls

I'm Indy Mood and Idle Rich did not get to race on grass in the $110,200 Glens Falls Handicap, which automatically lost its Grade 3 status by coming off the turf and by being run on a sloppy main track on August 11. Nonetheless, the two five-year-old mares put on quite a show.

Idle Rich, trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Jerry Bailey, had never raced on dirt, but she nearly scored a front-running victory in the Glens Falls despite being used hard to get an early lead in the 1 1/4-mile stakes. In fact, Idle Rich opened up on the field by 1 1/2 lengths turning for home, but Herberto Castillo Jr. had G. A. Seelbinder's and Patricia and R. Nicholson's I'm Indy Mood in the chase, rapidly moving up from fifth to challenge the pacesetter. Idle Rich, who won last year's Glens Falls (G3) on grass, held I'm Indy Mood off until the final 50 yards, but the A.P. Indy mare edged past to win by a neck for trainer Jimmy Toner.

"I thought she had her best shot to win on the dirt," Toner said. "I didn't think she could beat some of these fillies on the turf."

Turnofthecentury takes Hall of Fame

Just one day after their longshot New York-bred David tired badly to finish last in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap (G1) on August 6, co-owner Barry Schwartz and trainer Mike Hushion made it to the winner's circle. Another of their New York homebreds, Turnofthecentury, won the $150,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Handicap by a neck over Aldo. The Grade 2 stakes was reduced to Grade 3 when it came off the turf and onto a muddy main track. The American Graded Stakes Committee then reinstated its Grade 2 status. Turnofthecentury, co-owned and -bred by Eugene Hauman, was craftily ridden on the front end by Aaron Gryder and won in 1:52.35 for the 1 1/8 miles over a muddy track.

National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame H. (G2)
Saratoga Race Course, August 7, $150,000, 11/8 miles, muddy, 1:52.35
1-TURNOFTHECENTURY, c. 3, Holy Bull-Greening, by Greinton (GB).
2-Aldo, c. 3, Red Ransom-Nortena, by Mr. Prospector.
3-Polish Miner, c. 3, Danzig-Miner's Game, by Mr. Prospector.

It was the first stakes win for Turnofthecentury, a Holy Bull three-year-old colt out of Greening, by Greinton (GB). Second in the Bay Shore Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct in March, Turnofthecentury, who was unraced at two, has won 4-of-8 career starts and earned $200,000.