On meeting's closing weekend, City Zip closes powerfully to finish on even terms with Yonaguska

As if on cue for the 96th running of the $200,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1), an immense steel-gray cloud, every bit as sinister as the mother ship from the film Independence Day, enveloped Saratoga Race Course in darkness on September 2. As the thunder roared, the lights on the tote board went dark and then came back on. All power at the track was lost momentarily. Accompanied by a barrage of spectacular lightning bolts, rain lashed the track.

Hopeful S. (G1)
Saratoga Race Course, September 2, $200,000, 7 furlongs, fast, 1:24.52
1-(DH) YONAGUSKA, c. 2, Cherokee Run-Marital Spook, by Silver Ghost.
1-(DH) CITY ZIP, c. 2, Carson City-Baby Zip, by Relaunch.
3-Macho Uno, c. 2, Holy Bull-Primal Force, by Blushing Groom (Fr).

In this unsettling setting, 11 two-year-olds would be asked to run the most important race of their brief careers. Worse yet, the field did not even get the benefit of warming up as racing officials tried to beat the storm by moving post time up five minutes.

The circumstances made the running of the Hopeful even more remarkable as Michael Tabor's Yonaguska, the $1.95-million Fasig-Tipon Calder two-year-old, and City Zip, the $9,000 Keeneland sale yearling, produced the first-ever dead heat in a Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga.

City Zip, who appeared hopelessly out of contention on the far turn, won his fourth consecutive graded stakes race and became just the fourth horse to sweep Saratoga's trio of two-year-old stakes races, the Sanford (G2), Saratoga Special (G2), and Hopeful Stakes.

Actually, the Hopeful was not far removed from a triple dead heat as Stronach Stable's Macho Uno, making just his second start, finished a neck off the top two while racing greenly between them through the stretch.

That was just one of many story lines in the Hopeful. Yonaguska's Racing Hall of Fame trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, won two races on September 2 to end a 35-race losing streak. He picked up his second consecutive Hopeful victory (High Yield won last year) and his fifth in 11 years.

Yonaguska's jockey, Jerry Bailey, kept his mount in stride despite his saddle slipping and racing along a rail that had been poison for most of the meet. Yonaguska had been an absolute handful in the paddock beneath the symphony of thunder. "The weather stirred him up a lot," Lukas said.

Macho Uno tossed his head in the starting gate, bloodying jockey Edgar Prado's nose, and then raced five wide on the turn and still nearly got the job done.

The best story of all, though, was City Zip, owned by Charles R. Thompson, Carl Bowling, and Lakland Farm. In winning the three Saratoga juvenile stakes, he joined the filly Regret in 1914, Campfire two years later, and Dehere, who went on to be juvenile male champion in 1993.

"He was bothered by the lightning," said City Zip's jockey, Jose Santos. "Every time the sky would light up, he would look around and get startled. He overcame a lot to win this. This horse made history this afternoon."

Midway through the race, though, it appeared that he did not have a chance. City Zip, the 1.40-to-1 favorite, broke sharply but fell back as 66-to-1 longshot T P Louie took the lead and Yonaguska, the 3.55-to-1 second choice, moved inside of him.

Yonaguska forged to the lead on the final turn and seemed to have command of the race even as Macho Uno, who had been between horses on the backstretch, shook loose and advanced five wide on the turn.

City Zip was behind Macho Uno, forcing Santos to take him even wider on the turn. "At that point, I didn't think he had much chance," said City Zip's trainer, Linda Rice.

Yonaguska had a clear two-length lead at the eighth pole, but Macho Uno and City Zip closed the gap quickly. In the final strides, Macho Uno tired as Yonaguska and City Zip hit the wire simultaneously.

There was a gap of 7 1/4 lengths from Macho Uno to Saint Verre in fourth. They were followed by What's Up Dog, Standard Speed, Evening Attire, One by the Knows, Jacksrbetter, Zone Judge and T P Louie. City Zip and Yonaguska's winning time was 1:24.52 for the seven furlongs.

Rice said City Zip might start next in the $500,000 Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park on October 14. With $80,000 from the Hopeful's $200,000 purse going to each winner, City Zip increased his career earnings to $376,305, and Yonaguska's earnings rose to $176,295. City Zip is by Carson City, who was trained by Lukas. Yonaguska, by Cherokee Run, won Belmont's Flash Stakes in June.

Perfect Sting's Diana

Asserting her authority on grass yet again, Stronach Stable's Perfect Sting ran her four-year-old record to four-for-four on September 4 when she took the 62nd running of the $500,000 Diana Handicap (G2) by three-quarters of a length over a stubborn License Fee. The Labor Day program concluded a record-breaking 132nd season of racing in Saratoga Springs.

Diana H. (G2)
Saratoga Race Course, September 4, $500,000, 11/8 miles, turf, firm, 1:47.01
1-PERFECT STING, f. 4, Red Ransom-Valid Victress, by Valid Appeal.
2-License Fee, m. 5, Black Tie Affair (Ire)-Star Deputy, by Deputy Minister.
3-Hello Soso (Ire), f. 4, Alzao-=Silver Echo (Ire), by Caerleon.

Sent off the 0.65-to-1 favorite under Bailey in the Diana's field of seven fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles on the Mellon Turf Course, Perfect Sting pressed the pace early, took back, fell back briefly on the far turn. and then made an explosive three-wide move to collar License Fee, who made Perfect Sting work hard to get by her through the stretch.

License Fee's trainer, W. Elliott Walden, was happy with his filly's performance. "She ran well; she just got beat by a champion," Walden said. Hello Soso (Ire) was third, a half-length behind License Fee. Perfect Sting, trained by Joe Orseno, completed the nine furlongs on firm turf in 1:47.01. The four-year-old Red Ransom filly, whose only loss in her last seven starts was a sixth in last year's inaugural Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1), raised her earnings to $1,342,042.

Shocker in the Forego

Stakes upsets at Saratoga are well documented, but who could have predicted Shadow Caster in the $250,000 Forego Handicap (G2) on August 30? But win he did, against Richter Scale, Successful Appeal, and Intidab, and at odds of 50-.75-to-1.

Forego H. (G2)
Saratoga Race Course, August 30, $250,000, 61/2 furlongs, fast, 1:15
1-SHADOW CASTER, c. 4, Future Storm-Just Dance, by Duck Dance.
2-Intidab, h. 7, Phone Trick-Alqwani, by Mr. Prospector.
3-Successful Appeal, c. 4, Valid Appeal-Successful Dancer, by Fortunate Prospect.

About 2 1/2 months earlier, John Terranova took over the training of Gatsas Stables' Shadow Caster. "He's just been doing fantastic since we got him," Terranova explained. "And the owners pushed us to take a shot at it. We knew how tough it would be, but the horse was doing good. We figured, 'What the heck?' " Everybody else wondered what Terranova's four-year-old colt was doing in this prestigious stakes off allowance wins at Rockingham Park and at Saratoga.

Richter Scale had just broken Laurel Park's six-furlong track record in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes (G1), and Intidab and Successful Appeal had finished first and second in the A. G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2), though the order of finish was reversed when Intidab was disqualified.

Richter Scale, the 1.95-to-1 favorite in the field of ten, set the pace under Richard Migliore, and Jorge Chavez sent Shadow Caster up on the outside to engage him through a demanding four furlongs in :44.37. At that point, no one expected 123-pound highweight Richter Scale, who had won his last five sprint stakes, to be the one to wilt. But he did, fading from first to sixth in the final furlong.

Shadow Caster had something left and held off Intidab and Successful Appeal by a length in 1:15.00 for the Forego Handicap's revised distance of 6 1/2 furlongs. Intidab nosed out Successful Appeal for second, and longshot Iron Punch was just a neck farther back in fourth.

In the winner's circle, Shadow Caster's connections were fairly giddy after Shadow Caster's $103.50 win price was made official. "I knew my horse had a little chance," Chavez said. "I didn't expect him to be the winner. I'm happy today."

Stormy Pick's Spinaway

Stormy Pick's mutuel payoff after winning the 109th running of the $200,000 Spinaway Stakes (G1) for two-year-old fillies on September 1 did not approach that of Shadow Caster, but her generous odds of 4.70-to-1 had her trainer, Ben Perkins Jr., puzzled. "I couldn't figure it out," Perkins said. "If the filly we beat would have been here and run, she would have been 2-to-5."

Spinaway S. (G1)
Saratoga Race Course, September 1, $200,000, 7 furlongs, fast, 1:24.33
1-STORMY PICK, f. 2, Storm Creek-Program Pick, by Peterhof.
2-Nasty Storm, f. 2, Gulch-A Stark Is Born, by Graustark.
3-Seeking It All, f. 2, A.P. Indy-Seeking Regina, by Seeking the Gold.

The filly who Stormy Pick beat was With Ability, who had been unbeaten until finishing third to Stormy Pick in Monmouth Park's Sorority Stakes (G3) on a sloppy track on August 12. That gave Raymond Dweck's Stormy Pick a record of three victories and a second in four career starts.

The Spinaway favorite at 1.40-to-1 was Seeking It All, a maiden who had finished second by a neck to With Ability's unbeaten stablemate, Gold Mover, in the Schuylerville Stakes (G2) on opening day at Saratoga in her second career start.

Seeking It All broke slowly, was never a threat, and finished third as Stormy Pick set the pace and then shrugged off the challenge of 31-to-1 longshot Nasty Storm to win by two lengths in 1:24.33 for the seven furlongs. Seeking It All suffered an injury to her right front coffin bone in the race and is out for the year.

Stormy Pick, a Florida-bred by Stormy Creek out of Program Pick, by Peterhof, raised her career earnings to $252,400.

Rob's Spirit in Saranac

Jerry Bailey proved yet again in the Saranac Handicap (G3) why he has won three Eclipse Awards for outstanding jockey as well as this year's Saratoga riding title (his fifth within seven years). Aboard Rob's Spirit, the 0.75-to-1 favorite in the 93rd running of the $113,800 Saranac on September 3, Bailey left from the seventh post position in the field of nine three-year-old males going 1 3/16 miles on a turf course rated as good.

Saranac H. (G3)
Saratoga Race Course, September 3, $113,800, 13/16 miles, turf, good, 1:55.47
1-ROB'S SPIRIT, c. 3, Theatrical (Ire)-Winglet, by Alydar.
2-Whata Brainstorm, c. 3, Honor Grades-What a Future, by Roberto.
3-Dawn of the Condor, c. 3, Twining-Dawn's Flame, by *Grey Dawn II.

He rushed Rob's Spirit into second behind front-running longshot Rumsonontheriver and inside Lake Austin, ridden by Mike Smith, heading into the first turn. That forced Pat Day, riding Three Wonders, the 4.20-to-1 second choice from the nine post, to take back.

"I'm looking at the race shaping up going into the first turn," Bailey said afterward. "I know if I sneak in behind Mike, then Pat Day's got me locked in there on a horse that's the second choice who figures to stalk. He's probably going to keep me in there for about an hour and a half. I just figured I'd take the decision out of his hands and put it in mine and go inside Mike."

Rob's Spirit stalked Rumsonontheriver until the final turn, took over readily, and held off 19-to-1 longshot Whata Brainstorm by a neck for his second straight graded stakes victory just a year and 12 days after winning his career debut at Saratoga for trainer Bill Mott.

Spa Notes-The closing-day crowd of 20,125 established a Saratoga meeting attendance record of 978,321, a 6.4% increase over last year's record. On-track handle for the meeting was also a record at more than $116.3-million, an increase of 3.9% from 1999. ... Bailey, who won his second straight riding title, notched a meet-record 50th victory on Perfect Sting. Mott won his seventh Spa trainer's title with 17 victories. ... Gallagher's Stud's Gratiaen, who won her maiden victory on July 2 and a bottom-rung allowance race on August 13, gamely held off slow-starting Storm the Gate by a nose to win the 23rd running of the $176,700 Albany Handicap for three-year-old New York-bred on August 31. Turnofthecentury was third, just a half-length back, while favored Image Maker checked in fourth, failing to earn a $250,000 bonus for sweeping the Big Apple Triple of the Mike Lee Handicap, New York Derby, and Albany Handicap.