NEWS
National Treasure Faces 11 Rivals in Saratoga's Whitney
Photo Courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire
By Bob Ehalt
The big surprise about the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) is not who showed up.
It's how many showed up.
At a time when the New York Racing Association has struggled to fill its top races, a standing-room-only crowd of 12 older horses will square off in the Aug. 3 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course, even though one of the dozen starters is the nation's top older horse, National Treasure .
Go figure.
Especially since this will be the largest Whitney field since 2019 when just seven ran.
"I didn't think much about who else was going to run but it's the Whitney," said Bob Baffert, who trains National Treasure. "It's an important race so I can see a lot of people wanting to run."
National Treasure, a 4-year-old son of Quality Road , comes into the 1 1/8-mile Whitney ranked first by a wide margin in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top 10 poll, off a pair of prestigious grade 1 wins this year.
When last seen, the $5.3 million earner was posting an easy victory in the June 8 Metropolitan Handicap (G1) at the Spa, pulling away to prevail by 6 1/4 lengths.
"He's doing well. He's doing just as well as he did before (the Met Mile)," said Baffert, who gave the 2023 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner a :59 2/5 five-furlong work at Del Mar July 28 before shipping him to the Spa. "He's a fun horse who has run as a 2-year-old, a 3-year-old, a 4-year-old and has done really, really well. He's gotten better with age and that's all you can really ask of a horse."
Bred by Peter E. Blum Thoroughbreds, National Treasure has climbed the ladder of success in progressing from grade 1-placed at 2, to a classic winner and 2023 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) runner-up to Horse of the Year Cody's Wish at 3, to a winner of the Met Mile and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at 4.
His lone loss this year came in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) when he weakened late and finished fourth for the ownership group of SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Jay Schoenfarber, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan.
After a gate-to-wire triumph in the Met Mile, that natural speed figures to be on display in the Whitney with jockey Flavien Prat and the son of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Treasure breaking from post 3.
"Speed is his weapon," Baffert said about the $500,000 buy from the Bridie Harrison consignment at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in 2021.
Adding to the value of the race, the Whitney is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, granting the winner an automatic, fees-paid berth to the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). National Treasure has already secured a free spot in the Dirt Mile through his victory in the Met Mile.
THE PLETCHER CONTINGENT
Trainer Todd Pletcher will take three swings at adding to his four Whitney wins.
The sport's all-time leading money earner will send out Bright Future and Crupi for Repole Stable and St. Elias Stables as well as Charge It for Whisper Hill Farm.
Bright Future, a 5-year-old son of Curlin , is the only other grade 1 winner in the field. He also just so happens to have done it at Saratoga, taking last year's Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at a longer 1 1/4-mile distance.
Sixth in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Classic, his lone start this year was a 1 3/4-length victory in the June 15 Salvator Mile Stakes (G3) at Monmouth Park.
"He's already won a grade 1 for us and the Whitney is a premier race for older horses, so that would be a huge accomplishment for him," Pletcher said. "I think with a race under his belt, if he can make another move forward, it puts him right there. But he needs to run the best race of his career."
Crupi, a 4-year-old Curlin colt named for the respected late horseman J.J. Crupi, will be cutting back by a quarter-mile for Saturday's stakes. He was a well-beaten second July 5 to top marathoner Next in the 1 3/8-mile Brooklyn Stakes (G2), finishing 9 1/4 lengths behind. Prior to that, the late-running colt notched his first graded stakes win in the 1 1/4-mile Suburban Stakes (G2) June 8 at Saratoga.
"He seems to be in a good form and is running well, and there's not a lot of options for him," Pletcher said. "He's been a work in progress and we've always felt like he had talent, it's just he was always a little slow from the gate or immature. We always felt the older he got, the better he would get, and we're happy to see that turn out to be correct."
Charge It, a 5-year-old Tapit homebred, won the 2023 Suburban at Belmont Park but has struggled since then. Winless in his last five starts, a third in the mile Westchester Stakes (G3) two tries ago was his best finish. He will also have to overcome breaking from post 12.
OTHER CONTENDERS
Daniel Alonso's Skippylongstocking enters in solid form off a third in the June 29 Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., the Exaggerator 5-year-old has been no worse than third in six of his last seven starts, topped by a win in the April 20 Oaklawn Handicap (G2).
Godolphin's homebred First Mission will try to rebound from a fourth in the Foster as the 4-5 favorite. Trained by Brad Cox, he set the early pace but weakened in the stretch and finished 3 1/4 lengths behind Kingsbarns .
Before that, the 4-year-old Street Sense homebred reeled off wins in the Alysheba Stakes (G2) and Essex Handicap (G3) following a dull ninth in the Pegasus World Cup.