Thundering Roar briefly had the lead in deep stretch in the 5^th race at Saratoga Race Course on Monday (8/31) before getting passed but nonetheless finished in an impressive 2^nd place, losing by just 1 ¼ lengths!

TR was making just his 2^nd lifetime start and we had every reason to expect forward improvement off of his impressive debut race.  Myself and trainer Mark Hennig were completely shocked to see TR going off at 11-1 but the question was why?  The logical concern is that there are some well meant first time starters in the race that might run big.  After the weekend rain, the track was rated “Good” and it was clear that the track was softer and slower than it has been for much of this meet.  TR broke well and then tucked in behind 4 horses that were gunning out of the gate through a ridiculously fast first ¼ mile in 21.68 seconds.  TR rounded the turn and then was slightly stuck with jockey Javier Castellano looking to go outside but then as the #8 moved out, Javier tucked back to the inside to split horses and briefly grab the lead in deep stretch.  Race announcer Tom Durkin gave a thrilling and spirited annunciation of “Thundering Roar” as he grabbed the lead.  The #1 horse had been back behind TR following him before making a move splitting TR and the #8 to grab the lead and the win.  The winner is a much larger horse than TR and when he came through, he bumped TR, who was then pinned between the bigger horse and the rail.  TR showed his guts and toughness in continuing on and maintaining the 2^nd place position. 

The final time of 1:04.32 for the 5 ½ furlongs was very impressive considering the slower relative speed of the “softer” turf course.  In retrospect, I think this was a pretty good field.  We do want to run TR in a longer race with a softer pace which we believe that he’ll appreciate.  We should have this chance in TR’s next start at Belmont Park.

Make It Come True just finished her race at Penn National (Race 4 on Wednesday 9/2) with a deep closing 2^nd place finish!  MICT was actually laying back in 8^th place and 20 lengths back of the lead through a quick first ½ mile.  Trainer Gilberto Rivera told the jockey to sit on her until the 3/8 pole and then make the run.  MICT came flying late, only losing by 2 ¾ lengths before flying by the winner on the gallop out! 

Victory Assured is entered in the 9^th race (6:56 PM; twilight schedule for final Friday of meet) at Saratoga Race Course, a $56,350 New York Bred Allowance N1X/ Optional Claiming ($25,000 tag) Race going 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf course.  VA drew post position and entry # 10 in what will be a full field of 10 horses.  The far outside post position is unfortunate as this is a 3-turn race with the first turn (also the turns are tight on this course) coming up quickly.  Kent Desormeaux returns as the jockey.

From the very beginning, we’ve wanted to see VA run long and that day is finally arriving as the right race has come up!  The weather forecast is clear!  Except for the outside draw and the 3 tight turns, I love this spot for VA as the company and distance should give him a great chance to win at Saratoga!