Last summer at Saratoga Race Course, Godolphin Racing won
four Grade 1 races, including the Test with Flashing, the Ballerina with Music
Note, the Go for Wand with Seventh Street
and the Forego with Pyro.
The fillies have since been retired, but the stable is
gearing up for another busy summer with multiple Grade 1 winner Vineyard
Haven, Grade 1 Top Flight winner Sara Louise, and Grade 2 Louisiana
Super Derby winner Regal Ransom, among others.
Of the stable’s 16 horses, Regal Ransom, last seen finishing
eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, is closest to making a return.
“He’s had two five-eighths works, and will probably go a
third five-eighths, and gallop out three-quarters, in the next couple of days,”
reported Godolphin assistant Rick Mettee Friday morning. “It’s looking like
he’s going to land in the Suburban [Grade 2, July 3]. It’s a tough comeback
race going nine furlongs, but it will likely be a small field, plus he’s run
well fresh before.”
Vineyard Haven, who closed out his 2009 campaign by
finishing third in the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile, most recently breezed a
half-mile in 48.70 on June 3.
“He’s gone a couple of half-miles, and sometime over the
next few days he’ll step up to five-eighths,” said Mettee. “We have nothing
specifically picked out for him, so we’re probably looking at Saratoga.
If we look at the Forego [Grade 1, September 4], we’d look to get a run into
him sometime early in the meet.”
Sara Louise, who won the Grade 3 Victory Ride at the Spa
last year, will likely return in the Honorable Miss on August 8, said Mettee.