{"id":259754,"date":"2025-07-12T19:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T19:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259754\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T19:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T19:44:13","slug":"sovereignty-tunes-up-for-g2-jim-dandy-presented-by-mohegan-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/259754\/","title":{"rendered":"Sovereignty tunes up for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Sovereignty tunes up for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Italian Soiree may have found niche in G3 Coronation Cup<\/li>\n<li>Friend Ofthe Devil back to work at Saratoga with eye to NYSSS Cab Calloway<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Godolphin\u2019s Kentucky homebred Sovereignty continued his preparations for the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun on July 26 at Saratoga Race Course when covering five furlongs in 1:02.18 on Saturday over the Spa\u2019s Oklahoma dirt training track.<\/p>\n<p>Despite early morning thunderstorms, Sovereignty took to the good surface under exercise rider Neil Poznansky and covered the distance to the inside of Grade 2-placed Jefferson Street, keeping about a neck in front of his workmate through the wire.<\/p>\n<p>Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said he was pleased with what he saw from the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets-winner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he went well,\u201d Mott said. \u201cIt worked out very well and they both went in 1:02. It looked like a nice, smooth work \u2013 galloped out good, came back, cooled out well. He\u2019s got his head out [of his stall] looking for some carrots.\u201d<br \/>Mott said there was naturally some concern over the weather.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m glad we got it in because we did it right after the first break and the weather deteriorated after that,\u201d Mott said. \u201cWe were able to work on a pretty good racetrack. It had a little extra moisture in it, but it was still in good shape. About a half an hour after that, it fell apart a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The work was the son of Into Mischief\u2019s third since winning the Belmont Stakes by three lengths over Grade 1 Preakness-winner Journalism, and Mott said Sovereignty is training forwardly into the nine-furlong Jim Dandy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe looks good to me\u2026 his works have been good, his gallops have been good, he\u2019s eating good. Everything that we look for seems to be looking very good at this point,\u201d Mott said. \u201cWe nominated [to the Jim Dandy] and if he\u2019s doing well, we\u2019ll probably run.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it makes some sense to have a run,\u201d Mott continued. \u201cIf we didn\u2019t have the Jim Dandy, I suppose he could train into the race [the Grade 1 DraftKings Travers on August 23], but he\u2019s not that heavily-raced this year that he couldn\u2019t stand another race. Hopefully we run in the Jim Dandy, it works out OK, and we have enough gas in the tank for the Travers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mott added he expects to give Sovereignty one more work before the Jim Dandy, noting the colt \u201cmay breeze on his own with a little blowout\u201d next week.<\/p>\n<p>Also on the tab for Mott was last year\u2019s Grade 1 Whitney-winner Arthur\u2019s Ride, who has not raced since finishing off-the-board in the Grade 1 Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic in November at Del Mar. With jockey Junior Alvarado in the irons, the 5-year-old son of Tapit covered four furlongs in 50.38 seconds over the Oklahoma to the inside of 4-year-old filly Celtic Charm [50.07].<\/p>\n<p>Mott said he is still determining a return spot for Arthur\u2019s Ride, who now has seven works at Saratoga since arriving here in early May from Payson Park.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re shopping for a race for him. He\u2019s just kind of an average type work horse \u2013 it\u2019s hard to get a read on him,\u201d Mott said. \u201cHe seems to be doing well around the barn, and everything looks good on him. His works have been only workmanlike, they haven\u2019t been the kind that really wow you in the mornings, but it\u2019s always been a little bit that way with him. He might have been a little sharper going into the Whitney, but maybe he just needs to get back to the races [and] get the rust off of him a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Campaigned by Glassman Racing, Arthur\u2019s Ride has banked $804,955 through a 9-4-2-0 record. He was a $250,000 purchase at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.<\/p>\n<p><strong>***<br \/>Italian Soiree may have found niche in G3 Coronation Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hit The Bid Racing Stable, Morplay Racing and Randall Hartley\u2019s Italian Soiree earned her first stakes score in her seventh consecutive attempt, but also her turf sprinting debut in Friday\u2019s Grade 3, $175,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1\/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga Race Course.<\/p>\n<p>Trained by John Terranova, the Uncle Mo bay graduated impressively in her 5 1\/2-furlong debut over the Belmont at the Big A dirt last July, and returning to that distance on turf yielded a 14-1 upset.<\/p>\n<p>Terranova, via phone from Belmont Park, said his wife and assistant Tonja reported that Italian Soiree exited the race in good order.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTonja said everything is great,\u201d said Terranova. \u201cShe looked like she cooled out well last night. She ate up, and everything looks good so far this morning, so that is good news.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the Coronation Cup, Luis Saez saved ground aboard Italian Soiree as the favorites Make Haste and Cloe dueled on the good turf through a sharp half-mile in 44.07 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>While the other closers Laurice and Abientot launched their bids down the center of the lane, Italian Soiree was navigated inside to post a smart one-length victory over Laurice in a final time of 1:02.21.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wanted her to try turf sprinting for a while. We\u2019ve had the thought of shortening her up on turf in the back of our minds,\u201d Terranova said. \u201cThat had not come together until now and we\u2019re grateful it has. We\u2019ve hopefully found her specialty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, Italian Soiree was off-the-board in the one-mile 40-yard Listed Suncoast on dirt in February at Tampa Bay Downs, the one-mile turf Listed Memories of Silver in April at Aqueduct Racetrack and the six-furlong main track Jersey Girl last out on June 8 here.<\/p>\n<p>As a juvenile, Italian Soiree was a 3 1\/4-length fourth in the Grade 1 Natalma going one-mile on turf in September at Woodbine and a close fifth in the 1 1\/16-mile turf Grade 2 Jessamine in October at Keeneland.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose were strong performances against top quality 2-year-olds. The races were validated as some of the horses have come back as top 3-year-old fillies,\u201d said Terranova. \u201cI thought cutting her back to one turn, as a fast filly, is what she wanted, and I\u2019m glad that finally came together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A logical next race could be the Listed $150,000 Galway, a 5 1\/2-furlong turf sprint for sophomore fillies, on Thursday, August 7 here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep all options on the table, but we\u2019ll zero in on keeping her one-turn on the grass, sprinting, and look for upcoming races,\u201d said Terranova.<\/p>\n<p><strong>***<br \/>Friend Ofthe Devil back to work at Saratoga with eye to NYSSS Cab Calloway<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Blue Devil Racing Stable and Jerold Zaro\u2019s Friend Ofthe Devil returned to the work tab on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course when covering a half-mile in 49.02 seconds over the Oklahoma dirt training track.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was good, a nice and smooth maintenance work,\u201d trainer Carlos Martin said. \u201cHe came back great and didn\u2019t turn a hair. He\u2019s in a good place physically and mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The New York-bred son of Honest Mischief was last seen wiring the six-furlong Spectacular Bid division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series on June 21 at Belmont at the Big A, dominating by four lengths under Chris Elliott in his stakes debut. The effort was awarded a career-best 88 Beyer Speed Figure, the same number he received for a 3 1\/2-length state-bred allowance coup versus elders in his start prior.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe gave him a couple of weeks in between the race and the work today. There wasn\u2019t a sense of urgency to get right back on the work tab, so we let him get here and settle in, and he\u2019s been doing great,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n<p>Friend Ofthe Devil is targeting his first start beyond sprint distances in the one-mile $150,000 NYSSS Cab Calloway on August 14 at the Spa, and Martin said he is confident the talented colt will rise to the occasion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s a kind of horse that will be a willing participant,\u201d Martin said of the added distance. \u201cHe\u2019s a pretty cool customer. He\u2019s not like a run-off or a speed crazy horse. That gives you encouragement that he can get it done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith his talent, I think it\u2019s the right move,\u201d Martin continued. \u201cKeep him in the Stallion Series, keep building his resume before you throw him into the deep end of the pool. At some point if he keeps dominating these horses, he\u2019ll step up, but we\u2019re doing it gradually and letting him develop as a racehorse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Friend Ofthe Devil, who is a perfect 3-for-3 on turf, was a $145,000 purchase at the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Preferred New York-bred Yearling Sale. He was bred by Laurel Least, Farview Farm and Robert M. Tugel DVM and is out of the unraced Bodemeister mare Fabuleux, a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winner Mushka. His second dam is stakes-winner Sluice, the third dam of reigning Grade 1 Kentucky Derby-winner and recent Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets-victor Sovereignty.\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sovereignty tunes up for G2 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun Italian Soiree may have found niche in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":259755,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-259754","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114841980924348772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=259754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259754\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/259755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=259754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=259754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=259754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}