Trainer Todd Pletcher will send out 2023 Two-Year-Old Champion Fierceness and the uber-talented Mindframe to lead a field of 10 for the prestigious 2025 Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday afternoon. Of the 10 that have been entered for the nine-furlong, Grade: 1 contest, seven of those 10 have earned a million dollars or more.
From the rail out, the field shapes up like this:
This gorgeous son of Constitution has won three of his last four starts, including scoring his first grade: 1 win in the nine furlong Stephen Foster on June 28. One start prior, this dark bay colt showed his versatility by rallying from near last to win the Churchill Downs Handicap, a seven-furlong sprint, in the slop. “It certainly proved his versatility and class,” Pletcher said. “He seems like he’s capable of doing about anything. As we kind of thought, he might come back and be even better at 4 than he was at 3.” The only question here is, will he actually run against his vaunted stablemate, Fierceness?
“We entered both with the idea that if all is well, we will probably just run Fierceness,” Pletcher said. “Six days is a long time in this business, so I want to keep all our options open. I wouldn’t think post position would weigh into it, we just want to make sure everyone is doing well all week, and as we know, things can happen. We wouldn’t want to not have the option to run Mindframe.”
Trainer Saffie Joseph is another who has two entries, with the first being the popular, six-year-old Skippylongstocking, who is tallying up the frequent flyer miles. An 11-time winner, he comes out of a narrow win in the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup May 26 at Santa Anita, his first time going 1 1/4 miles. The handsome, bay horse has run at 15 different racetracks in 32 starts, yet still has not won a Grade: 1 race, and his chances are dwindling.
“We wanted to try him at a mile and a quarter. He’d never tried it. He had run decent at a mile and a half when he was third in the (2022) Belmont (Stakes). A mile and a quarter, we never got to do it,” Joseph said. “We feel like he’s doing well, and he always shows up.”
A 5-year-old by Curlin, Highland Falls will represent global powerhouse Godolphin Stable and trainer Brad Cox. He’s won his only prior race at Saratoga in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, before being defeated in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year. He launched his 2025 campaign with a 5 1/2-length optional claiming allowance triumph going one mile, June 27 at Belmont at the Big A.
“We were impressed,” Godolphin’s director of bloodstock Michael Banahan said. “He ran really well, and we couldn’t be happier with him. He’s trained well since then and we’re looking forward to getting him back to Saratoga. Obviously, he’s only run the once there, but he ran very well. We’re looking forward to getting him back up there and trying the Whitney. If all goes well, we hope to run up there twice.”
Mama’s Gold was second in the 1 1/8-mile Commentator for New York-breds July 4 at Saratoga for conditioner James Ferraro in his last. His 50-1 opening odds describe his chances of winning quite well.
This $2.3 million champion is 0 for 2 this year, yet still shows a bank account of over $6.25 million. After finishing third in the Grade 2 New Orleans Classic and second by one length (to Mindframe) in the Stephen Foster, this colt who still “paddles” slightly with his left front leg, will be the recipient of the third start off the layoff angle, generally a horse’s peak race. Slow early paces have been the reasons for his defeats this year (and last).
That said, it appears a “rabbit” (Contrary Thinking) has been entered for him. Rabbits, by definition in horse racing, simply means their one and only job is to guarantee a fast early pace. They go as fast as they can, for as long as they can, in hopes of tiring out the main contenders early, so that late runners (in this case Sierra Leone) can blow past everyone down the stretch….its a 100 year old tactic and usually works. One other note here, at 0 for 3, is it possible he simply doesn’t like the Saratoga surface?
“Hopefully the race sets up for him. He’s run some good numbers here and just come up a little short,” trainer Chad Brown said. “His end results have been better at other racetracks, but I don’t think he hates this track. We’ll see how the track is playing Saturday and if it’s playing fairly and the pace is fair, I think he has a good shot.”
Disarm has earned $1.4 million and was the runner-up in the 2023 Travers and third in last year’s Jockey Club Gold Cup for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen. Having won only one race in the last 13 months, and being dusted by Skippylongstocking (twice) and Post Time, his 15-1 odds seem a little too low.
There is no missing White Abarrio on the track. Trainer Saffie Joseph’s other entrant, this stunning gray stands out on looks and, although he is training out of this world of late, the question still remains, is he as effective outside the friendly confines of Gulfstream Park? A winner of 10 of 22 starts, while earning an eye-popping $7 million plus, it must be noted that eight of those 10 wins have come at the aforementioned South Florida track. That leaves a record of just two for 10 everywhere else.
That said, the 6-year-old son of Race Day did win the 2023 running of the Whitney Stakes.
This year, he won the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup and Grade 3 Ghostzapper at Gulfstream Park, but most recently finished a troubled fourth in the Met Mile on this oval.
“He didn’t get the best trip going into the first turn, but after that he got into a good spot so it’s kind of hard to make excuses for that,” Joseph said. “He should have still overcome that kind of trip, but you never know. You never know how much a bump takes out of a horse. He came out well since the race. We’re happy where we’re at with him now and we’re hoping he brings his ‘A’ game again. On his day, he’s as good as any of them.”
See Sierra Leone…At 50-1 on the morning line, one can not help but think he is merely a “rabbit”.
9/5 morning line favorite Fierceness encountered some early trouble in the Met Mile, resulting in a defeat as the heavy favorite last time out.
“He was second-best on the day,” Pletcher said. “The way it unfolded he had a bit of a rough start from the inside draw. We had some concerns about the Wilson Chute to begin with, but in all fairness, (the winner) Raging Torrent ran a good race.”
The Maryland-based Post Time ran an admirable third in this race last year. He has never been worse than third in 18 starts, 11 of those wins including the 2024 Grade 2 Carter at Aqueduct.
Second in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and third in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile to end last year’s solid campaign, Post Time has two wins in three starts this year.
Bottom line here is if Mindframe runs, he wins….if he doesn’t, then his stablemate should.
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