Cross Border's team considers 'running back quickly' in Bowling Green

Three Diamonds Farm's Cross Border extended his perfect record at Saratoga while garnering a 94 Beyer for his impressive 6 ¼-length score in Wednesday's Lubash, a 1 1/16-mile turf test restricted to New York-breds, 3-years-old and up.

The 6-year-old English Channel ridgling arrived at the Lubash off a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Manhattan on July 4 at Belmont Park, where he finished a length back of the victorious Instilled Regard.

Initially campaigned at Woodbine by Robert Tiller, Cross Border was transferred to trainer Mike Maker last season and after a close second at Belmont in June 2019 for new connections, he reeled off a trio of scores on the Saratoga turf.

"He's one of my favorite horses,” Maker assistant Nolan Ramsey said. “He's so honest.

"Since we acquired him, he just got beat first out and then rattled off three in a row here before we dove into the deep end with stakes and open-company allowances and he showed up every time."

Cross Border was fifth in the Turf Classic Invitational (G1) at Belmont in October, and sixth in the Fort Lauderdale (G2) in December at Gulfstream Park before earning graded black type when second in the W. L. McKnight (G3) in January at the Hallandale, Fla. oval.

"He's as honest as they come,” Ramsey said. “He's a little quirky and has his own way of doing things, but if he runs like he did yesterday, he can do whatever he wants.”

Options for Cross Border include the $250,000 Bowling Green (G2) on Aug. 1 and the $500,000 Sword Dancer (G1) on Aug. 29 at Saratoga, which offers an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Turf on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

"He's proven he belongs in the open company and graded stakes level," Ramsey said. "He'll have to step it up a little if he's going to compete with the best, but we have options against New York-breds and also the Bowling Green or Sword Dancer.

"It was a good place (Wednesday) to get his first stakes win. We'll leave it up to the owners to decide but I think they're contemplating running back quickly in the Bowling Green. He has good energy this morning, so we'll let him tell us."

Paradise Farms Corp. and Parkland Thoroughbreds' Stunning Sky earned a career-best 85 Beyer with a strong second, defeated a head by Speaktomeofsummer, in the nine-furlong Lake Placid (G2) on Sunday over the Spa green.

Ramsey said Stunning Sky could target either the $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational at 1 3/16 miles on Aug. 16 or the Dueling Grounds Oaks at 1 5/16 miles on Sept. 12 at Kentucky Downs.

"In my opinion, that was the best race she's run," Ramsey said of the Lake Placid effort. "She's just so big she seems to struggle to get out of the gate. We thought the extra distance would do her well.

"She ran a good race before that at Churchill (sixth in the Grade 3 Regret). She had to steady in the far turn and it probably cost her a placing. We're pointing her towards the Dueling Grounds Oaks. She's so big, we think she'll get over that surface real nice. We've gone back and forth between that and the Saratoga Oaks, but I think she would be a contender in both."

Paradise Farms Corp., David Staudacher, Hooties Racing and Skychai Racing's Aquaphobia captured the United Nations (G1) on Saturday, garnering a career-best 102 Beyer in the 11-furlong turf test at Monmouth Park.

Ramsey said the 7-year-old Giant's Causeway horse, who owns a record of 36: 9-6-6, is under consideration for the Sword Dancer.

"Possibly," Ramsey said. "We're also kicking around the Kentucky Turf Cup (Sept. 7 at Kentucky Downs). We have several horses to juggle and we're a little loaded in the long older boys’ turf races right now. We'll see how it plays out, but the Kentucky Cup and the Sword Dancer are there and it's a shame the Arlington Million isn't an option this year."