Falling Sky Will Run in Vanderbilt

Trainer George Weaver on Friday confirmed that Falling Sky, who was cross-entered in the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and Mountaineer Racetrack's $200,000 West Virginia Governor's Stakes, will run in the Vanderbilt at Saratoga.

The Vanderbilt is a six-furlong race, while the West Virginia Governor's is 1 1/16 miles. Falling Sky is a Grade 3 winner at seven furlongs and at 1 1/16 miles.

"We're obviously looking at the best interests of the horse for his next race and for his campaign," said Weaver. "They took entries for the West Virginia races before they took entries here. It didn't hurt to enter and take a look, and then we could evaluate the competition there and make a decision on where we're going to run. After evaluating everything we decided to stay here and see if he can handle the six-furlong distance."

Falling Sky, a 4-year-old owned by Newtown Anner Stud and Joseph Bulger, is entering the Vanderbilt off a half-length victory in the Donald LeVine Memorial Handicap, a seven-furlong race on June 21 at Parx Racing. He won the Grade 3, seven-furlong Gulfstream Park Sprint in February before finishing seventh in the Grade 2, one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap in March and Grade 2, seven-furlong Churchill Downs Stakes in May.

At 3, Falling Sky won the Grade 3, 1 1/16-mile Sam F. Davis Stakes and was last of 19 in the Kentucky Derby while in the barn of John Terranova.

"[Falling Sky] came to me last summer, and he's always been an athlete," said Weaver. "It was clear to me why he was on the Derby trail; he has always acted like a talented colt. We thought when he was sent to me that we would most likely focus on one-turn races, and we still feel that way, although we might try a two-turn race under the right circumstances. His two big races were at seven furlongs, so the six furlongs is a little bit of an experiment."