Lexitonian headed for Bing Crosby after Vanderbilt scratch

Things didn't go well at all for Lexitonian in Saturday's Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga when he was scratched at the gate, but trainer Jack Sisterson quickly came up with a backup plan.

The 4-year-old son of Speightstown now will ship to California for the $250,000 Bing Crosby Stakes on Aug. 1. The Grade 1, six-furlong sprint at Del Mar is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series.

Lexitonian, with Tyler Gaffalione aboard, was scratched from the Vanderbilt after Whitmore -- breaking from the stall directly to his right -- broke through the gate and was quickly pulled up. When Whitmore circled back to the gate and prepared to re-enter, it was announced Lexitonian was scratched. Sunday morning, Sisterson said he still hasn't quite figured out what happened.

"I spoke to Tyler after the race. Tyler said he was great going into that race. ... I think from a horse standpoint, naturally, if they see a horse break, they want to go after them. Lexitonian was probably thinking, 'well, that's not fair — he gets to run by himself.' ..."

"I'm yet to find out exactly what did happen. But then Tyler explained when Whitmore was coming back he got a little worked up and I think he may have sat down in the back of the gate and then they opened and backed him out, and then they scratched him."

Sisterson isn't even sure who made the call to scratch Lexitonian.

"I'm guessing the staff behind the gate. It definitely wasn't Tyler because Tyler wanted to run," Sisterson said. "He said he warmed up great. He gave him the feel that he was going to run a big race. He was training like he was going to run a big race.

“And the way that the race panned out yesterday, it would have suited him because he would have been forward early," Sisterson added. "And if he’s in the race from an early position, he fights and he’ll find and he just gives 110 percent. So the way the race panned out yesterday I thought he would have run a big race.

"But you know, things happen, and we look forward and not in the past. The good thing, both Tyler and Lexitonian are doing fine."

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Lexitonian, a Calumet Farm homebred, scored in an allowance optional claiming race at Churchill Downs last out on May 29. That followed a 10th-place finish in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn in his 2020 debut on April 18.

Waiting two months after the Churchill effort and entering the Vanderbilt was part of a plan leading up to the Aug. 29 Forego (G1) at Saratoga, Sisterson said. The Bing Crosby keeps that schedule mostly in place.

"He ran such a fast number [at Churchill Downs] that we didn’t want to run him back quick," Sisterson said. "We thought the next step would be — timing-wise, it would be great — run him in the Vanderbilt and if he runs well there, we’ll run him in the Forego. So to wait another month, it would be unfair on the horse — because he’s doing everything in his works and telling us he wants to run — and then holding him back from running. To wait for another month [for the Forego] to run him again would be unfair on him."

Lexitonian worked four furlongs in 47.6 Sunday morning at Saratoga.

"He’s been training great, and he acts like a horse that’s only going to keep getting better with age," Sisterson said. "He’s sort of still maturing. He’s not the biggest of horses, but he’s very muscular. He’s a typical sprinter. And I think I mismanaged him last year and didn’t treat him as a true dirt sprinter, and this year we wanted to manage him to give him every opportunity to be a good dirt sprinter. ..."

"Because he does, in his training, he shows that he’s definitely a type of horse like that. So we’ll give him every opportunity to prove us wrong. Unfortunately, he couldn’t prove to us whether he fit in that caliber of race yesterday, but we’ll allow him to put his best foot forward next week in the Bing Crosby."

With that in mind, and if all goes well in the Bing Crosby and the Forego, the tentative plan is to run Lexitonian in the Phoenix during Keeneland's fall meet and then, "fingers crossed," the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Entries for the Bing Crosby were to be taken Sunday at Del Mar.