Joe Hirsch Turf Classic could be next for Oscar Performance
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NYRA
Oscar Performance came out of Saturday's win in the Grade 1 Secretariat at Arlington in fine order and could be targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on September 30 at Belmont Park, trainer Brian Lynch said.
Lynch was at Arlington Heights, Illinois to watch Oscar Performance capture his third straight win, all against graded stakes company. After winning the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last month at 1 ¼ miles on the inner turf, the 3-year-old son of Kitten's Joy posted a 2 ¼-length score in the Secretariat.
"When the past performances came out and we visualized how the race would play out, it went to plan for a change," Lynch said with a laugh. "I figured Sonic Boom was going to be the pace and I was confident we could sit off him. I didn't think the Euros, even if though they are forwardly placed over there, would be as close as our speed is over here."
Lynch, who was back at Saratoga Sunday morning, said a return trip to Belmont is in the works to set up a possible start in the Grade 1, $4 million Longines Breeders' Cup Turf in November at Del Mar.
"I'd say the Joe Hirsch is on the radar and I think if we were to speculate what race we would go in the Breeders' Cup, it would be the mile and a half on the turf," he said. "He's shown that he can go long now and he can quicken when he needs to, so I think the Turf will be where we end up."
Oscar Performance put in his last breeze before the Secretariat on the Oklahoma turf training track in Saratoga before shipping west. Owned by Amerman Racing, the Kentucky homebred has six wins from nine starts, including a victory in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge on June 3 at Belmont.
"He's a resilient little guy and he likes his job," Lynch said.
Lynch said Unchained Melody has been training well up to the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama on August 19, putting in a five-furlong breeze on the Saratoga main track Friday with stablemate Meantime. The duo was clocked in 1:01.78.
Meantime is also scheduled to run against allowance company on August 19 in his first start off a freshening following an eighth-place finish in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 10.
After posting three wins in four starts, including victories at six furlongs and 1 1/16 miles, Unchained Melody will be stretching out to the Alabama distance of 1 1/4 miles.
"She had a nice work the other day with Meantime, who is back on schedule to run the same day," Lynch said. "I had her sit off Meantime a little bit just in case someone tried to go with her so she can learn to relax, because she's going the farthest she's ever gone. I thought it was a good work, it'll be interesting to see how she shapes up against that group. She needed to get over this track to get used to going a mile and a quarter."
Meantime had been working on the Belmont Park training track before arriving in Saratoga in early August. He has since put in two five-furlong workouts on the main track at the Spa, including the last work where he breezed from the gate.
"He hadn't been out there in a while, and one of his assets is he has a big early speed and I want him to leave the gates clean, and also I wanted to school [Unchained Melody] up a little bit," Lynch said. "I just wanted to regroup with him off the Belmont. You never get an easy spot around here, but it'll be hopefully a good comeback spot for him and get him back on the right track."
Loose On the Town returned to stakes company with a second-place finish in Friday's Tale of the Cat. Lynch said the 5-year-old son of Speighstown, who finished just a head behind Stallwalkin' Dude, will likely target the $100,000 Lucky Coin at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf September 1.
"He came out of it good and I thought he ran a bang up race and just got unlucky there," Lynch said. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about [getting beat by] Stallwalkin' Dude. [We had] the one hole and I think if the roles had been reversed and we drew outside, it might have been a head-bob difference. But the good thing I learned from that race was that he fits that company. He's a versatile horse."
Source: NYRA Communications
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