Saratoga: Gunmetal looks to regain form in Amsterdam

Gunmetal will look to return to winning form in Friday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomores at Saratoga.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, the son of Gun Runner was last seen finishing last of 10 in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G1) won by stablemate Patch Adams on June 7 here. The result came after he hit the gate and traveled in sixth through the half-mile before failing to respond in the stretch and finishing at the back of a tightly bunched group at the finish.

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Cox said he preferred Gunmetal stay at Saratoga instead of shipping to Monmouth for the six-furlong Jersey Shore on Friday.

“He’s doing well and he didn’t get quite as good of a result as we were looking for in the Woody Stephens,” Cox said. “He came out of it good and I had him entered in the race at Monmouth (last Friday). We drew the rail, and we thought we’d just wait and run him out of his own stall.”

Gunmetal flashed his talents earning a 96 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form in his December debut at Fair Grounds, where he graduated by 1 1/4 lengths with a pace-pressing trip engineered by Florent Geroux in a six-furlong maiden tilt. He followed with a prominent third to returning rivals Gate to Wire and Macho Music in the Listed Swale in February at Gulfstream Park ahead of a 3 3/4-length score in an optional claiming race in April at Keeneland that third-place finisher Retribution exited to win the Listed Chick Lang at Pimlico.

The chestnut colt has worked five times at Saratoga since his Woody Stephens effort, most recently covering a half-mile in 49.77 seconds over the main track on Friday.

“He had a good breeze,” Cox said. “He was very impressive in his first race, and in his second start he probably sat too close to a fast pace. His third race was really good there at Keeneland, so we zeroed in on the Woody Stephens last time. He ran OK there, it just wasn’t the result we were looking for.”

Luis Saez rides from post 6.

Gunmetal is one of several entrants exiting the Woody Stephens and will be joined by fifth-place finisher T Kraft for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott.

Thestakes-winning son of Connect entered the Woody Stephens on a three-race win streak that was capped by a neck win in the six-furlong Jimmy Winkfield in March at Aqueduct.

T Kraft attempted seven furlongs for the first time in the Stephens, where he tracked in fourth and improved to third position approaching the turn but was outrun and finished six lengths back of Patch Adams.

“He’s doing OK. He’s one that doesn’t wow you when he’s working, so we’ll just see how he does in the afternoon,” Mott said.

T Kraft's other wins were a sixth-out graduation and a 1 1/4-length optional claiming win this winter at Aqueduct.

Steep opposition will be provided by Macho Music, the lone graded stakes-winner in the field.

The Maclean’s Music bay was last seen finishing a pacesetting seventh in the Stephens, where he carved out splits of 22.11 seconds and 44.40 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano before weakening heading into the stretch. The speedy colt’s pacesetting tactics proved successful two starts back when wiring the Pat Day Mile (G2) on May 3 at Churchill Downs to provide trainer Rohan Crichton his first graded-stakes win.

The Pat Day Mile win produced a 97 Beyer and came on the heels of an 11 1/4-length trouncing against fellow Florida-breds in the OBS Sophomore in March at Tampa Bay Downs. He cuts back to less than seven furlongs for the first time since a fourth-place finish in the six-furlong Bowman Mill in October at Keeneland.