Saratoga: Gunmetal seeks rebound for Cox in Amsterdam Stakes

Gunmetal will look to return to winning form Friday in the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds at Saratoga.

Owned by CHC and WinStar Farm and 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 at Saratoga. The result came after he hit the gate and traveled in sixth through the first 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 Park 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 yesterday. 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, according to 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 Géroux 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. That was ahead of a 3 3/4-length score in an optional-claiming race in April at Keeneland where 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 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.”

A $410,000 purchase at the September 2023 Keeneland yearling sale, Gunmetal is out of dual stakes-placed Speightstown mare Classy Dancer. His third dam Tizso is a full-sister to dual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow, and she produced Grade 1 winner and sire Paynter.

Luis Sáez rides from post 6.

T Kraft exits the Woody Stephens, having finished fifth. He goes in post 4 with José Lezcano for Hall of Fame conditioner Bill Mott.

LRE Racing’s stakes-winning son of Connect entered the Woody Stephens on a three-race winning 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 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, whose other wins were a sixth-out graduation and a 1 1/4-length optional-claiming win last winter at Aqueduct, was a $110,000 purchase at the September 2023 Keeneland yearling sale. He is out of Johannesburg mare Margarita Friday, who also produced multiple graded- and group-stakes-winning multimillionaire Straight No Chaser.

Macho Music, in post 1 with Irad Ortiz Jr., is the lone graded-stakes winner in the field.

Owned by Mark Fletcher Taylor and Daniel Walters and trained by Rohan Crichton, the Maclean’s Music bay last was seen finishing a pacesetting seventh in the Woody 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 he wired the Pat Day Mile (G2) on May 3 at Churchill Downs to provide 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 Sophomore in March at Tampa Bay Downs. He cuts back to fewer than seven furlongs for the first time since a fourth-place finish in the six-furlong Bowman Mill in October at Keeneland.

Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Garamond, in post 2 with Flavien Prat, cuts to sprinting off a last-of-six finish as the heavy favorite in the listed Pegasus traveling 1 1/16 miles on June 14 at Monmouth Park.

Trained by five-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown, Garamond earned a field-best 99 Beyer for a sharp, one-mile, optional-claiming score two starts back on April 27 at Aqueduct, setting a pressured pace under returning rider Flavien Prat before kicking clear into the stretch and drawing off to a 3 1/4-length victory.

The son of Uncle Mo won his lone start at Friday’s distance, a debut, 1 3/4-length graduation in January at Tampa. His second dam, Hennessy mare Special Duty, was the Europe champion 2-year-old filly in 2009.

Valene Farms’ Smoken Wicked, in post 3 with Brian Hernandez Jr., is Grade 2-placed over the Spa main track after finishing third in last year’s Saratoga Special for trainer Dallas Stewart.

The chestnut son of Bobby’s Wicked One last was seen finishing a hard-trying second in the listed Maxfield on June 29 at Churchill Downs, landing 2 3/4 lengths behind undefeated Verifire after dueling with him through the upper stretch.

Smoken Wicked seeks his first win since back-to-back stakes scores to close his juvenile campaign in December against fellow Louisiana-breds in the Louisiana Champions Day Juvenile and the Louisiana Futurity just 15 days apart at Fair Grounds.

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher entered Grade 3-placed Gate to Wire, in post 5 with Dylan Davis, and dual winner Uncaged, in post 8 with Kendrick Carmouche. Uncaged also is entered in Thursday’s listed, $135,000 Curlin at Saratoga.

Last-out listed Carry Back-winner Mati Gol, in post 7 with Júnior Alvarado, was entered for trainer Victor Barboza Jr.

The Amsterdam is the ninth of Friday’s 10 races, and it is scheduled to start at 5:53 p.m. EDT. The first post is at 1:10 p.m.