Saratoga opening day: 2 graded stakes, 107 entries

Gayla Rankin’s Happy Soul seeks to build on her early winning ways, taking on her toughest test yet against eight other 2-year-old fillies in Thursday’s 103rd running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville on opening day of the 40-day summer meet at Saratoga Race Course.

The Schuylerville, along with the $120,000 Quick Call (G3) featuring the return of Breeders' Cup winner Golden Pal, are the co-features on a 10-race opening-day program that attracted 107 entries.

The six-furlong Schuylerville kicks off juvenile stakes action at the Spa and has been a stepping stone to champion honors in the careers of champions.

Additionally, the Schuylerville is one of six stakes events scheduled for opening weekend July 15-18, led by the $500,000 Diana (G1) for fillies and mares going nine furlongs on the turf on Saturday, July 17.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Happy Soul won her last two starts by a combined 23 1/4 lengths and garnered a respective 81 Beyer Speed Figure in both races.

Following a runner-up effort at first asking to stable mate Nakatomi, Happy Soul romped by 11 3/4 lengths on May 13 going five furlongs at Belmont Park. The daughter of second-crop sire Runhappy replicated such dominant ways against stakes company, taking the Astoria by 11 ½ lengths.

The Astoria was not initially targeted for Happy Soul, who arrived at her first stakes engagement with no recorded breezes following her maiden triumph.

“She got beat on the squares there in her first start,” Ward said. “We were ready when she came back, so we were expecting a big effort. Then, the Astoria came up where she would have been the overwhelming favorite going in, so it was hard to pass up, even without a breeze under her belt.”

Happy Soul has gained experience in her morning training, working with Grade 1-winning stablemate Kimari.

“Visually, Kimari is a better horse, but she’s doing it with speed to spare as well,” Ward said. “She has had some nice works underneath her and she’s come to handle it quicker than I thought. The way she’s doing right now, we’re thinking Schuylerville.”

Breaking from post 7, Happy Soul will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who will vie for his sixth Schuylerville win.

Trainer Tom Amoss packs a powerful pair of last out maiden winners in Pipeline Girl and Cartel Queen.

Amoss used the Schuylerville as the stakes debut for subsequent multiple Grade 1-winner Serengeti Empress, who finished fourth in 2018 to Catherinethegreat.

Owned by Jerry Caroom, Pipeline Girl scored at first asking, travelling the Schuylerville distance on June 25 at Churchill Downs. The daughter of first crop sire Air Force Blue broke sharply from post 2 and tracked a trio of frontrunners down the backstretch before making a four-wide move in upper stretch and capturing command in the final strides to win by a head.

“I thought her race was a very good experience,” Amoss said. “Any time you get a good experience out of a race and can win it is always a good thing. With a lot of these young horses at this stage, their running style is still something that you’re trying to learn about.”

Also flying the Amoss banner is Jeff Ganje’s Cartel Queen, who arrives off a maiden win at second asking. After finishing second behind runaway winner Golden Bell on debut in April at Keeneland, the daughter of Cairo Prince registered a 2 1/4-length triumph on May 20 at Churchill Downs.

Cartel Queen will sport blinkers for the first time in the Schuylerville, having worked in the hood when blitzing through a half-mile in 47.6 on July 9 at Saratoga.

Golden Pal ready to shine in G3 Quick Call

Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Westerberg's Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint-winner Golden Pal will make his seasonal debut in Thursday’s Grade 3, $120,000 Quick Call, a 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf sprint for sophomores on opening day.

Golden Pal, trained by Wesley Ward, enjoyed a memorable juvenile campaign, finishing second in the Norfolk (G2) at Ascot last June ahead of a stylish gate-to-wire maiden win in the 5 1/2-furlong Skidmore in August on the Saratoga turf, garnering a career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

Sent to post as the odds-on favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, contested at 5 1/2 furlongs over good going at Keeneland, Golden Pal set splits of 21.62, 44.63 and 56.42 seconds, holding off a late rally from Cowan to secure a three-quarter length score in a final time of 1:02.82.

Out of the 11-time stakes-winning Midshipman mare Lady Shipman, Golden Pal has posted five breezes dating back to June 6 in preparation for his sophomore debut, including an easy half-mile in 51.8 on the Belmont inner turf on Thursday.

“He’s doing really well. We’re excited about him,” said Ward. “I think he’ll be the best horse I ever had, but we’ll see if it comes out that way. He does things in the mornings that are just so impressive. He’s just an immensely talented horse and we’re looking forward to getting his season started here at Saratoga on Opening Day. Hopefully, that leads into the Breeders’ Cup at the end of the year.”