Saratoga: Smoken Wicked wins by 5 3/4 in Amsterdam

Smoken Wicked returned to the site of his Grade 2 placing to impress at that level, winning by 5 3/4 lengths in Friday’s $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds at Saratoga.

Owned by Valene Farms and trained by Dallas Stewart, the Bobby’s Wicked One chestnut finished third in last year’s Saratoga Special (G2) ahead of fourths in the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga and the Champagne (G1) at the Belmont at Aqueduct fall meet. The dual Louisiana-bred stakes winner entered Friday’s score from a second to well-regarded Verifire in the listed Maxfield on June 29 at Churchill Downs, and his last win came in the state-bred Louisiana Futurity in December at Fair Grounds.

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“The horse has been very solid. His last race was solid. He got beat by a pretty dominant horse. He’s trained very well since. We know he likes this track,” Stewart said. “He’s a good shipper and held his weight good. He looked very dominant in the paddock to me. He showed up today.”

Piloted by Brian Hernandez Jr., Smoken Wicked exited post 3 alertly and tracked favored Macho Music, who beat him by 11 1/2 lengths in the Pat Day Mile (G2) in May at Churchill Downs. Gunmetal was to their outside through an opening quarter-mile in 22.09 seconds on the fast dirt.

“It was pretty textbook. He left there sharp. We had the big favorite to our inside, and the whole way around there he seemed to be traveling better than him,” Hernandez said. “Our horse is so naturally sharp that he is able to just put you in those spots, and that’s kind of what Dallas and I talked about. Our biggest thing was we thought he was one of the better horses today, so we didn’t just want to go after the favorite too early.”

Macho Music maintained a narrow advantage over Smoken Wicked and Gunmetal entering the turn. T Kraft and Gate to Wire stalked the front trio around the bend as Garamond retreated. After a half-mile in 44.76 seconds, Smoken Wicked took over from Macho Music. At the top of the lane Gunmetal loomed the main danger under Luis Sáez. 

“We were just a little conservative around the turn, but when I called on him, he was there for me,” Hernandez said. “Turning for home he just showed his dominance. I just had to be a good passenger and let him show his stuff.”

Smoken Wicked kicked strongly when straightened for home to draw off to the victory over Gunmetal with a final time of 1:15.64. 

Gate to Wire was three-quarters of a length back in third with Macho Music holding fourth. T Kraft, Mati Gol and Garamond rounded out the order of finish. Uncaged was scratched.

“I was impressed the way he got out of the gates. Macho in the 1 hole, he’s a dominant horse, looked like we got him right away, which I liked,” Stewart said. “We let him do his thing down the backside, and then Brian moved up to him on the turn and challenged him a little bit. Not too much. And then he pushed the buttons. He rode him beautiful.”

Stewart said he would evaluate how Smoken Wicked exits the win before circling his next target. A local option could be the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) on the Aug. 23 undercard for the Haskell (G1). 

Sáez said Brad Cox-trained Gunmetal improved from a last-place finish in the muddy, seven-furlong Woody Stephens (G1) on June 7 at Saratoga.

“They went pretty quick. He broke good. He was in a great spot, but the winner was too good. He kept going. For a second I thought we were going to get by, but that’s how it is,” Sáez said. “He tried. He ran big.”

Bred in Louisiana by Tom Curtis and Wayne Simpson, Smoken Wicked is out of winning Street Boss mare Street Smoke. He was a $38,000 purchase at the 2023 Breeders Sales of Louisiana yearlings and mixed auction. He banked $110,000 in victory while improving his record to 13: 5-3-1.

Smoken Wicked returned $7.50 for a $2 win bet.