Spring to the Sky Stays Hot in Slop

When the $100,000 Troy came off the turf Wednesday because of rain, trainer Bruce Brown had to decide whether to scratch his red-hot sprinter Spring to the Sky.

The defection of the speedy Tightend Touchdown after the race was moved to the sloppy, sealed main track helped make Brown's call easier, and it proved to be the right one as Spring to the Sky turned in a top effort, leading gate-to-wire to win the 5 ½-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up in 1:04.01.

The three-quarter-length victory over Grade 1 Carter Handicap winner Dads Cap was even more impressive because leaders were not holding well in the stretch through much of the race card and Spring to the Sky laid down a scorching opening quarter-mile in 21.68 seconds. It also wasn't unprecedented for the horse: He broke his maiden by 9 ¾ lengths at 5 ½ furlongs on a muddy, sealed track in September 2011 at Belmont Park.

"That was a pretty hard first quarter," Brown said. "For him to gut it out, he was dead tired after the race, but he's just all heart and wouldn't let that horse go by him. I watched him galloping out, and he still kind of stayed in front of the other two."

Spring to the Sky, a 5-year-old son of Langfuhr, has won three straight now.

He took the Lucky Coin Stakes, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint, on July 20 and scored in an optional claiming race June 29 at Belmont Park, running six furlongs on the grass in a rapid 1:07.05.

Spring to the Sky has won six of 23 lifetime starts and earned $412,700, with all six victories coming under meet-leading rider Javier Castellano.

"I didn't realize that," Castellano said when informed of the stat. "I just get along really good with him."

In the past, Spring to the Sky raced off the pace, but that has changed in his recent starts and Brown credits the jockey.

"When he gets in front - and that's what Javier's kind of figured out with him - when he gets in front, he's tough," Brown said. "He used to break bad a lot, but he's gotten into his last four races, and he breaks like a shot. That makes it a lot easier when you're planning on going to the lead; you hate to break a little slow and have to rush up. He's there right away. You don't have to really use him to get there. A lot of the credit with that is Javier. I almost feel like I'm not going to run him unless Javier's going to ride him, so we'll pick our spots accordingly."