Stall Points Twang, Base Case Scenario to Stakes Races

Twang and Base Case Scenario, impressive maiden winners on Saturday for trainer Al Stall, are both being pointed to Saratoga stakes for their next start.

Not long after Twang's front-running 3 ¼-length victory at six furlongs, Stall nominated the Dixie Union colt to the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special at 6 ½ furlongs on August 11.

The Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful at seven furlongs on September 2 also is on the radar for Twang, a gray homebred for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.

"[The Special] is short rest, but we'll look at it," Stall said. "Obviously, we'll look at the Hopeful. We're not sure. We'll have to try him in a stakes sooner or later."

Ridden by Joel Rosario, Twang led through fractions of 22.84, 46.09 and 58.17 seconds as the 6-5 favorite, sprinting clear in the stretch to hit the wire in 1:10.87. It was the second career start for Twang, who was third in his debut at Churchill Downs on June 21.

"Joel asked me how fast he was out of the gate," Stall said. "I told him he's got gears leaving there, and I saw him warming him up pretty good. From there on out he just took what they gave him. He's smart enough not to have to be on the lead ... and be able to come off of it when he has to.

"We like him. He showed us a lot early this summer. He wasn't quite ready to run at the Churchill meet, but we thought he'd be good enough to go over there and get some experience. We thought he had a chance to win, but he just wasn't that seasoned. He put in a good effort and was third, and it really set him up for the Saratoga race."

Stall plans to bring Base Case Scenario back in the Grade 2, $100,000 With Anticipation going 1 1/16 miles on the grass on August 29.

Owned by Klaravich Stable and William Lawrence, Base Case Scenario sat off the lead and swept to the front rounding the final turn, taking a clear lead in mid-stretch and holding off Stroll to Victory to win by a neck in 1:44.04 for 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon Turf Course.

"He should have gotten a lot out of that race," Stall said. "You never know, he could have run a good race and been third, beaten two lengths. [Jockey] Robby [Albarado] said he had a really nice turn of foot going around that turn."

A dark bay or brown son of Pioneerof the Nile out of the Kingmambo mare Mamboalot, Base Case Scenario made his debut the dirt at Churchill on June 30, finishing third.

"We've liked him. He's a big, strong, nice horse," Stall said. "He's been doing everything right; he was just crying out for more ground. You don't get a chance to run around two turns as a maiden here until later in the meet, and he had some turf breeding on both sides. It was a nice effort by him."