Stallwalkin' Dude hopes to defend Tale of the Cat title

Stallwalkin' Dude will look to defend his title in the $100,000 Tale of the Cat on Friday at six furlongs on the main track.

Co-owned and trained by David Jacobson, Stallwalkin' Dude will be seeking his third win in four installments of the Tale of the Cat. His bid for a third straight win in the stakes for 3-year-olds and up will see him gain class relief following a fourth-place effort in the Grade 2 Belmont Sprint on July 8.

The 7-year-old Stallwalkin' Dude, also co-owned by Head of Plains Partners, has finished on the board in 10 of his last 12 starts. He drew post 6 with Joe Bravo aboard.

"He looks good," Jacobson said. "His last couple of races weren't completely up to par, so we're looking for an easier spot to get his confidence back and we'll see what happens from there. He loves it up here in Saratoga. He seems to really train well."

Stallwalkin' Dude struggled heading into last year's summer meet before winning the 2016 Tale of the Cat by a half-length. That victory propelled him to a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Forego and third in the Grade 1 Vosburgh.

"He was tailing off last year at this time and the win in the Tale of the Cat propelled him into the fall and winter, so we're looking for a good race," Jacobson said.

His stablemate, Chief Lion, will also take a drop down in class after fading to eighth in the Grade 2 True North last out on June 9 at Belmont.

Also owned by Jacobson, Chief Lion, a 7-year-old gray or roan son of Wildcat Heir, is looking to rebound after a pair of off-the-board performances following a second-place showing in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap on March 11 at Aqueduct Racetrack. Jockey Paco Lopez will break from post 4.

"He's doing well; I try to separate them with Stallwalkin' Dude but there aren't a lot of places to run him, so we'll see," Jacobson said.

Candip, a 6-year-old trained by Michael Tomlinson, will be returning to stakes competition for the first time since running second in the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector on New Year's Day at Gulfstream Park. Kendrick Carmouche will ride from post 7.

Weekend Hideaway will be aiming for his second consecutive stakes win after outlasting Diversify by a neck in the Commentator on May 29 on Big Sandy. Trained by Phil Serpe, Weekend Hideaway drew post 3 with Luis Saez in the irons.

Rounding out the field is Candid Desire, making his 36th career start looking to build on a 5-5-4 record for trainer Gary Sciacca, from post 5; Loose On the Town, for trainer Brian Lynch, drew the rail; and Cadeym, trained by Jeremiah Englehart, will exit post 2.