Tagg Hopes Confrontation Can Step Up
Trainer Barclay Tagg issued an upbeat bulletin in the lead up to the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego, in which his protégé, Confrontation, will make his graded stakes debut.
Confrontation, a 4-year-old gelding owned by Eric Dattner and Harry Astarita, has won two straight and is unbeaten in three starts at Saratoga.
"He hasn't done anything wrong and he's won every race he's run at Saratoga, so he likes the track," Tagg said. "He's in tip-top shape, and I want to move him up to at least seven furlongs or a mile. This is a good step to go a mile later on. If he doesn't have to go too fast, he doesn't go too fast, but he wins. And if he has to go faster, he goes faster and he wins. His Ragozin numbers are good, and his Beyer numbers are good."
Confrontation, purchased for $35,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training sale in Timonium, Md., opened his career with three straight wins, including a 7 ¼-length debut score in a $50,000 maiden claiming race last year at Saratoga. His first start was the only time he has been dangled for a claiming price.
Following a third-place finish in March at Gulfstream Park and a second in May at Belmont Park, Confrontation cleared the second allowance condition by three-quarters of a length in a six-furlong optional claimer on July 5 at Belmont. Most recently, he cleared the third level with a 2 ¾-length victory in a seven-furlong optional claimer on August 8 at the Spa. The Forego also will be contested at seven furlongs.
"He's going from kindergarten to college," Tagg said of the rise in class from optional claiming company to the Grade 1 Forego. "Not even as a freshman - he's starting his sophomore year."
Tagg, however, decided against running Confrontation in a softer spot, the restricted $100,000 Left Bank at one mile on September 5 at Belmont Park.
"I would have preferred maybe a Grade 3 or maybe a regular stakes first," Tagg said. "There is one on opening day at Belmont, but he's doing so well right now. He's just jumping out of his skin. He's dappled all over, he's feeling good, he's nice and sound. Sometimes you put something off like that, and the next thing you know you're not getting there. If there is ever a chance to try a Grade 1, now is it."
Confrontation has demonstrated versatility in his past two starts, rallying from eight lengths off the lead in sixth in his July win and setting the pace in his most recent outing. With that in mind, Tagg drew up the setup he'd like to see in the Forego.
"If he went to the front and won by 20, that would be the ideal trip," said Tagg. "That'd be really nice. Nobody complained about Secretariat winning by 31 lengths."
Source: NYRA