Tannery Back With Female Friends at the Spa
Fourth at 30-1 in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational Handicap on August 17, Richard Santulli's Tannery returns just 16 days later as the 2-1 program favorite in Monday's Grade 3, $150,000 Glens Falls.
A 4-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Dylan Thomas, Tannery was beaten only 2 ¾ lengths by Big Blue Kitten in the 1 ½-mile Sword Dancer, in which she broke from post 12 and raced wide all the way around.
Despite having only one horse beat entering the stretch, Tannery was just a head behind third-place finisher Nutello.
"I thought with a little better trip, she would have been right there," New Jersey-based Alan Goldberg said by telephone Sunday morning. "I wasn't really worried about [facing males]. It was more that she was doing very well, and I liked the fact that I could put her on a van and leave that morning and have her back in her stall that night. Hopefully, she'll move forward. She's doing well. She looks good, and she's acting good."
The Glens Falls will be the second start for Tannery since getting a break following her eighth-place finish in the Grade 2 New York on June 29 at Belmont Park. Prior to that race, she rallied to win the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay at the Glens Falls distance on May 25, also at Belmont.
"I was just thinking that it's a mile and three-eighths, and we know she likes the distance," said Goldberg of the quick turnaround from the Sword Dancer. "I could have gone to Canada [for the Grade 2 Canadian Stakes on September 15 at Woodbine], but it's only a mile and an eighth in two more weeks. There just wasn't a lot around."
Goldberg has started seven horses at Saratoga this summer with two wins, the Grade 1 Diana and the Grade 2 Ketel One Ballston Spa with Santulli's 5-year-old mare Laughing. In the Glens Falls, Tannery will face four foes - Anjaz, Minakshi, Mystical Star and Strathnaver - she defeated in the Sheepshead Bay.
"I breezed her with Laughing before the last race, and she outworked her," Goldberg said. "Hopefully, she'll run well."