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Drain the Clock, Jackie's Warrior Rematch in Amsterdam

The two grade 1 winners, both by Maclean's Music, are the 124-pound highweights.

Drain the Clock (outside) wears down Jackie's Warrior in the Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park

Drain the Clock (outside) wears down Jackie's Warrior in the Woody Stephens Stakes at Belmont Park

Skip Dickstein

Two months after dueling in the June 5 Woody Stephens Stakes Presented by Nassau County Industrial Development Agency (G1) at Belmont Park, 3-year-olds Drain the Clock  and Jackie's Warrior  square off again Aug. 1 in the $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.

The two grade 1 winners, both by Maclean's Music, are the 124-pound highweights in the 6 1/2-furlong dash, which drew four other runners, including the twice graded-placed Crowded Trade. The Amsterdam serves as a prep for Saratoga's most prestigious race for 3-year-old sprinters, the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1) Aug. 28.

Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig's Drain the Clock outbroke Jackie's Warrior in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens, contributing to his victory. The sharp beginning allowed Jose Ortiz to position where he wanted to be—outside Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, ridden by Joel Rosario.

Jackie's Warrior recovered from a flat-footed start and an early steady under Rosario to take command inside Drain the Clock, leading him for six furlongs before weakening over the final furlong. Drain the Clock inched past him late for a neck victory.

Video

The Woody Stephens is one of four stakes victories for Drain the Dock, bred by Slam Dunk's Nick Cosato. Earlier, the colt won the Bay Shore Stakes (G3), the Claiborne Farm Swale Stakes (G3), and Limehouse Stakes. 

"Most of his one-turn races were won in hand," said trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. "He was basically geared down the last sixteenth in the Bay Shore. We always thought he had more to give, but until you see it you don't know for sure and the Woody Stephens was definitely his breakout race. He earned his respect that day and beat a game horse in Jackie's Warrior. He's in good form, and I think he's going over there with a really good chance."

As in their last meeting, he is drawn just inside Jackie's Warrior in post 2.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who missed the opportunity to ride last out due to injury, returns in the irons.

The Steve Asmussen trained Jackie's Warrior lost for the first time around one turn in the Woody Stephens. Last year at 2, he captured a maiden race, the Saratoga Special Stakes Presented by Miller Lite (G2), the Runhappy Hopeful Stakes (G1), and Champagne Stakes (G1) before tiring to fourth in the 1 1/16-mile TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1).

He began the year with a third in the Southwest Stakes (G3) around two turns before his connections opted to return him to one-turn events. He captured the Pat Day Mile Stakes Presented by LG&E and KU (G2) before his runner-up finish in the Woody Stephens.

Klaravich Stables' Crowded Trade, fifth in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes (G1) for trainer Chad Brown, is a dangerous late threat following a cutback in distance. He ran second in the one-turn Gotham Stakes (G3) over a mile this spring and rallied from fifth to break his maiden over six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack in January.

Also entered are River Dog, 2-for-2 in easier company, Flash of Mischief, a minor sprint stakes winner at Prairie Meadows in May, and Mister Luigi, who moves up from a first-level Gulfstream Park allowance optional claimer after a fourth-place finish.

Entries: Amsterdam S. (G2)

Saratoga Race Course, Sunday, August 1, 2021, Race 9

  • Grade II
  • 6 1/2f
  • Dirt
  • $200,000
  • 3 yo
  • 5:39 PM (local)
PPHorseJockeyWgtTrainerM/L
11River Dog (NY)Jose L. Ortiz122Jeremiah C. Englehart6/1
22Drain the Clock (KY)Irad Ortiz, Jr.124Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.2/1
33Jackie's Warrior (KY)Keeneland Sales GraduateJoel Rosario124Steven M. Asmussen6/5
44Flash of Mischief (KY)Eric Cancel122Karl Broberg10/1
55Mister Luigi (FL)Luis Saez118Antonio Sano30/1
66Crowded Trade (KY)Keeneland Sales GraduateJavier Castellano118Chad C. Brown7/2