SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Summers is hoping distance will prove to be the great equalizer when River of Time and Friend Ofthe Devil meet for the second time this season Thursday at Saratoga in the $150,000 Cab Calloway Stakes. The New York Stallion Series event lured a field of eight statebred 3-year-olds to go one mile on turf.
Friend Ofthe Devil was a decisive four-length winner over River of Time when the pair squared off going six furlongs on the grass June 21 at Aqueduct in the Spectacular Bid Stakes. But Summers, who trains River of Time for owner Roddy Valente, feels his horse can reverse that decision with an extra quarter-mile to work with in the rematch.
“Friend Ofthe Devil is a really nice horse. He’s really fast and he loves the grass,” Summers conceded. “But at the end of the day, he’s unproven at the mile distance. We made the concession of going shorter playing into his wheelhouse last time, and I was really proud of the effort my horse gave. I think a mile race suits our horse a lot better than it suits him.”
River of Time was making his stakes debut in the Spectacular Bid after having been claimed out of a winning effort for $17,500 during the winter at Gulfstream Park. He was clearly second best behind the front-running Friend Ofthe Devil in June after racing forwardly placed throughout.
“I think cutting back to six furlongs in that race kind of helped us because it gave us a little more speed, so we should be a little closer going a mile when we meet him again on Thursday,” Summers said. “He’s trained really well going into this race and we have Junior [Alvarado] aboard again. He’s had two wins and a second on him and he knows him a little bit now. Junior was aboard him for his last breeze and was kind of raving about him afterwards.”
Friend Ofthe Devil is perfect in three starts on turf, having won those races by a combined 13 3/4 lengths, all at six furlongs, while allowed to get loose on the lead on each occasion. He projects as the lone speed again in the Cab Calloway.
“It’s been a long time between drinks. That last race was almost two months ago, but after he ran 1:07 and two, we really needed to give him a break and wait for this race,” trainer Carlos Martin said. “He seems to be doing very well. He had a solid five-eighths work two back, and he’s such a push-button horse. Hopefully, he’ll be able to dictate [the pace] and Chris [Elliott] can get him to relax. He’s got the right mind, and I think, against the right competition, he’ll be able to get the extra distance.”
The lightly raced George Briggs looms a dangerous contender for trainer Chad Brown coming in fresh off a third-place finish behind four-time stakes winner Mi Bago when facing open company in the Colonel Liam Stakes going one mile March 1 at Gulfstream Park. George Briggs won his only previous start against statebreds when rallying to a 2 1/2-length victory going 1 1/16 miles making his career debut last fall at Aqueduct.
I’m Due, a distant third in the Spectacular Bid but also stakes-placed against open competition last winter at Gulfstream Park, will make his first start since being transferred to trainer Rob Atras and rounds out a field that also includes Coach Case, Buttah, Cast a Coin, and Moe Eighty Eight.
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