SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A. P. Kid had run against no less a foe than Gosger - the Preakness Stakes runner-up three weeks ago - in his lone dirt start. When the $300,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes for 3-year-olds was taken off the turf Saturday at Saratoga, he had that back class to back him up. A. P. Kid ($8.80) wore down a determined Mi Bago in the lane and pulled clear late for a 6 1/4-length win.
The Pennine Ridge, like its sister race the Wonder Again earlier in the day, was shorted from its original 1 1/16 miles to one mile when it was moved to the main track. As a result, it was run out of Saratoga's Wilson Chute as essentially a 1 1/2-turn race; the field broke on a short straightaway into the clubhouse turn before making a left onto the backstretch. As another result of its surface switch, the Pennine Ridge was also automatically downgraded one level, to a listed event from its original Grade 3. The American Graded Stakes Committee has the discretion to review the result and restore its prior grade.
Favored Zulu Kingdom, winner of the Grade 1 American Turf last time out, was the most prominent scratch from the Pennine Ridge, which had been intended to serve as a local prep for the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby July 4 on the Saratoga turf. He was joined on the sidelines by Kentucky Derby alum Flying Mohawk, who had not handled the sloppy, sealed track at Churchill Downs, States' Rights, and Tom's Magic, leaving a field of six to go postward.
Of those six, three had previously started on dirt - including Mi Bago and A. P. Kid - with solid efforts. Mi Bago actually won his debut sprinting on dirt at Colonial last year for trainer Carlos Munoz before being sold to Gary Barber and moved to Mark Casse. He subsequently finished sixth in the Funny Cide on the Saratoga dirt, and has been competing on turf and synthetic ever since, with four stakes wins.
A. P. Kid, who is trained by Todd Pletcher for Donegal Racing, was coming out of a pair of key maiden races. Although he was sixth in his debut on the dirt, the race was won by Gosger, who went on to win the Grade 3 Lexington and finish second in the Preakness Stakes to Journalism. Moved to the turf, A. P. Kid won his maiden on March 22 at Gulfstream Park; 2 1/2 lengths behind him in second and third, respectively, were Golden Channel and Thirteen Colonies, who came back to win their next outings.
“He’s a colt we’ve always thought a lot of,” Pletcher said. “He just recently disappointed us in his debut, so we switched to the grass, and it worked out, but he had been training so well on the dirt that we decided to give him another try. We were a little unsure of the sloppy conditions, but we certainly felt like we needed to take a chance.”
Mi Bago, as is his custom, set the pace, and was still clear by three lengths coming to the quarter pole through an opening six furlongs in an honest 1:11.18 on a track listed as muddy and still sealed. A. P. Kid had been tracking in a comfortable second under John Velazquez “perfectly where I wanted to be,” the rider said. He had to work to wear the stubborn leader down, but then cleared in the final sixteenth.
The time for the mile was 1:36.83. A. P. Kid was given an 84 Beyer Speed Figure.
Mi Bago gamely held second by a half-length over Golden Channel. The colt has been unlucky with surfaces throughout the spring, finishing 10th in the Grade 3 Transylvania and then fourth in the Grade 1 American Turf on “good” courses that are not his preference in Kentucky. He was re-routed to the Pennine Ridge when the Grade 3 Penn Mile in late May was postponed due to weather.
"Trust me, I think it was the surface, maybe,” jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., said of Mi Bago, who was sent away favored. “The surface, with the race on dirt. I think he is better on the turf. I tried to save him. I tried to save him for his run. The surface. His run on the dirt was not the same kick."
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