SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In 2023, trainer George Weaver brought No Nay Mets back to the U.S. off a bit of a disappointing performance in the Windsor Castle at Royal Ascot to win two stakes as a prelude to his fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Now Weaver is hoping a pair of 2-year-olds he sent to Ascot earlier this season, Sandal’s Song and Tough Critic, will have similar success during the second half of their juvenile campaigns, beginning Saturday at Saratoga in the $150,000 Skidmore Stakes.
The Skidmore drew a field of eight that also includes a pair of unraced youngsters from the barn of trainer Wesley Ward, the highly touted Schwarzenegger and Gypsy Art. Last out maiden winners Monster, Bobrovski, Malus, and Spirit of New York complete the Skidmore lineup.
Tough Critic, like No Nay Mets two years ago, is coming off a disappointing effort in the Windsor Castle. He finished 11th, beaten just under six lengths, after prompting the early pace. The race was quite different than his previous start seven weeks earlier, when he rallied from last to win a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight dash at Keeneland in his career debut.
Sandal’s Song, like No Nay Mets, earned an all-expenses paid trip to Ascot after launching his career winning the Royal Palm Juvenile at Gulfstream Park on May 10. He competed at Ascot in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes, finishing third, beaten just three lengths, after racing forwardly throughout.
“They both came back home in good shape and neither of them missed any training because of having shipped over there to run,” said Weaver. “I believe shipping is shipping, whether you go to California or England. There’s not a huge difference, although you still have to factor it in to your planning. You just hope it turns out not to be too much.”
Weaver said he was a bit disappointed in Tough Critic’s effort in the Windsor Castle, although he felt he might not have been as effective racing closer to the leaders than he had in his maiden win.
“He broke sharp, then kind of got caught up chasing a fast pace,” Weaver recalled. “Maybe he just prefers to run more like he did at Keeneland, where you get him in the bridle and let him finish a little bit.”
On the other hand, Weaver was quite pleased with Sandal’s Song’s performance in the Norfolk.
“I thought he ran great for just his second start and considering he was encountering a strange situation with so many horses in the field,” Weaver said. “No Nay Mets had a similar race over there as Tough Critic, then finished off the year great back on this side, and I’m expecting both horses will have the same opportunities to do likewise this year.”
The Weaver runners should find ample pace to run at in the Skidmore with Bobrovsky and Monster in the field.
Bobrovsky will try grass for the first time after winning a restricted maiden race by 10 1/2 lengths in wire-to-wire fashion over the main track here three weeks earlier. Monster turned in a monster race when switched to grass for the first time by trainer Jose D’Angelo following a couple of disappointing main track starts to open his career. He led at every call to defeat maiden special weight opposition by nine lengths at Gulfstream Park on May 23.
Trainer Dale Romans said he was unable to get in a turf work as planned for Bobrovsky here last week but expects him to handle the surface switch without issue in the Skidmore.
“He’s got a lot of turf pedigree. His mother was a grass sprinter, so I’m hoping he’ll run even better on the turf,” said Romans. “I also think he can sit off the pace if necessary and love the fact he’s drawn an outside post.”
Spirit of New York was an impressive debut winner on grass for trainer Adam Rice earlier in the meet, rallying to an easy, 3 1/4-length victory against statebreds on July 16. He has the advantage of being the only member of the field with a win, or even a start, over this course.
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