Stars and Stripes leads Mott-trained exacta in Listed Birdstone
Frassetto Stables’ Stars and Stripes rallied up the rail to edge his Hall of Famer Bill Mott-trained stablemate Parchment Party by a nose in Thursday’s Listed $200,000 Birdstone, a 1 3/4-mile marathon for 3-year-olds and up, at Saratoga Race Course.
Stars and Stripes was stretching out in distance from his longest career race last out in the local 10-furlong Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourbon Life on July 4, where he landed eighth, one place behind Parchment Party, last year’s Birdstone winner. With a brave rally engineered by Luis Saez to the inside of Passing Game on Thursday, Stars and Stripes prevailed narrowly over his 6-5 favored stablemate Parchment Party in a tight three-horse finish.
"When they got right to the wire, I said, 'that's pretty close to being a dead heat.' I thought we might get it. I would have been happy with a dead heat,” Mott said. “Funny enough, they'd been breezing together every week and they come through the stretch and look very similar. They look comfortable doing what they're doing. I don't like to run against myself, that's crazy if you don't have to, but there's just a limited amount of races and we had to do it. You train for two different owners, and they deserve to run their horse."
Stars and Stripes exited post 3 alertly, but Saez was content to let Annexperience and Passing Game spurt over two lengths ahead through the opening quarter-mile in 24.98 seconds over the fast dirt that saw rain pick up during the running of the race.
Passing the wire for the first time after the half-mile in 50.65, Annexperience held a clear lead over Passing Game, with Stars and Stripes settled in third position to the inside of Interceptor as Parchment Party saved ground under Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
Stars and Stripes maintained a ground-saving third position around the second turn as three-quarters elapsed in 1:16.97, and the complexion of the race remained largely unchanged through one mile in 1:43.59. Passing Game collared Annexperience shortly after 10 furlongs in 2:09.25 as Parchment Party angled out to advance between rivals in the final turn.
The 33-1 Passing Game, under Tyler Gaffalione, led at the top of the lane as Parchment Party launched his bid to his outside and kept Stars and Stripes hemmed in nearing the eighth-pole. Saez remained patient, navigating Stars and Stripes into a small window along the rail to the inside of the embattled Passing Game and Parchment Party.
“When he came to the top of the stretch, we were just waiting for the room,” said Saez, who is at 3,998 career wins. “I knew I have a lot of horse and I got a little worried because the favorite came outside and made the move, but I never stopped digging and he finally got the clear [running room] and got the race [won].”
The trio charged toward the wire together, Stars and Stripes getting his nose down over Parchment Party at the wire, with three-quarter-lengths back to Passing Game in a final time of 2:58.90
“He went right through,” said Saez. “For a second, I thought we were going to get stuck there and get beat, but in the last jumps, he finally made his move and he came up with the victory.
“That horse [Stars and Stripes] kind of likes to be between horses and he likes to be in that spot,” Saez added of the horse he piloted to win the Grade 3 Ben Ali in April at Keeneland. “That’s what we tried to look for, that trip, and we finally had the opportunity to make the move and he did it pretty well. He gave me the victory, so that was an amazing race.”
Carolo Rapido rallied from last to fourth, with Waitlist, Interceptor, Jokestar and Annexperience completing the order of finish.
Mott cross-entered the victorious 4-year-old Not This Time colt in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Philip H. Iselin on Saturday at Monmouth Park, but opted for the longer Birdstone.
"I had him entered at Monmouth, but the race is only a mile and a sixteenth and I didn't think it was the right spot. Although this was an unknown to us, I knew he wanted to go a mile and an eighth or further, so why not just jump to a mile and three-quarters, what the heck,” Mott said, with a laugh. “You don't ever know they're going to do it until they do it.”
Velazquez, who notably rode Parchment Party to victory in this race last year after capturing the off-the-turf Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup, said the 5-year-old Constitution bay has a tendency to wait once he makes the front.
“I was happy with the trip. When he gets to the lead, he waits, and he never saw the horse inside of him [Stars and Stripes] and he got caught,” Velazquez said. “A perfect trip, I was afraid to get to the lead too soon.”
Stars and Stripes, a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase and a half-brother to Grade 3-winner Waves of Mischief, is out of the Quality Road mare Pearl River. His second dam, Ain’t She Sweet, is a full-sister to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaires Life Is Sweet and Sweet Catomine. He earned $110,000 in victory while improving his record to 9-5-1-1 and returning $6.86 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Friday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Listed $200,000 Smart and Fancy in Race 9. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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