Annapolis Wages War on Pilgrim Field

[Wandering Eyes]

'TDN Rising Star' Annapolis (War Front) looks to take his record to two-for-two as he steps up to the big leagues Sunday in Belmont's GII Pilgrim S. Out of the accomplished and well-bred My Miss Sophia (Unbridled's Song), the Bass homebred circled the field in the stretch of his two-turn unveiling at Saratoga Sept. 4 and powered home to an ultra-impressive 4 1/2-length victory. Barnmate Midnight Worker (Outwork) makes his first start on grass here off a third in the Sapling S. at Monmouth Sept. 5.

“He trained like he was going to run well in his debut, but it's hard sometimes to win going a mile and a sixteenth first out,” trainer Todd Pletcher said to the NYRA notes team. “He did everything right, settled in well, put in a good run and kicked on. He moved up on a nice field of horses and I couldn't have asked for more on debut.”

Portfolio Company (Kitten's Joy) was also a debut winner going two turns at Saratoga July 17 and followed suit with a hard-to-handle second to Coinage (Tapit) in that venue's GIII With Anticipation S. Sept. 1. Also exiting the With Anticipation is third-place finisher Limited Liability (Kitten's Joy).

“We've been working with the horse,” conditioner Chad Brown said of Portfolio Company. “After that debut, he got a little keen with us and Irad had some trouble with him in that race, especially after he didn't break that well and he was trying to catch up. It just was a big mess. We're doing our best to get him to settle and changed some equipment on him. The horse seems to be doing pretty well.”

Completing the six-horse field are Doctor Jeff (Street Boss), who has never run on turf and exits a fifth in the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 14; and City At Night (Temple City), who was second in his career bow at Kentucky Downs Sept. 5.

The post Annapolis Wages War on Pilgrim Field appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article