From the Spa: August 18 Midlantic-breds in Saratoga stakes

I Spent It wins the 2014 Saratoga Special. Photo by NYRA/Adam Coglianese.

by Joseph Aiello

“From the Spa” returns to keep you up-to-date on horses bred in the mid-Atlantic racing in Saratoga stakes.

Friday, August 18 features the $100,000 Skidmore Stakes as Saratoga’s fourth race. Though the race was originally scheduled for the turf, the 5 1/2 furlong test for two-year-olds has been switched to the main track as a result of rain. That allows a Maryland-bred main-track-only entrant to draw in.

Running out of the two post is Nuclear Option, a dark brown colt bred in Maryland by Sagamore Farm. He is owned by top owners Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey, who bought him as a yearling for $90,000. He broke his maiden two months ago at Churchill Downs as the odds on favorite with jockey Julio Garcia, who will be riding him again in this try for trainer Wesley Ward, and more recently he breezed a bullet half-mile in 48 3/5 seconds over the Saratoga strip August 8. This colt by First Defence – Listen Boy, by After Market may be able to prove himself yet again in the case of a surface switch, with his front-running style likely giving him an edge over his competition in the mud. Nuclear Option has morning line odds of 4/1.