By Bill Heller
Kicking off New York-Bred Showcase Day to begin the Belmont Stakes Festival Week Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course, Allpony Racing and Saints or Sinners’ three-year-old gelding Train the Trainer took the lead immediately under Irad Ortiz Jr. and never had an anxious moment, taking the seven-furlong Mike Lee Stakes for three-year-olds by 2 ¾ lengths. The stakes, the first of six $200,00 New York-bred stakes, is named for legendary sportswriter Mike Lee of the Long Island Press.
Trained by Rob Atras, Train the Trainer was the 9-5 second choice in the field of six. His task was made easier by the scratch of last year’s Grade 3 Sanford Stakes winner Mo Plex. Mo Plex is trained by Jeremiah Englehart in Barn 85, which was placed under a 14-day quarantine due to a case of strangles.
Soontobeking and Eric Cancel, sent off at 9-2 odds from the rail, edged 3-2 favorite Prince Valiant and Dylan Davis by a head for second.
Bred by Hibiscus Stables, Train the Trainer, a son of Dialed In out of Heavenly View by Forestry who sold for $52,000 as a two-year-old, was making just his third career start. “As long as he was healthy, I expected him to put in that sort of effort. We’ve bred a lot of horses, but this is probably the nicest one.”
Train the Trainer made his debut April 6th at Santa Anita for trainer Mark Glatt, finishing second by 3 ¼ lengths to the highly regarded Bob Baffert horse Goal Oriented. Train the Trainer was transferred to Atras’ barn and won a New York-bred maiden special wight by five lengths as the 3-5 favorite on a muddy track at 6 ½ furlongs May 4th.
“He came from Mark Glatt and he looked great when we first saw him,” Atras said. “He’s very special. He broke really good. Irad rode him perfectly. He’s just getting better in every race.”
He broke like a rocket as Dylan Davis settled Prince Valiant, who had won three straight races, off the pace in second.
Nursing a clear lead of one to two lengths, Train the Trainer set reasonable fractions on the fast track: a quarter in :23.90 and a half-mile in :46.39. Prince Valiant took a shot on the outside and Soontobeking rallied on the inside.
Train the Trainer barely noticed, maintaining his lead to the wire. He covered the seven furlongs in 1:23.92. “I had a beautiful trip,” Ortiz said. “I let him be him and he did the rest.”
With two victories and a second in his first three starts, Train the Trainer has earned $167,000.
