Vasari and Hayden Barnes annihilate their rivals at Albion Park in 1:52 flat in May. PHOTO: Dan Costello.
Vasari opens his account in New York with a 1:52.3 mile at Saratoga - and he jogged it
By Barry Lichter • 7 October 2019
Vasari has made a flying start to his American career with a dominant win at Saratoga in New York.
The former Lincoln Farms pacer, now trained by Paul Zabielski, started second favourite on Saturday and the result was never in doubt, the commentator declaring he jogged the mile as he hit the wire in 1:52.3.
Vasari started from two on the gate and was driven aggressively by driver Jim Devaux to cross the pole runner Delightful Joe after an opening 400 metres in 27.1.
Devaux kept his foot down throughout, clocking the next sectionals in 28.3, 28.1 and 28.3, finishing with something in reserve.
Run for a stake of US$11,000, the race was the first for Vasari’s new Saratoga Springs owner Keith Quinn since he bought him from Lincoln Farms’ John and Lynne Street and partners Ian Middleton, Rod and Sue Fleming and Peter Jeffares in late August.
The six-year-old flew to the States in the form of his life, with three wins and a second in his last four starts at Albion Park.
His 86-start career down under saw him bank A$150,000 from 16 wins, five in New Zealand for Ray Green, and 11 in Australia for first Sonya Smith and Anthony Butt in Sydney then Al Barnes in Queensland.
Barnes predicted on his departure that he would be ideally suited to the go-hard style in America, tactics which saw him clock a 1:52 flat mile at Albion Park in May when winning by more than 17 metres.
You can see the race on the following link - https://saratogacasino.com/race-replays/- just click on Saturday the 5th and then race 4 to view.
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Ray’s comments
Friday night at Auckland
Race 1: Angelic Copy
4.53pm
“She’s done everything right and trialled really nicely. I think she’s forward enough to give some cheek. She’s only small. You like to think when you get a good two-year-old like her that they’ll get stronger and transition into a nice three-year-old but she hasn’t grown an inch. But she tries hard and enjoys being out there.”
Race 2: Major Copy
5.28pm
“I’m looking forward to seeing him. You never really know ’til you get to the races but he’s trialled well enough to start and I wouldn’t be surprised if he went a good race, despite the draw. He’s a nice sensible colt who’s done nothing wrong and he could develop into a really nice three-year-old.”
Race 6: Lincoln Wave
7.22pm
“He was starting to get into the habit of switching off so we trained him in blinds this week and he went pretty well. He was good from a standing start at the trials with shorteners in and Maurice was actually quite bullish about his standing start manners and thinks that, in time, he’ll end up being a quick beginner. If he steps well, and can land in the first one or two, he’ll definitely be hard to get round.”
Race 6: Sugar Ray Lincoln
7.22pm
“He’s not spectacular from a stand but he will get away, albeit sometimes a bit slowly. Lincoln Wave has more speed than him but if it comes down to a slugfest he’d be too strong as he’s rock hard fit.”
Race 8: Prince Lincoln
8.23pm
“The blinds go back on this week and if he steps and leads like he did three starts ago that would make him the one to beat. He showed with that win that he’s above average and will be a serious chance.”
Race 8: Rivergirl Bella
8.23pm
“You could argue she’s a Cambridge horse but sometimes when you throw them in with the bear cats they lift their game and I thought she was really good here last week. Tony (Cameron) said she’d have finished a bit closer too if he hadn’t had to take hold of her close to home (when he ran out of room and hit a marker pole).”
Race 8: Sammy Lincoln
8.23pm
“We’ve got blinds on him this week. Harry said he lost concentration a couple of times last week, including at the top of the straight, and thought he’d be a bit more on to it with blinds on. I still thought his was the run of the race last time - none of the others could have done what he did - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him score.”
