Every day, we scour the work tabs at racetracks all over this country looking for meaningful practice sessions that are setting up horses for their next appointed round in the real deal of the afternoon.  Some of the horses that we track will be familiar to you, and some of them will not be household names — as of yet.  We will try to keep the information timely, and, hopefully, useful as you handicap your particular races.  Here is a closer look at today’s works:

(Picture of trainer Nick Zito from Pintrest)

  1. Giuseppe the Great, a talented 3YO colt who has run better than his odds would suggest all year, has been on our HTW list since early this year after he ran third in his career debut to a couple of horses by the names of Diamond Jim and Switzerland.  He came back about a month later, in March, and ran a dynamite second in a MSW at Gulfstream to a horse by the name of Timeline.  We changed his name from pencil to ink, right then and there. After he broke his maiden at Keeneland in April, he got a nice rest break before he showed up in the entries for the G2 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park in June.  We touted him that day to run a big race and wrote that we were using him with American Anthem.  American Anthem ran off to a nice 3+ length victory, but there was Giuseppe the Great to pick up the pieces in second.  The $2 exacta returned a tidy $145 that day. Since then, he ran a gutty fourth in the Dwyer Stakes, against Practical Joke, and a more impressive second to Good Samaritan in the Jim Dandy.  The only time this year that he didn’t really and truly fire was in the G1 Travers, when he ran sixth to West Coast.  This talented son of Lookin at Lucky was back on the track this morning at Saratoga, where he went 4Fs in :49.69 breezing over the dirt training facility.  It was the 6th best time out of 18.  Keep an eye out for his return, which could come at either Belmont Park or Keeneland.  It is good to see HOF trainer Nick Zito have another good one.  The guy has trained some super stars in the past, and this one may remind him of one or two.
  2. It Tiz Well, who ran a huge 2nd in the G1 Alabama Stakes in her last out for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, was back in action this a.m. The 3YO filly worked 5Fs in a brisk 1:00.80, which was the second best time out of 13 to go.  This one looks now to fill the monstrous horse shoes of one-time stablemate Songbird and her well advertised roommate Unique Bella. Appears to have one more test before trying this year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff, perhaps.
  3. Princess Julia, a 3YO filly by Distorted Humor who ran third and just behind the second-place finisher Paradise Woods in a MSW at Santa Anita in January, had her fourth published work at the Stonestreet Training Track facility since Aug. 25 this morning.  She worked 4Fs in :51.04, which was the second best out of 3 to go that far. This one cost $400,000 as a yearling at Keeneland in September 2015.