Halina’s Forte among evenly-matched field in Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Ballerina

Rigney Racing’s Halina’s Forte is among an evenly-matched field of nine in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Resorts World Casino Ballerina, a seven-furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, at Saratoga Race Course. The Ballerina offers a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on November 1 at Del Mar.

Trained by Phil Bauer, the 4-year-old Mitole bay closed up the rail to launch a 24-1 upset last out in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss over six furlongs of sloppy and sealed footing on July 20 here. Halina’s Forte improved her record to 2-for-2 at the Spa, adding to a win in off-the-turf 5 1/2-furlong Galway last August.

Both of the aforementioned victories were under Irad Ortiz, Jr., who is slated to ride Grade 2 Chicago runner-up Claret Beret for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr., with Hall of Famer Joel Rosario jumping aboard Halina’s Forte from post 4, tabbed at 10-1 morning line odds.

“She’s doing great and I think she’s earned a shot to try Grade 1 company,” said Bauer. “I’m happy with our draw. I think we can have a similar trip to last time, but the seven-eighths is a question mark. She did handle that early in her 3-year-old year and I think she’s matured and should be able to handle it again.”

Halina’s Forte’s best performances at seven furlongs include a 1 3/4-length victory in the Ruthless last February at Aqueduct Racetrack and a fourth in the Grade 2 Eight Belles the following May won by returning rival My Mane Squeeze.

“I don’t know if we’ll get the same pace scenario going seven furlongs as the Honorable Miss,” Bauer said. “I don’t think it’ll be quite as fast but we’d like to see a somewhat similar trip where she breaks sharp, gets her legs underneath her, and comes with a late run. That’s what we’ll tell Joel and hopefully he’s able to save ground and find something late.”

Halina’s Forte is 2-for-3 over wet tracks among her 14-6-3-2 record with $526,450 in earnings.

“It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful forecast and she’s won on all different types of surfaces and tracks,” said Bauer. “She takes her race with her wherever she goes.”

A prospect on the Travers Day-undercard for the same connections is Tam Tam in Race 3, a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies. The Medaglia d’Oro bay will exit the outermost post 9 in rein to Jose Ortiz, tabbed at morning-line odds of 7-2. Tam Tam is named for owner Richard Rigney’s wife, Tammy.

Tam Tam was purchased for $975,000 at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. She is out of the Distorted Humor mare Princess Julia and her second dam is dual Grade 1-winner Folklore, who captured the 2005 Grade 2 Adirondack here as part of a campaign that included top-flight scores at Belmont Park in the Matron and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies en route to Champion 2-Year-Old Filly honors.

“She continues to impress in the mornings,” said Bauer. “She is continually growing. She has gotten a lot of leg added to her here in the last few months. My only concern is that she’s probably been outworking some horses that probably just aren’t as good as her, so how good is she? We’ll find out. The race is all first time starters, so you don’t know.”

Over and Ollie a live longshot in G1 Forego

Dennis Narlinger’s Over and Ollie will make his top-flight debut in a stacked renewal of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Forego, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course. The Forego, which offers a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar, features a field of 11 led by Book’em Danno and defending race winner Mullikin.

Over and Ollie, a 5-year-old Cairo Prince grey, boasts a 12-4-2-0 record. He joined the Rick Dutrow, Jr. barn for his most recent outing when edging clear to a frontrunning four-length win under Irad Ortiz, Jr. in a 6 1/2-furlong optional-claimer on July 4 here. That effort came nearly six months after a distant second to Kavod in his stakes debut in the 5 1/2-furlong off-the-turf Duncan F. Kenner over sloppy and sealed footing at the Fair Grounds while in the care of trainer Al Stall, Jr.

“When I picked the horse up off of Al Stall, he told me, ‘Rick, the horse is doing great, and he loves Saratoga,’” Dutrow, Jr. said. “I sent him into Belmont, and he was just training like a regular fella, but when I put him in up there, my God, he ran big. He just came out of the gate and buried that field. My goodness.”

Over and Ollie, bred in Ontario by A&A Farms, is undefeated in three local starts, having graduated in a maiden claiming turf route last July ahead of an off-the-turf optional-claiming win traveling one-mile out of the Wilson Chute over a muddy and sealed track one month later.

Dutrow, Jr. said Ortiz, Jr., who was aboard for the off-the-turf score here last summer, was suitably impressed with Over and Ollie’s recent win. However, with Ortiz, Jr. slated to ride Bishops Bay on Saturday, it will be Jose Ortiz, who piloted Over and Ollie to an 8 3/4-length allowance romp over sloppy and sealed footing in December at Fair Grounds, that picks up the mount from post 9 with a 30-1 morning-line assessment.

“All the riders that get on him in the morning say, ‘this is a grass horse,’” said Dutrow, Jr., with a laugh. “Irad loved him when he breezed him a couple times ago. We got his brother, who is just on fire up there, for Saturday, and he’s ridden the horse one time and won by eight or nine lengths, so those two get along well. We’ve got a lot of things going our way there.”

Dutrow, Jr. pulled off a 10-1 upset here in the 2023 Grade 1 Whitney with White Abarrio and is bullish on Over and Ollie’s chances after his strong effort off the layoff that registered a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He’s in a tough spot. This might be the best sprint of the year, but he’s doing fantastic,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “We’re looking for him to run big. I know he’s in an impossible spot, but still, he’s got a very good chance of showing up because of the dynamics. He loves it up there. I don’t know what it is [about Saratoga] and I don’t care, but he’s on it.

“I loved his last race up there,” Dutrow, Jr. added. “I’d love to win another big race with a white horse up there, that would be beautiful.”

Also in a difficult spot Saturday for Dutrow, Jr. is Black Type Thoroughbreds, Swinbank Stables, Judy Hicks and Scott Rice’s McAfee [post 5, John Velazquez], who is listed at 20-1 on the morning line for the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers. The 10-furlong Travers for 3-year-olds drew a field of five headlined by dual Classic-winner Sovereignty.

McAfee, a Cloud Computing dark bay, looks to finish one better than his half-sister Thorpedo Anna did when second to Fierceness in last year’s Travers en route to a win in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff and Horse of the Year honors.

McAfee has finished on-the-board in a trio of nine-furlong graded events in his last three outings, including a three-quarter-length second to Hill Road in the Grade 3 Peter Pan in May at Belmont at the Big A and a last-out second to Chunk of Gold in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby on August 3 at Mountaineer. Those efforts surrounded a third to Mo Plex in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby in June at Thistledown.

“Now that he’s fit – and racing fit – he’s a nice enough horse,” Dutrow, Jr. said. “We see the horses going in there, we’re hoping we can beat one or two of them and be happy with a third-place. Anything can happen up there. Our horse might love the track and maybe somebody might not like it that day.”

Dutrow, Jr. said he is cautiously optimistic that he’s yet to have seen the best of McAfee.

“I’m hoping not. I’m hoping we’ll see that this Saturday – just to see him grab a hold of the bit turning for home, I’d love to see that,” Dutrow, Jr. said.

source: NYRA.com