Think Big lays down significant mile marker at Saratoga

Versatile four-year-old Think Big added another string to his bow with a swooping victory in the G3 Kelso Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.

Having seen his perfect streak on turf ended with a slow start in last month’s G1 Jaipur Stakes, the Twirling Candy homebred excelled with the step up to a mile as he displayed his customary turn of foot to readily beat Intellect by a length.

The Kelso Stakes is a traditional prep for the G1 Fourstardave Handicap over the same course and distance in early August, and victory there would earn Think Big a spot in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Saturday’s card at Saratoga also saw three-year-old filly Ragtime maintain her unbeaten record with a routine success in an allowance race. A debut winner at the same course last month, the daughter of Union Rags looks ready to test her credentials in Graded company.

Which Godolphin horse won on the all-weather and dirt, was a late scratching from a Triple Crown race, and then embarked on a glittering career on turf midway through his four-year-old season? Rebel’s Romance would be the obvious answer, although Encino could yet follow the same path following his exciting turf debut at Indiana Grand on Saturday.

The Nyquist colt, who missed last year’s Kentucky Derby with a soft-tissue injury, lowered the course record when taking the Jonathan B Schuster Memorial Stakes and looks set to continue on grass for the time being.

Ombudsman narrowly failed in his bid to become the second horse in 37 years to win both the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and G1 Eclipse Stakes in the same season, as he was caught in the final strides of the Sandown Park showpiece by Dubawi colt Delacroix. Ruling Court ran well to finish third in what proved a tactical running of the race, with the winner coming from last to first.

Shadow Of Light was also collared in the closing stages in a blanket finish to the G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on Sunday, going down by half a length in fourth. Tribalist was third in the G3 Prix du Ris-Orangis on the same card, and a step back up in trip is on the cards for the G1-winning miler.

In Japan, Abu Qir Bay ran another fine race with a never-nearer third against older opposition in the G3 Kitakyushu Kinen at Kokura on Sunday. The diminutive daughter of Fine Needle, successful in the G3 Aoi Stakes at the end of May, was by some distance the lightest horse in the field, with some of her rivals weighing more than 100kg heavier.