Booked Confirmed His Tremendous Potential with a Crushing Victory in the Sanford Stakes

The son of Yaupon dictated terms from gate-to-wire to capture the competitive Grade 3 feature for two-year-old colts at Saratoga, delivering yet another high-profile stakes triumph for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen and firmly positioning himself as a leading contender for the upcoming Saratoga Special

SARATOGA SPRINGS, New York (Special for Turf Diario).— Delivering a performance that fully validated the immense promise he displayed in his brilliant maiden score, Booked firmly established himself among the elite of the North American juvenile crop with an authoritative victory in Saturday’s Sanford Stakes (G3), a $225,000 feature contested over 1,200 meters at Saratoga.

The Steven Asmussen trainee, with Ricardo Santana Jr. in the irons, emphatically answered the only lingering question surrounding his credentials: his gate manners. After showing a tendency to break slowly in his prior outings, the colt left the starting stalls with absolute determination from the inside post, immediately seizing the lead and never giving his rivals a breath of hope.

Pressed early through the opening stages by Pocket Listing (Listing), Booked carved out blistering internal fractions of 21.96 and 45.64 before beginning to effortlessly loose himself from the field around the far turn. By the time he straightened for home, he had opened up a commanding 5 1/2-length advantage and was geared down in the final yards to stop the teletimer in 1:11.24, crossing the wire a dominant six lengths clear.

Vissino (Preservationist) rallied from the back of the pack to salvage the runner-up spot, well adrift of the winner, while Goodbye to Romance (Complexity) completed the trifecta.

"He is a colt blessed with immense talent," noted a delighted Asmussen. "He doesn't always handle that first step perfectly out of the gate, but today he traveled beautifully. Given his massive frame and scope, I truly believe he is only going to get better at finishing his races as he matures."

Santana echoed the Hall of Famer’s sentiments: "The break was our only real concern coming into today. He came out absolutely perfect and proved he was vastly superior to this field. He is still learning the game; he was even goggling at the crowd a bit in the stretch."

A son of the brilliantly fast young sire Yaupon, Booked now boasts a highly productive record of two victories and a runner-up finish from three career starts. All signs indicate that his next major assignment will be the historic Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) on August 1, where he will look to further solidify his status as one of the most exciting prospects of his generation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86fHxinimWI