Shore Runner gave his owner Brad Grady another thrilling win with a half-length victory in the $100,000 Troy S. Saturday afternoon at Saratoga, the second straight stakes win and fourth in a row overall for the 5-year-old son of More Than Ready.
Trapped on the rail early in the compact five-horse field, Shore Runner was still bottled up with just a little more than a furlong to run in the 5 ½-panel turf affair. Kendrick Carmouche had no alternative but to go four wide, and Shore Runner exploded in the last sixteenth and was increasing his margin as he stopped the timer in 1:02.18 on the firm turf.
“He got a great trip; Kendrick did a good job,” said trainer Joe Sharp. “The pace was pretty slow and the guys tried to make it as hard on him as they could. Rightfully so, he was the horse to beat. I had a lot of confidence in the horse, a lot of confidence in the jockey, and they combined to get the outcome. I’m just grateful to have a nice horse like that and good owners. He’s one of those horses when they get good they get confident. He just continues to just grow and blossom. I just try not to get in his way. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Shore Runner, who took the $100,000 Lucky Coin S. four weeks ago at Saratoga, is now 8-5-2 in 17 starts and has earned $362,340. He was bred in Kentucky by James Scatuorchio, who also campaigned More Than Ready, and is out of the two-time stakes winning mare Miss Mary Pat.
According to Sharp, the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) is the ultimate goal for Shore Runner.
“We’re still unsure what our next step will be from here,” he said. “We’re looking at a race next at Kentucky Downs (in September) as a possibility, but we’ll see how he comes out of it and might just freshen him until the Breeders’ Cup.”
