Drain the Clock looks to continue strong sophomore campaign in G2 Amsterdam
At 0h38, on August 1, 2021 • By SARATOGA
Drain the Clock has not left the competition much time to come back on him during a sophomore campaign that has already featured three graded stakes victories. The Maclean’s Music colt will look to complete the trifecta of graded stakes scores at a NYRA track, headlining Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam for 3-year-olds sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs over Saratoga Race Course’s main track.
Owned by Slam Dunk Racing and Madaket Stables, Drain the Clock enters his Spa debut off an impressive victory by a neck over fellow Amsterdam contender Jackie’s Warrior in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Nassau County Industrial Development Association on Belmont Stakes Day June 5. The Saffie Joseph, Jr. trainee earned a personal-best 97 Beyer Speed Figure for that victory over Big Sandy, which came two months after a win at the same distance in the Grade 3 Bay Shore at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Drain the Clock has won four of his five starts this year, commencing his campaign with two triumphs in January at Gulfstream Park. In total, Drain the Clock has won six of his seven career sprints, including a 7 1/2-length victory in his 3-year-old debut in the six-furlong Limehouse on January 2 at Gulfstream before posting a 6 1/4-length win in the seven-furlong Grade 3 Swale later that month over the same track.
Joseph, Jr. stretched out Drain the Clock in his only career route in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, where he ran a competitive second, just 1 1/2 lengths back to winner Greatest Honour, before racking up two consecutive graded stakes wins when cut back.
“Most of his one-turn races were won in hand,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He was basically geared down the last sixteenth in the Bay Shore. We always thought he had more to give but until you see it you don’t know for sure, and the Woody Stephens was definitely his breakout race. He earned his respect that day and beat a game horse in Jackie’s Warrior. He’s in good form and I think he’s going over there with a really good chance.
“We tried two turns once and he ran credibly, but one turn is his niche and what he does best,” he added.
Drain the Clock, bred by Nick Cosato in Kentucky, will have Irad Ortiz, Jr.’s services from post 2.
