The National Steeplechase Association closes out its six-week run at Saratoga Race Course on Thursday with a $65,000 allowance hurdle. The 2 3/8-mile contest over National Fences will be the first race with a 1 p.m. post time.
Dogwood Stable’s Street Fight will be making his third start of the current Saratoga season, with a fourth-place finish on July 29 and a third on Aug. 17. Willie McCarthy, last year’s champion jockey, will ride for trainer Arch Kingsley Jr.
Also coming out of the July 29 race is Beverly R. Steinman’s Perfect Union, the 2014 three-year-old champion who finished second in that 2 1/16-mile race. Veteran jockey Bernie Dalton takes over the mount for trainer Doug Fout.
Four prospective starters emerged from an Aug. 19 allowance hurdle. North Star Boy, an Irish-bred owned by High Kings Racing, Gerry Foley, and trainer Niall Saville, earned more than $250,000 on the flat. Second in the Aug. 19 race, he is looking for his first win over fences and will be ridden by Darren Nagle.
Richard Valentine will saddle Gil Johnston’s Miguel Grau, a dominant maiden winner at Parx Racing in July and third in the Aug. 19 race. Jack Doyle has the mount. Valentine also will send out Clarke Ohrstrom’s homebred See Trouble, a maiden winner at the Fair Hill Races in Maryland on May 23. Robbie Walsh will ride.
Virginia Lazenby’s Hardrock Eleven, fourth on Aug. 19, is trained by Fout and again will be ridden by Kieran Norris. Paddy Young, currently the leading jockey by wins, has the mount on Magical Moon, the fifth finisher on Aug. 19, for trainer Ricky Hendriks.
Here is the field for Thursday’s $65,000 allowance hurdle.
Perfect Union. 2011 dk. b. or br. g., Purim—Blue Northern, by Top Account. Owner: Beverly Steinman. Trainer: Doug Fout. Jockey: Bernie Dalton. Breeder: Nelson E. Clemmons (Ky.). 2015 record: 3-0-2-1, $19,700. 2014 record: 3-1-1-1, $21,500. Three-year-old champion last year after winning Far Hills’ Peapack and finishing second in the Raymond G. Woolfe Memorial at the Colonial Cup. Finished second in Saratoga allowance hurdle on July 29. Finished second in Middleburg Spring optional allowance on April 15 and was third in Radnor allowance hurdle on May 16.
North Star Boy (Ire). 2009 b. g., Acclamation (GB)—Isla Azul, by Machiavellian. Owners: High Kings Racing, Gerry Foley, and Niall Saville. Trainer: Niall Saville. Jockey: Darren Nagle. Breeder: Hascombe and Valiant Studs (Ire). 2015 NSA record: 3-0-1-1, $14,700. Finished second in Saratoga allowance hurdle on Aug. 13. Jumped from good fourth in Pimlico’s Henry Clark Stakes on May 18 to a Fair Hills maiden hurdle five days later and was pulled up. Finished third in a Parx Racing maiden hurdle on July 14.
Miguel Grau. 2010 b. g., City Zip—Zuri Ridge, by Cox’s Ridge. Owner: Gil Johnston. Trainer: Richard Valentine. Jockey: Jack Doyle. Breeder: Sea Horse Breeders (Ky.) 2015 record: 5-1-1-1, $34,200. Finished third in a Saratoga allowance hurdle on Aug. 13. First-year hurdler broke through for a 10 1/2-length victory in a Parx maiden hurdle on July 14. Also had a second at Iroquois Steeplechase to year’s top novice on May 9.
Magical Moon (GB). 2009 b. g., Dansili (GB)—Sheppard’s Watch, by Night Shift. Owner: Rosbrian Farm. Trainer: Ricky Hendriks. Jockey: Paddy Young. Breeder: Lady Bamford (GB). 2015 NSA record: 2-0-0-1, $5,100. Finished fifth in Saratoga allowance hurdle on Aug. 13. Maiden hurdle winner in England finished third behind Demonstrative in flat race for hurdles at Parx Racing on July 12, his U.S. debut.
See Trouble. 2011 dk. b. or br. g., Sightseeing—Kwioa (Arg), by Engrillado. Owner: Clarke Ohrstrom. Trainer: Richard Valentine. Jockey: Robbie Walsh. 2015 record: 3-1-0-0, $13,800. First-year hurdler won at Fair Hill in third start over fences. Homebred had three wins on the flat last year.
Street Fight. 2009 b. g., Street Sense–Reportedly, by Silver Deputy. Owner: Dogwood Stable. Trainer: Arch Kingsley Jr. Jockey: Willie McCarthy. Breeder: Kinghaven Farms (Ont.) 2015 record: 5-0-1-2, $28,000. 2014 record: 1-0-1-0, $9,000. Has two Saratoga allowance starts, a fourth on July 29 and a third on Aug. 13. Finished fourth to a rising star in Monmouth optional allowance hurdle. Started 2015 with a repeat second-place finish in Aiken Spring’s Budweiser Imperial Cup (Gr. 3), then finished third in the Queen’s Cup MPC ’Chase for novices on April 25.
Hardrock Eleven. 2010 gr. or ro. g., Rock Hard Ten—Stark Beauty, by Unbridled’s Song. Owner: Virginia Lazenby. Trainer: Doug Fout. Jockey: Kieran Norris. Breeders: Farm III Enterprises and Off the Hook Partners (Fla.) 2015 record: 4-0-1-1, $9,850. Finished fourth in Saratoga allowance hurdle on Aug. 13. First-year hurdler finished second in debut at Middleburg Spring and was third in Monmouth Park maiden hurdle. Formerly trained by owner’s late brother, David P. Banks, and won an Evaneline Downs optional allowance flat race last year.