UNCLE SIGH READY FOR WOOD MEMORIAL

UNCLE SIGH READY FOR WOOD MEMORIAL
    GIII Withers S. and GIII Gotham S. runner-up Uncle Sigh (Indian Charlie) breezed a half-mile in :47.61 at the Big A yesterday in preparation for Saturday’s GI Wood Memorial S. 
    “He went out there and worked like he has all year,” said trainer Gary Contessa. “The interesting part is he went the first quarter in :25 flat and he came home in :22 3/5 effortlessly. The horse came back none the worse for wear.” With the likes of New York rival Samraat (Noble Causeway), California shipper Kristo (Distorted Humor) and the speedy Social Inclusion (Pioneerof the Nile) entered, Contessa is well aware of the quality of his competition. “I think it’s the best prep field yet, and I truly believe your Kentucky Derby favorite could come out of this field on Saturday,” he commented. “I’ve been very impressed by a bunch of these horses. Obviously, like the rest of the world, I’ve been blown away by Social Inclusion and now I’m going to have to run against him. He could be any kind of horse, but he’s extremely untested, so I look forward to Saturday.” 
    As for rival Samraat, who edged out Uncle Sigh in both the Withers and the Gotham, Contessa said, “He beat me in the Withers on experience and he beat me in the Gotham on trip, but I’m not ready to say he’s not a great horse. I think Samraat is a wonderful horse trained by a great guy and owned by a great guy, but I truly believe with a different trip, I could have won both of those races.” 
    However, Contessa enters Saturday’s test with a good deal of confidence. 
    “We had two very good stakes races, but two very troubled trips,” he said of the Withers and Gotham. “One of the most interesting things, was, if you look at the head on of the Withers, it’s quite an interesting study in horses. The entire time from the half-mile pole all the way around the turn heading for home, [Uncle Sigh’s pilot] Pablo Morales is constantly tapping him with the stick–driving me crazy as a trainer. Turns out, we’re on the lead and Uncle Sigh is waiting for Samraat. We learned a lesson then that really he doesn’t want to be on the lead. We came back in the Gotham with Nakatani and we had a beautiful stalking trip–couldn’t complain about anything–except when we came up to engage In Trouble (Tiz Wonderful), we suddenly became sandwiched. Jose Ortiz rode Samraat perfectly, put us in tight, and if you watch the head-on from the top of the stretch to the wire, Nakatani cannot whip Uncle Sigh–there’s no room. His left boot is touching In Trouble, his right boot is touching Samraat, and my horse just ran on in pure guts in the middle. I absolutely believe that if he could have gone to the whip or he had a little more of an opportunity to shuffle around a little bit we could have turned the table on him.” 
    With the fast Social Inclusion sure to vie for the early lead, Contessa is looking to sit off the early pace with his charge. 
    “The key is someone has to hook Social Inclusion,” the trainer explained. “He’s had two front-running victories and I believe that horse has to be challenged or he’s going to be really tough to beat. It may turn out that he’s tough to beat no matter what, but I’d like so see him get challenged and there does appear to be speed in here. I would be just as happy to be laying back third, fourth, fifth as I would be chasing Social Inclusion. I’d rather be working a stalking trip if I can.” 
    “If the situation arose, I think he’d be as lethal coming from dead last as he would be chasing the pace,” Contessa continued. “I believe he is push button. The only instructions I’m giving Nakatani is you can do anything you want with this horse.” 
    “He’s got that instinct about fighting and not wanting to lose and he’s really a neat horse because of that,” the trainer continued. “He just has the heart of a racehorse and he’s a very determined athlete.”