Violette Runners Back in Action

Two of the stars of Rick Violette, Jr.’s barn, the soon-to-be 3-year-old Upstart (Flatter) and 2014 Triple Crown participant Samraat (Noble Causeway), are gearing up for their respective 2015 seasons at Palm Meadows in Florida. Ralph Evans’s Upstart annexed his first two starts at Saratoga before finishing second in Belmont’s GI Champagne S. Oct. 4 and third in the Nov. 1 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. 

“It was a funny racetrack that day,” Violette said in reference to Santa Anita on Breeders’ Cup Saturday. “It was so speed-favoring that if you weren’t one-two turning for home, you had no chance. We were a little bit back off of that and he still made a race of it. He’s got to be top 10, probably top five 2-year-olds in the country, and that’s a great place to be.” 

Upstart will likely kick off his march towards the GI Kentucky Derby at Gulfstream Park. “He actually had four weeks off and we didn’t put tack on him until [Nov. 29],” Violette explained. “He hadn’t done anything until then. He was turned out in the paddocks up at Palm Meadows. He’ll jog for a little bit. I’ve tried to give him time to get three starts in before the Derby. It doesn’t always work. Two would be OK, three would be ideal. We’ll see what happens. You have to get lucky. We’ll see where we’re ready and what the handicapping looks like, and we’ll get his [season] started down here.” 
My Meadowview Farm homebred Samraat took the first five starts of his career, including the GIII Withers S. and GIII Gotham S. at the Big A last February and March, respectively. Second to Wicked Strong (Hard Spun) in the GI Wood Memorial S. in April, the dark bay was fifth in the Derby and a troubled sixth in the GI Belmont S. June 7. He hasn’t been seen since, having been sidelined after requiring surgery over the summer for a fractured right shin. 

“He’s doing good,” Violette said. “He’s been jogging for about a month and he galloped for the first time [Nov. 29]. He’s terrific. It’s a relief and it’s also exciting because the 3-year-olds were the best of the class this year. They were the first six finishers in the [GI] Breeders’ Cup Classic. I think it’s a stellar division, and he was certainly among the elite there. I’m quite happy with him.” 

Of where Samraat might make his first afternoon appearance, Violette offered, ” “There’s no real hurry. I could have had him back maybe 30 days earlier, but I didn’t want to have him ready in January with kind of no place to go. February, March, we’ll see how he’s doing. We’ll nominate for a bunch of spots and we’ll see what the right starting point is.”