Yo Yo Candy Springs Sweet 46-1 Upset in Spa’s Sanford

In a more polite world, call it the place where champions are humbled.

Or favorites.

Either way, winning a race at Saratoga Race Course is surely one of the most formidable challenges in Thoroughbred racing and the opening Saturday of the 40-day meet exemplified all of that.

The July 15 card featured three graded stakes and in each one, the favorite, and perhaps a future champion, had to settle for runner-up honors when they were gobbled up by the famed resting place for seemingly unbeatable runners at odds of 1-5 (In Italian Diana Stakes (G1T), 4-5 (Annapolis , Kelso Stakes (G3T), and 1-5 (Gold Sweep , Sanford Stakes (G3).

And how about having two graded stakes for 2-year-olds so far at the meet and the winners being 21-1 first-time starter (Becky’s Joker in the Schuylerville, G3) and a 46-1 shot in the Sanford?

That 46-1 winner was Yo Yo Candy ($94) who surged to the front in the mid-stretch of the $175,000 Sanford for 2-year-olds and held off a determined late bid from heavily favored Gold Sweep, who was a hard-luck second after stumbling at the start, to notch a surprising 2 1/4-length win.

Welcome to another wild and whacky year at the Spa.

“I knew (46-1) didn’t do him justice but we’ll take it,” winning trainer Danny Velazquez said.

Yo Yo Candy wins the 2023 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga — Photo: Coglianese Photos

Yo Yo Candy wins the Sanford Stakes at Saratoga Race Course

The odds were a reflection of the last meeting between Yo Yo Candy and Gold Sweep when Gold Sweep romped to a nine-length victory in the June 11 Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park, which made the son of Speightstown such a heavy favorite in Saturday’s stakes.

Yo Yo Candy, a son of Danzing Candy bred by Checkmate Thoroughbreds in California, was third in the Tremont, beaten by 10 1/4 lengths. Then Velazquez went to work at his Parx Racing stable, beginning with the addition of blinkers.

“We made a few adjustments after we ran at Belmont. We put the blinkers on and took him to the gate a few times. I don’t think there was a trainer in this race who trained as specifically for this race as we did. I just envisioned it and here we are and it feels great to win,” said Velazquez, whose only other graded stakes win came in 2020 with Brooklyn Strong in the Remsen Stakes (G2). “He didn’t switch leads and that was trainer error and I was upset with myself but we made the adjustments.”

The complexion of the Sanford changed when the gates opened and Mike McCarty’s Gold Sweep stumbled, winding up last in the field of nine and forced jockey Jose Ortiz to make a six-wide move into contention that led to considerable ground loss in his runner-up finish.

“Obviously, it didn’t go as expected, but it’s pretty self-explanatory. We didn’t plan on him losing, but we didn’t plan on him getting left either,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, whose colt will try and emulate Forte who was beaten in the 2022 Sanford but went on to win the 2-year-old male championship and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

The break worked out much better for BC Racing’s Dickens , who rushed out and grabbed the lead despite being fractious in the gate.

The son of Adios Charlie trained by Juan Alvarado dueled with Market Street in the six-furlong race through fractions of :22.15 and :45.83 while Angel Castillo kept Yo Yo Candy outside of them in third.

In the stretch, Castillo guided Yo Yo Candy to the front before the eighth pole and the only serious challenge came belatedly from Gold Sweep.

Final time was 1:11.83 as Yo Yo Candy provided a sweet initial American graded stakes win for his owner, Tom Lamont, and jockey. Castillo, who started riding in 2000 and is now based in the Mid-Atlantic, registered his last graded stakes win in 2005 in Venezuela.

“I’m always looking for opportunities to demonstrate my talent and I try to take my one or two opportunities,” Castillo said through a translator. “The trip from Philadelphia to New York is to win. Maybe we can’t win, but we (hoped) to run very good.”