Travers winner Colonel John headed back home today

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Early Sunday morning, before brilliant sunshine had replaced a dull, gray sky, there was a splash of color in the courtyard of barn 26 on the Saratoga Race Course backstretch.

A large blanket of bright red carnations, earned by Colonel John the evening before following his

dramatic Travers victory, hung over the wooden railing.

“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” said Brian Ange, assistant to trainer Eoin Harty. “It’s heavy, too, that sucker.”

Harty, Bill Casner, the co-owner of WinStar Farm, and jockey Garrett Gomez were on an early-morning flight back to California.

Colonel John relaxed in his stall, and will follow them out to the West Coast this morning.

Though the public and the experts had their doubts, calling

Colonel John a synthetic track

specialist, Harty knew differently.

“I’ve never been around prizefighters, but I can imagine when they get close to a championship bout, that they get mean and they get aggressive,” Harty said. “That’s the way this horse has been the last 10 days. He’s not going to rip your head off, but it’s just a subtle change in his attitude.

“I certainly never lost any confidence in him. He’s a beautiful horse to be around. He’s a beautiful personality. He’s never done anything that would make me feel bad about him or disappointed in him.”

Colonel John came out of the Travers with a small scrape on his hind leg, the result of a roughly run race that saw him get bounced around at the top of the stretch. He managed to overcome that, then hold off a determined Mambo in Seattle to win by less than a nose.

“I didn’t see the photo, but

people tell me it’s the closest they’ve ever seen. Ever,” Ange said. “They said, you couldn’t put a credit card through there.”

Considering the trip he had and the effort Colonel John put out, Harty is considering training him up to the Breeders’ Cup Classic

Oct. 25 at Santa Anita.

“I think he won it on heart,” Harty said. “I can’t say enough about the horse. I always believed he had that ability, and I think he showed it.”

MIXED EMOTIONS

The narrow loss was the second in a row for trainer Neil Howard, who fell a half-length shy of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense with Grasshopper last summer.

“I’m proud of him. He ran great,” Howard said. “I don’t think he could have done much more. He gave it 110 percent. Colonel John was, what, the second choice for the Derby? There’s not much you can say, really.”

The Grade II Super Derby at Louisiana Downs Sept. 20 against fellow 3-year-olds is one possible spot for Mambo in Seattle. Howard said they will also take a look at the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park against older horses, both as a prep for the BC Classic.

“We haven’t decided how we’re going to finish out the year,” Howard said. “I think it is definitely an option. We want to watch him close and make sure he comes out of the race good, and see who’s doing what as much as you can do that.”

BANGED UP

Macho Again, whose West Point Thoroughbreds ownership group includes Roger and Joyce Locks of Saratoga Springs, had X-rays done on his ankle as a precaution after finishing eighth in the Travers.

Trainer Dallas Stewart said

Macho Again, trying to become the fourth straight Jim Dandy winner to sweep the Travers, hit a nerve on the back of his ankle, and was limping after the race.

“He almost fell down,” Stewart said. “It stung him pretty good. Thank goodness, he’s OK. The bones are fine, and he ate up good. We’ll live to fight another day.”

LOOKING GOOD

Champion filly Indian Blessing turned in a impressive five-furlong workout Sunday morning at Saratoga Race Course.

Runaway winner of the Grade I Test in her last start Aug. 2, Indian Blessing went :59.84 under exercise rider Simon Harris on the main track.

Like several other horses trained by California-based Bob Baffert,

Indian Blessing stays in New York with former assistant Tonja Terranova and her husband and trainer, John Terranova.

“She’s doing really good,” Tonja Terranova said. “Talking to Bob [Saturday] night, he wanted her to have a good, steady five and go out three-quarters and seven-eighths, and that’s what she did.

“She’s just been like a machine since she’s gotten up here. She’s holding her weight well, and she has just been training tremendously.”

The work was the second for Indian Blessing since winning the seven-furlong Test. She went a half-mile in in :47.98 on Aug. 18 in her first work back.

“All signs are that she’s doing great,” Terranova said. “We gave her a nice, easy two weeks after the test, and worked her back last week just nice and steady. She’s really at the top of her game right now.”

Indian Blessing will have one more work in Saratoga before shipping back to Belmont Park for the fall meet, which opens on Sept. 5.

The 2007 Eclipse Award winner as champion 2-year-old filly,

Indian Blessing is being considered for both the Grade I Ruffian against older horses at 11⁄16 miles Sept. 6, and the Grade I Gazelle against fellow sophomores at nine furlongs Sept. 13.

“It’s still up in the air,” Terranova said. “Bob’s pretty much going by what she’s going to tell us and then he’ll make a decision. Right now, she’s definitely doing amazing.”

RECORD BREAKER

Lady Rizzi, trained by Linda Rice, set a 51⁄2-furlong Mellon Turf Course record winning Sunday’s seventh race in 1:00.66.

Carrying 120 pounds, Lady Rizzi broke the mark held by former Rice trainee Second in Command, who went in 1:01.11 on Aug. 14, 2006.

“That’s kind of fun,” Rice said. “Are you sure the gate was in the right spot?

“She really came into the race excellent and, obviously, we’re pleased. We finally got some nice firm turf to run over.”

Lady Rizzi ($9.30) followed the pace of :21.07, :43.24 and :54.83 set by her stablemate, Myakka, who held on for second, giving Rice a 1-2 finish. Rice was 1-2-3-4 in the $80,000 Mechanicville on Aug. 18.

“They only let you run two unless it’s a stake,” Rice said. “We were going to put Myakka on the pace, and have Lady Rizzi sit behind the speed, and when they went in 21 flat, I thought we were in pretty good shape.”