KIDWCKED
08-14-2010, 12:47 AM
c/p from Espn
By David Grening
Daily Racing Form
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Grand Couturier's participation in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational has become an annual rite of summer.
Saturday, when the Sword Dancer is run for the 36th time, Grand Couturier will be making his fifth consecutive appearance in the race, run at 1 1/2 miles on turf. After finishing third in the race as a 3-year-old in 2006, his North American debut, Grand Couturier won the Sword Dancer in 2007 and 2008 and finished fifth as the favorite last year.
He is listed at 8-1 on the morning line for Saturday's Sword Dancer, in which he drew the extreme outside post in the 10-horse field.
"It's not like he's running because we're trying to do this, 'Hey, that sounds great -- five years in a row he's in the same race,' '' trainer Robert Ribaudo said. "He's doing good. This is where he belongs. It's amazing just to be in the condition he's in now, especially the way the game is today with horses having limited careers."
By David Grening
Daily Racing Form
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Grand Couturier's participation in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational has become an annual rite of summer.
Saturday, when the Sword Dancer is run for the 36th time, Grand Couturier will be making his fifth consecutive appearance in the race, run at 1 1/2 miles on turf. After finishing third in the race as a 3-year-old in 2006, his North American debut, Grand Couturier won the Sword Dancer in 2007 and 2008 and finished fifth as the favorite last year.
He is listed at 8-1 on the morning line for Saturday's Sword Dancer, in which he drew the extreme outside post in the 10-horse field.
"It's not like he's running because we're trying to do this, 'Hey, that sounds great -- five years in a row he's in the same race,' '' trainer Robert Ribaudo said. "He's doing good. This is where he belongs. It's amazing just to be in the condition he's in now, especially the way the game is today with horses having limited careers."