SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – All systems are go for Renegade (Into Mischief) as his camp sets sight on next week's GII, $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.The Jim Dandy will be Renegade's first start of the second half of the season for 3-year-old colts. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and owned by Robert and Lawana Low and Mike Repole's Repole Stable, Renegade had his final Jim Dandy work Saturday, going a maintenance four furlongs on the main track in :49.50 (66/111) with exercise rider Nora McCormack on board.They worked in company with 5-year-old Tuscan Sky (Vino Rosso) and exercise rider Danny Wright.“It was what we were looking for,” Pletcher said outside his office at the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning. “He had a very strong work (four furlongs in :50.80 (70/87)) last week. He did well and he galloped out nicely.”The last time Renegade and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. were at the races they finished third as the 8-5 favorite behind Golden Tempo (Curlin) and Commandment (Into Mischief) in the GI Belmont Stakes. They were beat by 5 1/4 lengths.It will be eight weeks between the Belmont and Jim Dandy and Pletcher says the extra time has been so beneficial to Renegade, who was second to Golden Tempo in the GI Kentucky Derby, losing by a head.“He is much better right now than he was going into the Belmont,” Pletcher said. “I felt like it took him a little while to bounce back from the Derby. I felt the week leading into the Belmont we were getting there but I don't think we went into the Belmont as good as we went into the Arkansas Derby and Kentucky Derby.”Renegade won the GI Arkansas Derby by four lengths over Silent Tactic (Tacitus), who is being pointed to the Jim Dandy for his first start since then. Others who are probable for the Jim Dandy are Commandment and Chip Honcho (Connect), most recently the winner of the GIII Ohio Derby.Golden Tempo was originally going to run in the Jim Dandy, but an illness ended that idea. Trainer Cherie DeVaux will train the leader of the 3-year-old division up to the GI, $1.25-million Travers on Aug. 29.“We have to run the table to have any chance to unseat him at this stage,” Pletcher said. “If we were lucky enough to do something like that, you could make an argument. We are more focused on trying to do well in the Jim Dandy and Travers and see what we can do.”Castellano: It Could Have Been a lot WorseHall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will get back to work Wednesday when he rides one horse on the eight-race card at Saratoga.Javier Castellano aboard Paris Carver July 3 | Sarah AndrewWhen he climbs aboard First Blessing (Maximus Mischief) in the third race, it will be his first appearance since opening day (July 3) when he took the worst of it in a four-horse spill in the Wild Applause Stakes.Castellano described his injury as a “very light” fracture in his back. Recovery time, which could have taken six weeks, only cost him three.“Remember, one thing is that jockeys are very light, and we eat really well,” Castellano said Saturday morning after working a horse on the Oklahoma Training Track. “We have a routine and do daily exercises. I have recovered quickly. I feel great.”When talking about the spill, which saw him get pitched onto the inner turf course, Castellano said, “it could have been a lot worse.”Since being cleared to resume his summer, Castellano began getting on horses on Monday morning. He has gradually increased his morning activity to raise his fitness level. He is named to ride one horse on Thursday–Princip (Violence)–in the sixth for trainer Wayne Potts.The 48-year-old Castellano, who won the Saratoga riding title in 2013-14, began his Saratoga with a win on opening day. He found the winner's circle with the David Donk-trained Rumblyoungmanrumbl (Goldencents) in the fourth race.He was fourth with the George Weaver-trained Belgian (Beau Liam) in the seventh before the accident in the eighth.“The best moment of the year is Saratoga,” Castellano said. “We all focus on it. We all want to do well here, and I started really well with a win. I thought everything would be good and then, 'Boom!' I'm on the ground and I ended up in the hospital. It happened so quick. Unfortunately, there were too many horses in the same spot.”This could be a milestone meet for Castellano, who, according to Equibase, is just eight wins away from 6,000 for his career.At First, He Was Not Known as Napoleon SoloYes, there is a story behind the name of the winner of this year's GI Preakness Stakes, Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map).Napoleon Solo is a familiar moniker to those familiar with the 1960s TV show, “The Man From U.N.C.L.E..” Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, was a secret agent, the lead character in the spy drama.Napoleon Solo | Sarah AndrewAl Gold, the former owner of the colt, came up with the name.Chad Summers, the trainer, had no idea what he was talking about.“I'm a fan of the show now,” Summers said at his barn on the Saratoga backstretch, admitted he had never heard of it.Summers was born in 1984, 20 years after “The Man From U.N.C.L.E” debuted.“(Gold) said I had to watch clips on YouTube,” Summers said, “and I did.”Since the Preakness win, Napoleon Solo was sold to Espoir USA Inc. for an undisclosed amount (but it was a big, big number).Before the gray colt was named after the suave spy, he was known by a different title: No Male Today.“That was the original name,” Summers said. “Al said he bought a cheap horse ($40,000) so it was a Sunday horse, not a Saturday horse. There is no mail on Sunday, so he called him No Male Today.”That changed when Gold pivoted and named the horse after a character of one of his favorite TV shows.The snappy name might mean for a popular horse, but Summers isn't so sure of how popular Napoleon Solo is.“He still has never been the favorite,” Summers said of the six starts his stable star has made. “He was third choice in the (GI) Haskell (where he was second last week). So, I am going to say no. We won the Preakness and we're third choice in the Haskell. So, I don't say he's popular right now.”As for what is next for Napoleon Solo, Summers said the options are the GI, $1.25-million Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29 or the GI, $1-million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 18.“I would call it a tossup right now, 50-50 in both spots,” Summers said.Parx is offering a carrot to entice winners of Triple Crown races to come to the Pennsylvania Derby. The owner and trainer of the GI Kentucky Derby, Preakness or GI Belmont Stakes will receive $50,000 each for entering and starting in the Pennsylvania Derby.The post Saratoga Notebook, presented by NYRA Bets: Renegade Has Final Breeze Before Jim Dandy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.