SARATOGA SPINGS, N.Y.-Of course, Mark Casse, the Hall of Fame trainer, believes that Nitrogen (Medaglia d'Oro) can compete in the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes, which will be run at Saratoga Race Course Aug. 8.Makes no difference that his 4-year-old filly will be taking on some of the heavy hitters in the game. And they are all boys. Names like Magnitude (Not This Time), Sovereignty (Into Mischief), Baeza (McKinzie) and White Abarrio (Race Day) will be lining up against Nitrogen, last year's Eclipse Award winner for best 3-year-old filly in the land.Nitrogen will be attempting to become the seventh filly–and first since Personal Ensign in 1988–to win the Whitney, which was first run in 1928. The most recent filly to run in the signature race of the Saratoga meet for older horses was Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), who was fourth in a field of five in 2021.Before that, Serena's Song was second, beaten a neck by Mahogany Hall in 1996.“If she runs really good, then I will be a genius,” Casse said on the Saratoga backstretch Sunday morning. “If she runs bad, I'll be the stupidest person in the world, but I accept that. I think she deserves the shot.”Nitrogen and exercise rider Edwin Soto worked four furlongs in :47.60 (1/20) Sunday morning at 7:20 a.m. on the main track.Originally, Casse was going to gallop Nitrogen instead of breezing her because of the Saturday rains. However, Casse was impressed with the track's condition and decided to have her work.Nitrogen just skipped over the track, did it almost effortlessly.“Just wanted to give her a little blow,” Casse said. “She doesn't need a whole lot.”Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez will ride Nitrogen for the first time. He replaces Jose Ortiz, who has been Nitrogen's partner in her last 14 starts. Ortiz is jumping off to ride Magnitude in the Whitney.“Johnny has won a lot of big races for me,” Casse said. “One of the best ever. Johnny will know everything about every horse when he comes into the paddock [for the Whitney].”Life is Sure Good at Cox BarnThose who work for trainer Brad Cox at Saratoga Race Course were living the good life Sunday morning.That was thanks to the young horse with a world of potential named The Good Life (Life Is Good). On Saturday, the 2-year-old blitzed a loaded six-furlong maiden special weight field when he and jockey Manny Franco won by 3 1/2 lengths and was tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star presented by Hagyard.'While The Good Life, co-owned by WinStar Farm, First Go Racing and CHC, Inc., and bred by WinStar, came into the race with some solid expectations, the higher ones were reserved for a pair of Flightline babies, Powerline and Greenwell.Powerline, a $1.8-million purchase owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, John C. Oxley, Summer Wind Equine LLC and Bee Zee LLC and trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, was the 8-5 second choice and settled for second place.Life is Good | Tim WilkinThe other Flightline, 6-5 favorite Greenwell, owned by Greenwell Thoroughbreds and trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, finished fifth.“He ran huge yesterday,” Blake Cox, who runs the Saratoga division for his Kentucky-based father, said outside the barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. “He broke good, Manny put him in a good spot. He was able to take a breather and then outsprinted them. The Flightlines probably want a little more ground.”The Good Life was a tad tired on Sunday, Blake Cox said. The youngster could very well be seen next in the $300,000 GI Hopeful Stakes on Labor Day, closing day of the 46-day meet.The Good Life arrived here from Kentucky last Tuesday.“He has been a true professional since coming off the van,” Blake Cox said. “Schooled twice, galloped on the main four days and when we took him to the paddock [Saturday], he was perfect. The Hopeful, that's up there for sure.”Powerline came into the race with the most eyeballs on him. He was a clear second, but was rank during part of the race and did get bumped before finishing well.Terry Finley, the president and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds, took the loss in stride.“Give credit to the winner,” he said. “It looked to me like he was a very good prospect in the paddock, and he ran to his looks. Hopefully we will be in position to run against him again.”As for all the pre-race hype on his horse– and, yes, he had heard it–Finley just smiled.“It's a little unfair, especially to [Powerline],” he said. “These horses that are with great pedigree and big price tags, they carry burdens with them. We have had others that we really loved, and they turn for home, never change leads and get beat by 15 lengths. That was not the case yesterday. We are ok.”Zany Will Either be Here or Monmouth SaturdayWhen he was asked the question on Sunday morning, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher deflected it in the direction of his flamboyant owner, Mike Repole.Where is Zany (American Pharoah) going to run on Saturday?The choices for the 3-year-old filly are the $500,000 GI Coaching Club American Oaks at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga or the $150,000 GIII Monmouth Oaks at 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.“Mike Repole is going to be the man who decides that one,” Pletcher said, tongue-in-cheek outside his barn at the Oklahoma Training Track Sunday morning. “I will leave it in his capable hands.”Repole, via text, didn't have an answer on Sunday. “Don't know,” he texted. “The ultimate goal is to win the Alabama.”The $600,000 GI Alabama at 1 1/4 miles will be run at the Spa Aug. 22.Wherever Zany runs on Saturday, Repole said he will most likely be there. Pletcher said the there are plenty of factors to juggle when making the decision on where Zany runs for the first time since finishing sixth as the lukewarm 5-1 favorite in the GI Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 1.The Coaching Club American Oaks figures to be the tougher spot with the expected presence of Always a Runner (Gun Runner), the Kentucky Oaks winner and Counting Stars (Honor A.P.), who won the GI Acorn Stakes at Saratoga last month.Zany is stabled here and would not have to ship to Jersey, but the competition at Monmouth would not be as stiff as the CCA Oaks.Sunday, Zany worked four furlongs in :48.40 (13/32) on the main track with exercise rider Nora McCormack in the saddle. Originally, the work was supposed to happen on the Oklahoma Training Track at 9:30 a.m., but Pletcher called an audible and moved across the street at 8:45 a.m.Zany worked in company with 3-year-old colt Courting. Zany will be equipped with blinkers in her next race; she breezed without them on Sunday.Zany's start over the weekend will mark the sixth different track in as many starts. In her first five races, she has been to Gulfstream Park, Aqueduct, Tampa Bay, Keeneland and Churchill Downs.The post Saratoga Notebook, presented by NYRA Bets: Nitrogen Continues to Get Ready for her Whitney Date appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.