Surprising Soul leads all the way in Grade 1 score
If racing were the NFL, Wendy and Ricky Hendriks would have been penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration as Surprising Soul thundered down the stretch at Belmont Park Sept. 19.
Joe Clancy
Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Wesley Ward
Wesley Ward’s horses could be anywhere. They’ve run at 14 North American racetracks this year, and also raced in England and France. He’s got 27 stalls at Saratoga, toward the back on the main-track side with a view of the Godolphin woods. (Originally published in July 13 issue of The Saratoga Special)
Winston C eyes third straight in Lonesome Glory
Day two of a steeplechase double header at Belmont Park showcases the open stakes horses with the $150,000 Lonesome Glory Handicap Thursday, and they’ve all got Winston C to beat.
Snap Decision does it again in Entenmann
People might want to start listening to Willie McCarthy. For months, the jockey has been calling Snap Decision a budding star and the rookie jumper backed up the opinion with his third consecutive win in Wednesday’s William Entenmann Memorial at Blemont Park Wednesday.
Belmont Jumps 1: No Teodoro, but solid race
The matchup everyone wanted will have to wait.
At Saratoga Race Course in August, Teodoro and Snap Decision won allowance hurdle races by 33 3/4 and 38 1/2 lengths respectively and were supposed to be in the same race Wednesday at Belmont Park. Alas, the steeplechase version of a science experiment (A+B=C) won’t happen as Teodoro will be scratched from the eight-horse field with a tendon injury. The $75,000 William Entenmann Memorial goes as scheduled and Wednesday’s first race (post time 3 p.m.) is still a fascinating tussle even if it’s a little like an old-school wrestling battle royal with Jimmy “Super Fly” Snuka but without Randy “Macho Man” Savage.
Driving Force
Ursula and Chris Nupp drove all the way from Malverne on Long Island to Saratoga Race Course Thursday morning to see the Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup steeplechase. To see history.
And did.
Little Big Time
Friday, Luis Carvajal Jr. had three runners at his New Jersey base, Monmouth Park, and needed to be there. He also needed to be at Saratoga to watch stable star Imperial Hint put in his final training session for Saturday’s Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes – so he did both.
Old School
Lewis Swyer used to go racing at Saratoga with Lillian Phipps, whose ruled American steeplechasing the way her husband Ogden’s cultivated success on the flat. Her silks of “old rose, gold braids” graced six champions, two Hall of Famers and were regular visitors to the Saratoga Race Course winner’s circle – when it was just a circle.
True Calling
They don’t make horses like Quick Call anymore, but that’s OK. The one they did make might just live forever. The 35-year-old gelding is the senior resident of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s Second Chances farm at the Wallkill Correctional Facility in Wallkill, N.Y.
