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Sean Clancy The three of them talk, then pause, then another burst, then another pause. They pull up ideas, memories, monuments like they’re pulling up weeds from a garden. Occasionally a flower, a fruit, a gem to keep, to hold. Eyes moisten, but only for fleeting moments, the public results of private thoughts. No one notices.
Been a while. I’ve started many of these with those words, usually, following them with a vow to write more, write better. Not sure it’s ever happened.
“It’s my first Grand National…”
That’s how Danny Mullins answered when asked about the thrill of winning the American Grand National on outsider Mr. Hot Stuff at Far Hills last month.
“Hopefully I’ll add a few more,” Mullins said, finishing the thought.
“I’ll have five rides for you next week, just stay.”
That was Leslie Young’s response and request to Paul Townend after the Irish-based jockey guided Lady Blanco to win the Peapack Filly and Mare Stakes at Far Hills.
With the drag of a cigarette, the satisfaction of a win and a thought of what might have been, Jack Doyle sat alone outside the jocks’ room after the Peapack and before the New Jersey Hunt Cup at Far Hills Saturday.
“It’s $50,000, throw mud against the wall and see what sticks.”
That’s how Jack Fisher described his approach to running second-time starter Whitman’s Poetry in the Harry E. Harris, a $50,000 Sport of Kings maiden, at Far Hills. Owned by Sheila Fisher and her father Rufus Williams’ Dash Stable and ridden by Sean McDermott, the 6-year-old put method to Fisher’s madness with a professional score over first-time starter Sixty Five and third-time starter Make Big Plans.
Look a jockey in the eye after a race and you’ll know the truth. He might be saying one thing, but thinking another or saying nothing and showing everything. After Saturday’s opener, the Gladstone Stakes, Mark Watts and Bernie Dalton offered words and looks that flowed as straight and true as the 3-year-old stakes should have gone around the bend and up the hill at Far Hills.
With a circuit to go in the New Jersey Hunt Cup, Ivan Dowling, turned away from the TV at the bottom of the stewards’ stand. The trainer spun in a circle, slowly, like a man about to be pushed off a ledge.
Mr. Hot Stuff. Once called the Paris Hilton of horse racing, you know, famous for being famous, he’s still the most famous horse in steeplechasing. Veteran seems to have lost a step with four subpar efforts this year, although he was only beaten 5 ¼ lengths in the Lonesome Glory. Is there any magic left?
I wrote that paragraph from a hotel room, a few miles from Far Hills Race Course, Friday night while analyzing the field for the Grade 1 Grand National. By Saturday afternoon, we learned that there was so much magic left.
Perfect Union aims to win his second consecutive Appleton while taking on a solid group of ratings horses, including stakes-placed Andi’amu and the promising Lyonell.
