Two Triple Crown races in the books and two Monday Morning Trainer recaps that never made it to production, never mind the cutting-room floor.
We need to make good on that. There is still a lot to catch up on, from Saturday’s smorgasbord of undercard stakes at Pimlico Race Course to jump racing in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Plenty more quality flat events around the country, too, including graded events at Belmont, Monmouth, Santa Anita and Woodbine on Preakness weekend.
Since we missed Monday Morning Trainer, we’ll call this week’s edition Tardy Tuesday and promise not to be late again. Or at least until next week, when Monday marks Memorial Day.
Back in the Bluegrass
Live steeplechase racing returned to Central Kentucky after a one-year hiatus with the four-race High Hope card at the Kentucky Horse Park.
The $20,000 Jay Trump starter allowance was billed as the feature, but the most interesting event was clearly a 2 1/8-mile maiden worth the same purse. The race could have been confused for a marathon turf allowance at nearby Keeneland after attracting the likes of graded stakes competitors Harrods Creek, Great Siege and Tahoe Lake, all making their first starts over jumps.
Experience counted for something though as Artie’s Jasper and Chief Chicago – with seven steeplechase starts between them – went 1-2 ahead of Tahoe Lake. Robbie Walsh rode Artie’s Jasper, a 5-year-old gelding by Artie Schiller, for trainer Richard Valentine. They won by a head over locally based Chief Chicago for Bill Wofford and jockey Ross Geraghty.
Tahoe Lake was 14 lengths back in third, with Harrods Creek another 4 3/4 lengths back in fourth.
Odi Et Amo turned in a strong performance winning the Jay Trump for owner Athene Noctura Stables and trainer Allison Fulmer. The 6-year-old Inamorato gelding took over with about three furlongs to run under Kieran Norris and won by 8 1/2 lengths. Syros was second and Orchestra Leader third.
Other winners on the High Hope card were Mr. Starr’s Report in a maiden claiming hurdle and Tropic Sea in the Bluegrass Farm Challenge Steeplechase, an invitational maiden claimer.
The Radnor Hunt Races drew a big crowd as usual, including George Strawbridge. He opted to trek to Malvern and not Pimlico, where his Utley registered an upset victory in the Grade 2 Dixie on the Preakness undercard.
Decoy Daddy and Carol-Ann Sloan tracked the early pace set by Wanganui and Willie McCarthy before taking over two fences from home to win the $50,000 National Hunt Cup going 2 3/8 miles. Decoy Daddy, an Irish-bred by Lord of Appeal owned by Irv Naylor and trained by Cyril Murphy, won the Grade 3 event by 5 lengths on the wire over Inti with Staying On third in the field of five.
Moonsox followed up his win in an open timber at Winterthur with a 4 3/4-length score in the $40,00 Radnor Hunt Cup going 3 1/4 miles over timber. Trained by Kevin Boniface for owner Nelson & Traveller Stable, Moonsox also improved on a seventh in last year’s Radnor Hunt Cup. Fritz Boniface rode the winner, an 8-year-old Maryland-bred by Mojave Moon.
The day’s other winners were Selection Sunday in a maiden hurdle for Andre Brewster and Jack Fisher, Gmac in an allowance hurdle for Gregory Hawkins and Janet Elliot, Happy Digger in a claiming hurdle for owner and trainer Jeremy Gillam and Complete Dyno in a maiden claiming hurdle for Why Not Racing LLC and Lilith Boucher. …
The battle for top TIHR jumps handicapper didn’t change much despite Tom waking from his slumber to tab four winners at Radnor. He fared the best on the weekend with five overall, just ahead of four each for Sean and Joe. Sean leads on the season with 36. Joe is second with 31 and Tom third with 29. …
Preakness undercard
Seven stakes served as the perfect lead-in to California Chrome’s victory in the 139th Preakness Stakes and the races took on mostly a local flavor with a sprinkling of some out-of-town spices.
Kevin Plank makes no bones about it. He wants to win on racing’s biggest days and more specifically, he wants to win on Preakness Day.
The founder and man behind the multibillion dollar company Under Armour and head of Sagamore Farm got his wish when Happy My Way, a gelding by Wilko he bought into specifically to add to his list of runners on Maryland’s biggest day of racing, started things off for the local contingent with a razor-sharp victory in the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint Handicap. Happy My Way blasted the field in 1:09.21 for the 6 furlongs in his third straight victory for trainer Joe Orseno. Joe Bravor was aboard again.
Watch Happy My Way win the Maryland Sprint. …
Roy and Gretchen Jackson’s Lael Stables’ Ageless followed for the locals by winning the $100,000 The Very One going 5 furlongs on the good turf. The Fair Hill-based 5-year-old Successful Appeal mare won the Giant’s Causeway going 5 1/2 on the grass last time out at Keeneland for trainer Arnaud Delacour.
Watch Ageless win the The Very One. …
Monmouth Park-based trainer Derek Ryan, who brought Musket Man to Pimlico in 2009 and finished third in the Preakness behind Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird, saddled Meadowood to victory in the $100,000 Chick Lang for 3-year-olds going 6 furlongs on the main track. Ryan trains the Harlan’s Holiday colt for Stonestreet Stables and George Bolton.
Watch Meadowood win the Chick Lang. …
Tim O’Donohue celebrated back-to-back wins in the Rollicking Stakes Friday afternoon and made another trip to the winner’s circle Saturday when Wallyanna, a colt he claimed for $35,000 this winter at Gulfstream, son the $100,000 James W. Murphy for 3-year-olds going 1 mile on the grass.
“It’s like a dream at this point,” O’Donohue said, flanked by his wife Crystal and sister Gina Rosenthal. “How can you get better than this? Preakness weekend, two horses entered, two stakes wins, two Rollickings in a row. I could never have scripted this.”
Watch Wallyana win the James W. Murphy. …
Cina Forgason was back home in Texas for her son’s baseball game as the latest chapter in the ongoing story of the development of her homebred Somali Lemonade unfolded in the Grade 3 Gallorette Handicap for older fillies and mares on the turf.
Nearly retired after a rather lackluster end to her 4-year-old season, where she was off the board in four straight graded stakes, Somali Lemonade has completely turned things around at 5. Whether it was trainer Michael Matz’s decision to add blinkers or some later-than-usual maturity, it’s made a difference and Somali Lemonade was spot on in the 1 1/16-mile Gallorette and held off a late run by Watsdachances to win by a half-length as the favorite.
“Maybe it was the blinkers,” Matz said. “Last time she won that allowance race, I said, ‘let’s give her an easy race’ to see where she was and she went wire-to-wire. I didn’t know what that was all about, but she’s 5 years old and I guess things happen. Something’s changed her running style.”
Watch Somali Lemonade win the Gallorette. …
Neil Howard probably knew it was a bit of a stretch to think about the Preakness for Class Leader regardless of how he fared in the Grade 3 Illinois Derby. The Smart Strike colt made the decision not to go for the second jewel of the Triple Crown pretty easy when he finished a lackluster fourth at Hawthorne.
Class Leader bounced back four weeks later, not in the Preakness but in the Sir Barton and now Howard and the Farish family’s Lanes End Racing might have a serious player in the second half of the 2014 season’s top 3-year-old stakes. James Graham rode Class Leader, who got up in the final jumps to beat Life in Shambles by a head.
“I guess he was going through a growing spurt,” Graham said of the Illinois Derby effort. “He’s a late developing 2-year-old and 3-year-old and he’s coming along the right way. The way he finished it off, galloping off he couldn’t even get to me. He started running away from them again later. Neil did a perfect job. I played good passenger today. Neil’s the best.
“To run 1:43[.79] for a mile and sixteenth that’s running right there. He came back today, looked like a million dollars and Neil had him spot on.”
Read more about Class Leader.
Watch Class Leader win the Sir Barton. …
Strawbridge wasn’t alone in missing the Dixie win by his Augustin Stable homebred Smart Strike horse Utley, trainer Jonathan Sheppard was also absent when the hardware was handed out for the $400,000 event run a race before the Preakness. The Dixie win was Utley’s first in more than a year, dating to an allowance score at Keeneland in April 2013.
Edgar Prado kept him in a sweet spot saving ground early, then swung the big bay out as the field straightened for home to first wear down Chamois and Fredericksburg and then hold off Hey Leroy to win by a length.
“He likes to be settled a couple lengths off the leaders and then coming home again,” Prado said.
Watch Utley win the Dixie. …
Off the classics path
Victor Espinoza got a warm reception when he rode Sunday’s card at Santa Anita Park, but the good vibes weren’t enough to derail the spring-summer meeting’s second leading trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, in the featured Grade 3 Adoration Stakes.
Hollendorfer sent out 1-2 favorite Let Faith Arise to victory in the Adoration and with Corey Nakatani aboard the Kafwain filly won a lengthy battle with Yahilwa to take the $101,000 event going 1 1/16 miles on the main track.
Espinoza’s mount, Spellbound, finished fifth of nine. Eblouissante, Zenyatta’s half sister hoping to make an improve on her comeback second in allowance company last time, was eased in the Adoration. Espinoza’s other mounts, Remarkable Moon in the second and Ruff Proof in the fourth, both finished third. …
The weekend’s other graded winners included Merry Meadow in the Grade 3 Vagrancy at Belmont, Paladin Bay in the Grade 3 Selene at Woodbine and Hard Enough in the Grade 3 Red Bank at Monmouth.
