August 6 Saratoga Special by ST Publishing

✫ aratoga

The Year 10 • Issue 13

Saratoga’s Daily Newspaper on Thoroughbred Racing

Friday, August 6, 2010 Tod Marks

Divine Fortune wins A.P. Smithwick

Thursday’s Heroes

Bridgetown returns in Latham

Endless Circle rolls in Morrissey

Dave Harmon

Tod Marks

Friday Stakes Previews • Entries/Handicapping

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Friday, August 6, 2010

here&there... at Saratoga 517 Broadway, Suite 207 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (Second Floor, around the back)

worth repeating

The Special quotes from Saratoga

“I never saw a Brink’s truck following a hearse.” Owner Bill Pape, 79, on his strategy of staying in the game

“Because where I come from, people hate to see a grown man cry.” Jockey’s agent Doc Danner, on why he’s always laughing

Racing Fan: “I’m so old that when I lived in San Francisco, I saw . . .”

License Plates of the Day EASY GOR: Pennsylvania. STEEDS: New York.

By The Numbers

1: Travel gnome on the roof of a car in the Saratoga Race Course parking lot Thursday morning.

Smart-Alec Teenager: “The Gold Rush?”

“I didn’t ride until the third, I needed to help out my wife.” Jockey Javier Castellano while shopping at the Price Chopper Thursday morning

“Who do you like in the jump race?” Another shopper in the checkout line to The Special’s Sean Clancy (he liked Divine Fortune, who duly won)

Name of the Day Lateday Edition, ninth race. Michael Michalisin’s 4-year-old filly is named for what happens to The Special sometimes.

ATTENTION The clockers found the camera. From Connie Bush and everyone at The Special, thanks guys.

Weather Today: Strong thunderstorms possible. High 92. Tonight: More thunderstorms. Low 72. Tomorrow: Mostly sunny. High 83, low 63. Tod Marks

Camping Out. Photographer Barbara Livingston pitched a tent – or

seemed to – before Thursday’s jump race – held in a rainstorm of course.

Sunday: Lots of sun. High 87, low 70. Monday: Mostly sunny and hot. High 93, low 73.

Phone: (518) 490-1175 Sean Mobile: (302) 545-7713 Joe Mobile: (302) 545-4424 E-mail: sean@st-publishing.com or jclancy@st-publishing.com Internet: www.saratogaspecial.com Published Wednesday through Sunday during the racing season. Every day of Sales Week Aug. 2-8.

The Staff

Editors/Publishers: Sean Clancy, Joe Clancy. Staff Writers: Phil Janack, Karen Johnson, Mike Kane, Terese Karmel, Ben Meyers, Katie Bo Williams. Layout/Design: Dan Vunk. Photographers: Tod Marks, Dave Harmon, Connie Bush. Handicappers: Gaile Fitzgerald, Dean Keppler, Brian Nadeau, John Panagot, John Shapazian Assistants: Chelsea Brown, Maggie Kimmitt. Distribution: Ryan Clancy, Jack Clancy, Nolan Clancy, Jane Motion. Advertising Sales: Contact a Clancy or call Kathy Rubin at (203) 650-6815.

ST Publishing Inc. Home Office 364 Fair Hill Drive, Suite F, Elkton, MD 21921 (410) 392-5867 • Fax (410) 392-0170 www.st-publishing.com info@st-publishing.com The Saratoga Special Steeplechase Times Thoroughbred Racing Calendar The Best of The Saratoga Special Saratoga Days and other acclaimed products and services within the equine industry. Call us about your editorial needs. “Editorial excellence is not a goal to be sought and one day acquired and then retired to the trophy case. It is instead an ambition which must be pursued each day, never ending, never totally achieved. That striving, that ambition is an essential part of our newspapers, a cornerstone of what we have been, what we are, and what we will be.” – Lee Hills, Pulitzer Prize winner, Knight Ridder chief executive, in 1974

“Final Mesa is something very, very special. I think she’s the best I’ve ever trained and I’ve trained some nice horses.”

— Wesley Ward

Selling Hip# 354 • Fasig Tipton NY bred preferred, August 7, 2010 • Half-brother to undefeated 2YO multiple stakes winner FINAL MESA, out of multiple stakes-producing mare FINAL STYLE. By Andromeda’s Hero: • Son of Fusaichi Pegasus, sire of #1 second crop sire Roman Ruler and leading freshman sire Bandini • Won, or placed in 10 stakes races, including 4 Grade 1 • First foals are 2YO of 2010. 2YO sales average $75,000

catalogue update: final meSa - goes 3 for 3, winning her second stakes race, the $145,500 my dear Stakes at Woodbine by 73/4 lengths. — Rhapsody Farm/Hidden Lake Farm consignors

Both Final Mesa and Hip#354 were foaled, raised and sales prepped at Dutchess Views Farm E-mail: mail@dutchessviewsfarm.com • Website: www.dutchessviewsfarm.com

Friday, August 6, 2010

here&there... worth repeating

Continued from previous page

The Special quotes from Saratoga

“I prefer to lose ground on the second turn because I saved all the ground on the first turn.” Castellano about winning on Miss Keller in the De La Rose

“Nobody jumps a bush for the hell of it.” Doc Danner, on riding jumpers for the love of the game Tod Marks

“We could help you write.” Owner Mark Grier, referring to himself, Bernie Sams and Mark Hennig, to The Special’s Sean Clancy who said he might not be able to make lunch because he had to write the paper

“Can I get some of those papers?” Man on a paper route as he drove down Regent Street past a stack of 2,000 copies of The Special at 5:18 in the morning

“Chad Brown doesn’t have any in there does he?” Trainer Todd Wyatt when discussing the jump race Thursday

“Keeps me young.” Exercise rider Rob Massey on galloping a tough horse every day, late on the Oklahoma dirt

“We need to get back to where we’re like, ‘Let’s go racing,’ rather than going to the races with all this work to do.” Ryan Clancy, 17, on life in the newspaper business

Friday, August 6, 2010

Hello Mudder. John Velazquez heads back to the jocks’ room laundry.

Just Sayin’ “Haven’t heard from him since Saratoga started, give him a hug for me and tell him I’m not feeling the love.” Matt Groff, former assistant to trainer Mike Hushion, to his old boss.

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JOHN’S CALL STAKES PREVIEW

Table for 1

Solitaire, Bond aim for repeat victory in Saratoga turf marathon by sean clancy Want diversity? Check out the field for today’s John’s Call. Tom Voss entered Always First, a 9-year-old former Neil Drysdale trainee who broke his maiden in the Pizza Hut UK Condition Stakes at Sandown Park in 2003. He will try to emulate the race’s namesake and come back to flat life after running over hurdles in November. Jade’s Revenge picked up two claiming wins on the dirt at Delaware Park this summer. Trained by Graham Motion, the 7-year-old owns three stakes wins over synthetic surfaces but is winless on the turf in six tries. James Bond runs Solitaire who the trainer says has finally grown up and matured at the age of 5. The Canadianbred was pretty good in 2009, winning the John’s Call last summer. He’s made his previous four starts at Woodbine. Todd Pletcher removes the blinkers from Attempted Humor, who is on a three-race losing streak after winning back-to-back allowance turf races at

Keeneland and Santa Anita. The 5-yearold searches for his first stakes win. Barclay Tagg breezed 7-year-old gelding Dry Martini on the turf Monday, the Suburban winner went 5 furlongs in 59 and 2/5 seconds. Traditionally a turf horse, he’s winless since upsetting the Suburban last summer. Lignon’s Hero makes up part of a three-horse contingent in the stakes barn for trainer Eduardo Caramori. The 5-year-old has traveled the world, winning three races in Brazil before a disastrous trip to Dubai this winter. He won an allowance race at Churchill Downs in his American debut, his only start in the U.S. “His race at Churchill encouraged us to make the trip here,” said Caramori who watched the son of Crimson Tide walk the shedrow Thursday morning. “Pedigree-wise we’re in the right spot. He wasn’t a top horse in Brazil, but he was running against the top horses. It’s about how they adapt to the new surfaces, the new style of racing, everything. That’s what makes them good or great.”

Tod Marks

Solitaire returns to defend his title in the John’s Call.

Irish-bred Coolcullen Times represents Motion’s second entry. Imported from Ireland by owner Jim Treptow’s Hickory Tree Farm, the 4-year-old son of Rock Of Gibraltar won on heavy ground in his native land. Four-year-old Lime Rickey has rumbled with some of the best horses in the country, from I Want Revenge to Courageous Cat to Battle Of Hastings. He doesn’t win that often but he could relish the 13 furlongs of the John’s Call.

Longshot Gangbuster makes his fourth consecutive start in New York after dancing through the Milky Way of racetracks; Fair Grounds, Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Arlington Park, Del Mar, Turfway Park and Santa Anita. Searching for distance, Leading On ventured from Kentucky to take his first crack at the distance for trainer James Dodgen. See JOHN’S CALL page 10

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Friday, August 6, 2010

TERRY LINDSEY EQUIDAE GALLERY at the Holiday Inn, Saratoga Springs, NY July 23rd-Sept 6th â&#x20AC;˘ Open Daily 9-9 Demos each Friday at 10 a.m. Artists shown in ad l-r top Terry Lindsey, Anthony Alonzo, Jaime Corum, Ely Fuller, Sharon Crute, Kathie Friedenberg, Louise W. King, Werner Rentsch, Anne Wolf, Katie Upton, and Susan Cronin

Friday, August 6, 2010

Remembering John’s Call by joe clancy

Today’s John’s Call Stakes honors the memory of John’s Call, a multiple Grade I winner and Saratoga hero who won the 2001 Sword Dancer at age 9. For years, he led the post parade for “his” race while in Saratoga as trainer Tom Voss’ stable pony. Owned by Trillium Stable, John’s Call died this winter after breaking a leg in his field at Voss’ Maryland farm. The article on page 9 is reprinted from the March 17 Steeplechase Times. John’s Call dazzled Saratoga for years – galloping through the stretch after leading the post parade for “his” race. Tod Marks

Friday, August 6, 2010

Much more than a horse “I hope to live my life as well as he did his own.” That gets said about statesmen, military leaders, heroes of one sort or another. But a horse? Not so much. Unless that horse is John’s Call. He lived a life of greatness and giving – cramming more into his 19 years than most equines. Most humans. He sold in Kentucky as a yearling, lived as another horse for at least a year, won two hurdle races by disqualification, developed white spots on his chestnut coat, won two Grade I stakes at age 9, pushed the best turf horses in the world to the brink in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, became a lead pony/barn mascot, had a race named in his honor at Saratoga. Owned by Trillium Stable and trained by Tom Voss, John’s Call reinvented himself more times than John Travolta. The gelding died this winter after injuring his right front leg in a field at Voss’ Atlanta Hall Farm in Maryland. The 19-year-old left a healthy legacy. “An old, old friend is gone,” said owner Douglas Joyce the day his horse died. “He was a big part of my life and it’s difficult to think that he’s no longer here. He made the most of every opportunity he got – in racing and in retirement. He’ll be missed by a lot of people.” Racing fan Lorna Lentini e-mailed the comment at the beginning of this article after hearing of John’s Call’s death. Photographer Barbara Livingston: “Damn, I miss that old horse. He was amazing.” Barry Watson, who had the good fortune to ride John’s Call in the post parade before the John’s Call Stakes in 2008 and 2009: “He gave you some feeling when you rode him. I’ll always remember those days at Saratoga.” The list could go on for pages. For whatever reason – talent, achievement, flair, personality, longevity, unique looks (he had all of those) – John’s Call made people notice. He grabbed you, he pulled you into his circle. The story starts with a telephone conversation. Bloodstock agent John Stuart called his friend/client, Douglas Joyce from the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky yearling sale in October 1992. Joyce spent $4,000 for the son of Lord At War and $3,000 for another chestnut by Sir Wimborne. The Lord At War became John’s Call. The Sir Wimborne became Stuart’s Affair. Or the other way around. Or both. As young horses, their halters were switched and the accident didn’t get discovered until the tattoo man arrived. The Jockey Club papers didn’t match the horses, so the mistake was undone. Stuart’s Affair never raced. John’s Call broke his maiden late in the 1994 turf season at Aqueduct and went into 1995 as a highly regarded 4-year-old maiden hurdler. He confirmed that by placing second in all four starts that spring – at Camden, Middleburg, Tanglewood and Fair Hill. Twice (at Camden and Tanglewood) he was elevated to the win by disqualification for interference. That summer, John’s Call went back to the flat and won two allowance races at Saratoga. It would be almost three years before he won again. John’s Call missed 2006 with a tendon problem and lost four

Friday, August 6, 2010

Fine Art Since 1974 Lexington, Kentucky

Barbara D. Livingston

John’s Call

times (while risked for claiming tags of $75,000 and $60,000) in 1997. He made 10 starts in 1998 – winning five, placing in two stakes and losing his jockey in one final jump start at the Colonial Cup. The rest is Thoroughbred history. John’s Call became a stakes winner in 1999 and vaulted to the sport’s top with Grade I victories in the Sword Dancer and Turf Classic in 2000. One of only a handful of 9-year-olds to win a Grade I stakes on the flat, John’s Call went for a championship in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs and settled for a hard-trying third (beaten a half-length) behind European invader Kalanisi and Quiet Resolve. The campaign ended with a trip to the Japan Cup, but John’s Call returned at 10 to win a stakes at Delaware Park before being retired at the end of the season. His racing career included 40 starts, 16 wins, 11 seconds, three thirds and more than $1.5 million earned. But he wasn’t finished. John’s Call the racehorse became John’s Call the lead pony, carting Voss to the track at Saratoga – making friends at every stop through the stable area. Saratoga created the John’s Call Stakes, a 1 5/8-mile turf marathon, in 2004 and hosted the honoree in the paddock, leading the post parade and spiritedly galloping down the stretch to thunderous applause. “He knows his job, but I think you could very easily turn him on real quick,” Voss once said about the horse (then 13) in retirement. “Good horses will do anything. I just think they are in a class by themselves.” John’s Call certainly was. Whenever a Thoroughbred dies, it comes with sadness. But don’t cry too hard for John’s Call. He overcame great odds. He achieved. He thrilled witnesses. He aged gracefully. He lived long and large. “He was loved his entire life, he was taken care of, he wanted for nothing,” said Joyce. “He had a great racing career and a great retirement, and there are some horses you can’t say that about. As Tom said, ‘He was the king, and when you walked by that paddock you better bow.’ ”

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John’s Call starter Dry Martini begs for a carrot.

John’s Call –

Continued from page 6

Saratoga swiper Roger Attfield tries to win his third stakes of the meet with Perfect Shower, winner of the Breeders Stakes at Woodbine going 12 furlongs last summer. Silver Mountain makes his first start for Rick Dutrow who claimed the distance specialist in his most recent start. Formerly trained by Tom Proctor, the 5-year-old son of Victory Gallop finished third in this race last year. Now, that’s diversity. Bond is the only trainer who can defend his crown in the John’s Call. He’s more confident in his horse this year but recognizes that the race is deeper. Bond unveiled Solitaire for his 5-year-old debut in the Grade III Singspiel at Woodbine on July 4. Bond had an updated scouting report for jockey Chantal Sutherland, who won on Solitaire last summer. “He’s a little different horse than you rode last year,” Bond told the jockey then. “You’re going to be able to do a lot more with him, don’t think coming off this layoff he’s going to be tugging you leaving there.” Solitaire finished second in his 5-year-

Connie Bush

old debut, failing to run down Spice Route in the Grade III turf stakes. And he wasn’t too bad before. William Clifton’s 5-year-old swooped late to win last year’s John’s Call, a 1 5/8 turf stakes which attracted 10 horses last year. This year, 16 horses made the page, with Solitaire at the top of the list. The Canadian-bred 5-year-old has followed the same path as last year. In 2009, Bond freshened him up from March to July before winning an allowance turf race at Woodbine and then taking the John’s Call over Southwest (on the also-eligible list today) and Silver Mountain (number 12 today). Solitaire made three winless starts to close the year. “I turned the horse out this winter, I wanted to do it last year but I didn’t. I gave him a good two and a half, three months off, took him to Florida, said I wasn’t going to run him until I got back to Woodbine, entered him a couple of times at Belmont but the races didn’t fill,” Bond said. “This horse just kind of grew up, he was always a horse who was always anxious, wouldn’t stand around, just a horse who would get a little warm in the paddock. Now, he’s a grown-up individual, the boy turned into a man.”

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Friday, August 6, 2010

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Money’s Sweet Dear Marylou Roaring Belle Avanta Caribbean Lady Mass Harbor Lisa’s Booby Trap Nonna Mia Simply Spiteful Quick To Charm Keeping The Honor Dantastic Karen’s Joy Florida Girl Pelican Lake Chardonniere Vinda Goldberg Entry Ground Frost Ordination West Entry Romp Solitaire Attempted Humor Makeminechocolate Lateday Edition By MK

Roaring Belle Money’s Sweet Dear Marylou Avanta Double Delicious Shady Road Funny Feeling Stormandaprayer Nonna Mia Tommasi Quick To Charm Big Stick Florida Girl Pelican Lake She Wears The Best Vinda Pin Turn Inspired Callide Valley Ground Frost Ordination Attempted Humor Silver Mountain Solitaire Dixie Rocks Makeminechocolate Irish Lady

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Friday, August 6, 2010

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5th (3:14) 6 Furlongs FY&M 3&Up Md Clm ($20,000) Purse: $22,000 1 1 Medieval Lee..............Bridgmohan J V.... Kelly Patrick J.........15-1 2 2 Pelican Lake...............Bridgmohan S X.... Bond H James..........5-2 3 3 Karen’s Joy.................Albarado R J......... McPeek Kenneth......2-1 4 4 Florida Girl..................Luzzi M J............... Gullo Gary P.............8-1 5 5 Rani Baba...................Velazquez J R........ Benzel Seth..............5-1 6 6 Being Queen...............Hill C..................... Shevy Michael J.....15-1 7 7 She Wears the Best....Prado E S.............. Plesa Edward Jr.......6-1 8 8 Giuseppina.................Santiago V............. Streicher Kenneth...10-1 Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (5-7), Grand Slam Races (5-8) Daily Double

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8th (4:56) John’s Call S. 1 5/8 Miles (Turf) 4&Up Purse: $70,000 1 1 Always First (GB).......Albarado R J......... Voss Thomas H........8-1 2 2 Jade’s Revenge..........Solis A................... Motion H Graham...20-1 3 3 Solitaire......................Leparoux J R......... Bond H James..........5-1 4 4 Attempted Humor.......Gomez G K............ Pletcher Todd A........4-1 5 5 Dry Martini.................Prado E S.............. Tagg Barclay.............8-1 6 6 Lignon’s Hero (BRZ)...Garcia Alan............ Caramori Eduardo....5-1 7 7 Coolcullen Times (IRE)..Castellano J J........ Motion H Graham...15-1 8 8 Lime Rickey................Velasquez C........... Alexander Frank A..20-1 9 9 Gangbuster.................Desormeaux K J.... Ice Tim A................15-1 10 10 Leading On.................Luzzi M J............... Dodgen James A....50-1 11 11 Perfect Shower...........Velazquez J R........ Attfield Roger L........6-1 12 12 Silver Mountain..........Dominguez R A..... Dutrow, Jr. R E.........8-1 13 AE Rockin’ Joe................Camacho E............ Pino Michael V.......20-1 14 AE Thabazimbi.................Lezcano J.............. Mott William I.........15-1 15 AE Southwest..................Cohen D................ Jenkins Rodney........8-1 16 AE Romp (ARG)..............Albarado R J......... Sheppard Jonathan..6-1 Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Daily Double

LIVE:

9th (5:30) 1 Mile (Inner turf) NY BRED F&M 3&Up Maiden Purse: $41,000 1 1 Lily’s Doll....................Santiago V............. Miceli Michael..........8-1 2 2 She’s for Real.............Lenclud F.............. Disanto Glenn B.....12-1 3 3 Illgiveyouwattever......Bridgmohan J V.... DiPrima Gregory....20-1 4 4 Miss Becky.................Chavez J F............. Simeone Paul J......30-1 5 5 Irish Lady...................Leparoux J R......... Bond H James..........6-1 6 6 Viv’s Tiara...................Studart M.............. Ubillo Rodrigo A.....20-1 7 7 Makeminechocolate...Dominguez R A..... Tagg Barclay.............9-5 8 8 Triple Latte.................Solis A................... Sciacca Gary..........15-1 9 9 Lateday Edition...........Castellano J J........ Weaver George.........2-1 10 10 Sister Berta................Luzzi M J............... Payne Curtis...........30-1 11 AE Ready for Autumn......Castellano J J........ Brown Bruce R.........5-1 12 AE Es Mia........................Prado E S.............. Ubillo Rodrigo A.......8-1 13 AE Moonwalk Beauty.......Velazquez J R........ Martin Carlos F.........7-2 14 AE Bella Bonfire...............Espinoza J L.......... Feron Kathleen M...15-1 15 MTO Dixie Rocks................Gomez G K............ Reinacher, Jr. R J.....6-1 16 MTO By M K.......................Gomez G K............ Hennig Mark.............3-1 Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10) Wagers TRIM: —

4th (2:40) 1 Mile (Inner turf) 3&Up Claiming ($25,000) Purse: $37,000 1 1 Xela............................Espinoza J L.......... Schettino Dominick..8-1 2 2 Quick to Charm..........Leparoux J R......... Maker Michael J.......3-1 3 3 Stormy Success.........Lezcano J.............. Toscano John T Jr.. 20-1 4 4 Riptide (ARG).............Chavez J F............. Sciacca Gary..........12-1 5 5 Big Stick.....................Coa E M................ McLaughlin Kiaran...7-2 6 6 Hurricane Heat...........Velazquez J R........ Sciacca Gary..........12-1 7 7 Dantastic....................Maragh R.............. Contessa Gary C.......8-1 8 8 French Transition........Samyn J L............. Martin Frank...........30-1 9 9 Keeping the Honor.....Castellano J J........ Dutrow, Jr. R E.........9-2 10 10 Pictural.......................Albarado R J......... Dutrow, Jr. R E.........6-1 11 MTO Tommasi....................Cohen D................ Jacobson David........7-2 12 MTO Run With the Lark......Maragh R.............. Baker Charlton..........5-1 Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (4-6) Pick 6 Races (4-9), Daily Double

BLEED: —

3rd (2:06) Loudonville S. 6 Furlongs Fillies 3Yo Purse: $70,000 1 1 Stormandaprayer.......Maragh R.............. Toner James J..........5-1 2 2 Nonna Mia..................Velazquez J R........ Pletcher Todd A........2-1 3 3 Simply Spiteful...........Rose J................... Trombetta Michael ..4-1 4 4 Funny Feeling.............Garcia Alan............ Maker Michael J.......5-2 5 5 Lisa’s Booby Trap.......Desormeaux K J.... Snyder Timothy......12-1 6 6 Zermatt.......................Castellano J J........ Pletcher Todd A........5-1 Exacta, Trifecta, Pick 3 Races (3-5), Daily Double

7th (4:22) 1 1/2 Miles (Inner turf) 3&Up Allow/Opt Clm ($35,000) Purse: $53,000 1 8 Cheyenne Nation........Prado E S.............. Brown Chad C..........6-1 1A MTO Callide Valley..............Leparoux J R......... Kenneally Eddie........6-1 2 1 Medjool......................Espinoza J L.......... Contessa Gary C.....20-1 3 2 Ordination (IRE).........Garcia Alan............ Clement Christophe.. 9-5 4 3 Premium Gold............Castellano J J........ Kimmel John C.........4-1 5 4 Ground Frost..............Dominguez R A..... Voss Thomas H........3-1 6 5 Mask and Wig............Gomez G K............ Day James M.........15-1 7 6 More Than Willing......Leparoux J R......... McPeek Kenneth G.10-1 8 7 Trippo.........................Albarado R J......... Howard Neil J.........15-1 9 9 B Z Warrior.................Desormeaux K J.... Toscano John T......20-1 10 MTO Malibu Moonshine......Hill C..................... Toscano John T......12-1 11 MTO Dr. D. F. C................................................ Ubillo Rodrigo A.......6-1 A-Coupled: Cheyenne Nation and Callide Valley Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (7-9), Daily Double

JOB:10-WPT-022

2nd (1:33) 5 1/2 Furlongs Fillies 2YO Mdn Clm ($75,000) Purse: $35,000 1 1 Caribbean Lady..........Prado E S.............. Pino Michael V.........4-1 2 2 Mass Harbor..............Mena M................. Scherer Merrill R......5-1 3 3 Rockabella Song........Velazquez J R........ Motion H Graham.....6-1 4 4 Cabriole......................Bridgmohan S X.... Casse Mark..............8-1 5 5 Double Delicious........Coa E M................ Fawkes David.........10-1 6 6 Maria’s Luck...............Dominguez R A..... Cesare William.........8-1 7 7 Shady Road................Cohen D................ Shivmangal D.........15-1 8 8 Avanta........................Leparoux J R......... Mott William I...........8-5 Exacta, Quinella, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (2-4) Pick 4 Races (2-5), Daily Double

DATE: 8/5/10

1st (Post time 1:00) 6 1/2 Furlongs F&M 3&Up Clm ($10,000) Purse: $18,000 1 1 Dear Marylou.............Coa E M................ Rodriguez Rudy R....9-2 2 2 Allthesingleladys........Bridgmohan S X.... Brown Bruce R.......12-1 3 3 Silver Tax....................Espinoza J L.......... Toscano John T......30-1 4 4 Money’s Sweet...........Velasquez C........... Rice Linda................5-2 5 5 Roaring Belle..............Cohen D................ Badgett William Jr....4-1 6 6 Wall of Worry.............Dominguez R A..... Rodriguez Rudy R....7-2 7 7 A Girl Named Maria....Bridgmohan J V.... Figueroa David J.....30-1 8 8 Bella Uno....................Lezcano J.............. Shuman Mark...........6-1 9 9 Straight A Student......Lenclud F.............. Persaud Randi........12-1 Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Pick 3 Races (1-3), Daily Double

6th (3:48) 5 1/2 Furlongs (Turf) F&M 3&Up Maiden Purse: $50,000 1 2 Quippery....................Garcia Alan............ Ribaudo Robert J.....8-1 1A 5 Sotique.......................Maragh R.............. Ribaudo Robert J.....8-1 1X MTO Atavistique.................Maragh R.............. Ribaudo Robert J.....8-1 2 7 Pin Turn (GB).............Coa E M................ Goldberg Alan E.......7-2 2B 10 Bronzed......................Bridgmohan S X.... Goldberg Alan E.......7-2 3 1 Maux Money..............Lenclud F.............. Penna Angel Jr.......15-1 4 3 Inspired......................Desormeaux K J.... Mott William I...........6-1 5 4 Samra Alajwad...........Dominguez R A..... Weaver George.........6-1 6 6 Vinda..........................Castellano J J........ Weaver George.........7-2 7 8 Fandangle...................Lezcano J.............. Matz Michael R.........8-1 8 9 Chardonniere..............Gomez G K............ Harty Eoin................3-1 A-Coupled: Quippery and Sotique and Atavistique B-Coupled: Pin Turn (GB) and Bronzed Exacta, Trifecta, Pick 3 Races (6-8), Pick 4 Races (6-9), Daily Double

VERSION:3

Friday, August 6. Post Time 1 p.m. Entries with program number, post position, jockey, trainer, and morning-line odds.

PROOFING

friday’s Saratoga entries

I was full of anticipation. I could not wait to get to the racetrack. I paced the paddock. My mouth was dry. I had a knot in my stomach. But I was in awe of my horse. My heart pounded. I thought the gates would never open. I thought the pace was too fast. I thought the jockey moved too soon. I thought we still had a chance. I screamed at the top of my lungs. I pumped my fists. I jumped for joy. I won! I hugged my family. I thought my dad would be proud. I congratulated my partners. I called my friends. I lost my voice. I stood in the winner’s circle. I celebrated. that night, i dreamed of doing it all over again…”

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Friday, August 6, 2010 10-WPT-022_SaratogaSpecial_TP.indd 1

8/5/10 11:15:26 AM

A.P. SMITHWICK STAKES RECAP

Good Fortune

Pape, Sheppard team up for another major jump score

BY JOE CLANCY

While not quite Walter Matthau and George Burns, Bill Pape and Jonathan Sheppard could probably star in a movie or at least do a bit together. The owner and trainer know each other’s moods. They finish each other’s sentences. They’ve been together forever. And the one-liners just keep rolling. “The biggest problem I have is reminding Jonathan what day it is, and he reminds me,” Pape deadpanned after winning yet another steeplechase race Thursday at Saratoga. “He’s a piece of work, this one,” Sheppard said, elbowing his longtime client turned friend in the ribs. Pape, nearly 80, and Sheppard, nearly 70, won Thursday’s A.P. Smithwick, a $75,000 Grade II stakes, with homebred Divine Fortune. The 7-year-old chestnut, a winner over the course in 2007, returned from a two-year layoff last fall and inched through a campaign this spring/summer. The return culminated in the Smithwick, Pape’s fourth and Sheppard’s 11th. “We’ve just been so lucky and of course you can’t underestimate the man that trains them,” Pape said. “I’m just See A.P. Smithwick page 16

Divine Fortune (right) survives a miscue at the sixth fence before winning the A.P. Smithwick Memorial.

Dave Harmon

Winner of the Grade I American Oaks Invitational. Purchased from Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale for $60,000. A Grade I, Grade II, Grade III and Listed Stakes Winner by Dynaformer out of a Kingmambo mare. A real value at $60,000, let me find your next star!

Kim M. Valerio (859) 338-9015 2045 Williams Lane Versailles, Kentucky 40383

Gozzip Girl

Friday, August 6, 2010

Divine Fortune hits the finish line with a Grade II stakes win.

A.P. Smithwick –

Continued from page 14

along for the ride, and he provides a great trip. We have no intentions of retiring. We’ve been doing it 40 years and we have eight mares in foal so we’re planning four years out now – the power of positive thinking, right?” Divine Fortune provided proof of the plan, rallying in deep stretch to catch stubborn pacesetter Slip Away and outkicking the Sheppard-trained Arcadius to win by three-quarters of a length in 3:58.98 for 2 1/16 miles. Even-money favorite Slip Away set a leisurely pace and threatened to stay there for every step with bold jumping and a resolute gallop. Divine Fortune (Danielle Hodsdon) set up in a second, 5 lengths off the lead and clear of the five others. With a circuit remaining, the winner blundered through the sixth fence but gathered himself and went back to work stalking Slip Away. A strong jump at the seventh and another at the eighth set up the race’s final quarter-mile. Divine Fortune went to work, got to Slip Away at the last and prevailed as the 5-2 second choice (with entrymate The Price Of Love). Arcadius took second from Slip Away by a head. Hodsdon said her horse recovered quickly from the mistake at the sixth. “I asked him something a little bit ridiculous, he corrected himself really well; as soon as he refilled the bridle, I just kept him on it and he was fine, he over-jumped the next one, that’s all,” she said. “I knew as soon as he got one, he’d be OK. The last came up the same, that long one, I said, ‘There’s no way I should ask for that, I really don’t want to put him on the deck here.’ I saw this beautiful long spot, but I thought if I don’t get this I’m screwed, I better sit still. He would have gotten up easier if I had gotten that spot.” Sheppard missed the jumping mis-

Dave Harmon

take live, but winced while watching the replay. “Oh no, he put in an extra (stride), he nearly fell. I’m glad I didn’t see it,” Sheppard said. “I saw him take off, but I didn’t see him land because I wanted to watch our other two. I heard Tom Durkin say there was a miscue, but I just saw it out of the corner of my eye. A lot of times that can stop a horse. He was pretty brave to get back into it.” A rangy son of Royal Anthem, Divine Fortune followed a familiar Sheppard career path – three flat starts, then three hurdle runs as a 3-year-old in 2006; maiden hurdle and maiden flat wins at 4; hurdle wins at Saratoga and the Meadowlands later that year. Expectations rose, but the budding star went to the sidelines with a bowed tendon and missed two years. Hodsdon missed him. “I just think if all his starts had continued in succession from his 4-year-old year, he would have been any type of horse,” she said. “But, hey, he’s back. Knock on wood, he’s sound and happy.” Divine Fortune returned last November, and finished fifth behind Slip Away in an open stakes. The real work started this spring with a second in the Carolina Cup (Gr. II), an allowance win and a third in a Grade III in May. Two months of rest ended with an easy fourth at Colonial Downs July 11. Next came the Smithwick, after a sharp workout over the Oklahoma turf course Aug. 2. Meant for 5 furlongs, the work was clocked for 6 (1:12 1/5) thanks to a strong gallop-out and produced a ready horse three days later. “A work like that gets him pumped, so he’s ready and he’s in the bridle,” Sheppard said. “He knows it’s a race. He knows he’s got to go to work. At Colonial, he was off the bridle, the reins were dangling halfway through the race. I said that we needed a good sharp work before this race. He got it.” Additional reporting by Sean Clancy.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Rudy...Rudy Rodriguez gets first Spa Stakes win with Endless Circle BY SEAN CLANCY Todd Pletcher fist-bumped Rudy Rodriguez. “You’re tough, Rudy,” Pletcher said. “You’re tough.” Rodriguez JOHN MORRISSEY had just won STAKES RECAP his first stakes at Saratoga when Endless Circle dispatched Pletcher’s odds-on favorite Driven By Success in the John Morrissey, a $70,000 stakes for New York-breds. Rodriguez saddled his first starter February 18, won his first race March 31, won his first Saratoga stakes August 5. “It feels very, very special. Very, very special. My help works hard, we’re just trying to get along with everybody,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know, I always wanted to go on my own, it just happened. A couple of the owners told me I should go, I should go so I just

tried. The horses I was riding made it easy, a lot of bad horses.” In an 18-year career as a jockey, Rodriguez won 221 races from 3,900 mounts. In a six-month career as a trainer, he’s won 28 races from 83 starts. Endless Circle contributed his third win since being claimed by Rodriguez for owners Vincent Scuderi and James Riccio. Rodriguez haltered the 6-yearold horse for $14,000 in April. The New York-bred won a state-bred optional claimer, then an optional claimer before finishing second to the talented Checklist, just 10 days before the Morrissey. “I’m trying to do my homework, checking the horses when they come to the races. The horse looked very, very good,” Rodriguez said. “He had some issues, had some ankles, but we put in a lot of work. You just have to work with him. If they’ve got the class, it shows. I got him nice and sound and hopefully he will come back good. I was hoping he would be a decent horse, but every time I breeze him, he’s just getting better and better, we stepped him up and he’s taken every challenge we’ve given him.” See Morrissey page 17

Rudy Rodriguez greets Endless Circle after the horse won the John Morrissey.

Tod Marks

Leading Trainers, No Markups, Professional Management, Serious Fun! For more information call Mike McMahon 859 983 7617 or Jamie Hill 859 983 0515, or visit

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www.webbcarroll.com 17

Morrissey –

Continued from page 18

Edgar Prado sent Endless Circle from the outside post, clearing four horses inside him and engaging Driven By Success on his inside. After a quarter of a mile in 22.29, Endless Circle collared Driven By Success and opened up 2 lengths quickly. John Velazquez switched the favorite to a stalking spot outside Endless Circle, but was clearly in trouble. Turning for home, Prado angled the winner well off the rail and let him roll through the stretch for an easy victory. He won by 4 lengths over Driven By Success. Legal Consent finished third

after 6 furlongs in 1:16.66 over the sealed track. After the race, Endless Circle’s owners yelled in delight about the former jockey who’s making it as a trainer. “Rudy’s the future,” Scuderi yelled from the winner’s circle. Rodriguez continued his torrid start, improving his strike rate to above 34 percent. The 38-year-old native of Mexico worked for Bobby Frankel and Rick Dutrow Sr. and Rick Dutrow Jr. before going out on his own. “When you’ve got good horses you can do anything you want. It’s a lot more work than being a jockey. I like to work, I can take the challenge,” Rodriguez said. “I wanted to be a jockey but with the horses I had been riding,

it was not easy.” Rodriguez won the Grade I Suburban on the Dutrow-trained Frost Giant in 2008. Beyond that, he was getting on good horses in the morning and horrid horses in the afternoon. Now, he’s training and hoping. Rodriguez has 16 horses at Saratoga and another 34 at Aqueduct. “It was the right time, the horses I had been riding stopped me from riding. I would breeze five, 10 horses in the morning, just to make a living,” Rodriguez said. “Thank God I worked Rick Dutrow Sr., Bobby Frankel, Rick Dutrow Jr., all the work they teach me is paying off. Just try to do the right thing by the horse, if you treat the horse right, they will pay you. Good

hay. Good food. Good care. I like to be around horses, that makes it easy. I could be there day and night, it doesn’t bother me. I’m just starting, maybe things will settle down but right now everything is about the horses.”

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LATHAM STAKES RECAP

New tricks

Different style leads to win for rising turf 3YO Bridgetown BY MIKE KANE ifferent approaches and routes had D everything to do with Bridgetown’s one-length victory over Flamin’ Hot

Kid Kate

Thursday in the Latham Stakes. Bridgetown stalked the early pace, pounced in the turn and drew clear en route this his third career victory for Melnyk Racing Stables. Flamin’ Hot gave himself a more difficult assignment in the 5 1/2-furlong stakes by dropping back to last in the field of nine before making an inspired, but wide, drive. Longshot Red Rally led early and stayed on to finish third in the $70,000 Latham stakes. Bridgetown (Julien Leparoux) had worked well for his first start of 2010 and the crowd made the son of Speightstown the 2-1 favorite. “He’s a really nice horse. He’s just plain fast,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “From last year to this year he has improved. He’s gotten a little bigger and

stronger. He came in in great order. They rested him at Mr. Melnyk’s farm in Ocala. Bill Hronec is the farm manager and he handled him for a good part of the spring and they forwarded him to us.” Owner Eugene Melnyk said the task at hand is how to get the colt back to the Breeders’ Cup. Last year he was second in the Juvenile Turf. “We’re just trying to plot out the rest of his year,” Melnyk said. “It’s not going to be easy for a 3-year-old colt running on grass. Hopefully there is something on the Breeders’ Cup undercard that we can run him in. If not, then like his daddy he’ll be a great 4and 5-year-old.” Last year, Bridgetown graduated to mile races after breaking his maiden in a sprint. “He won the Summer and he just missed in the Breeders’ Cup,” Melnyk

Tod Marks

Custom Care graduate Kid Kate won a tough allowance on Wednesday, her third win from six starts. Congratulations Dell Ridge Farm and Chad Brown. Breaking • Training • Sales Donna Freyer

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Dave Harmon

Bridgetown wins Latham Stakes by a length.

said. “I think he can easily be a good miler. That’s the sweet spot. If we can get him there as a 4-year-old, that’s what we would be shooting for.” Trainer Rick Violette nodded in agreement as jockey Alan Garcia told him that Flamin’ Hot wouldn’t get into the race coming out of the gate. “He did it in his last race and it’s a little bit of a habit now that he really didn’t want to be rushed,” Violette said. “He kind of fell out the back door at Monmouth and he did the same thing.

He broke really good today, but then he was very content not to do anything early and not help out Alan at all. “He really did the impossible. They were running the last eighth of a mile and he was makes up 6 lengths into it. He ran a spectacular race. I think he was best. We’re widest and last. Somehow we’ve got to get him to help the rider a little bit early in the race, so that he’s not at the mercy of everybody else. We’ll work on it. Maybe we’ll stretch him out.”

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Friday, August 6, 2010

PHOTO of the day

Owner Betty Merck (who turned 90 in January but celebrated with friends and family Thursday) checks on her horses at Tom Voss’ barn at the Oklahoma Annex.

2009 NY Bred Yearling Grad undefeated FiNal Mesa demolished the field in the $150,000 My Dear S. at Woodbine by 7¾ lengths

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Thursday’s Saratoga results Thursday, August 05, 2010 1ST A. P. Smithwick Memorial (G2) 2 1/16 Miles (Hurdle) 4&Up Purse: $75,000 1A Divine Fortune Hodsdon D 7.40 3.60 2.10 7 Arcadius Crowley B 4.00 2.40 5 Slip Away Young P J 2.20 Time 3:58.98 Winning Trainer: Sheppard Jonathan E - Owner: Pape William L. Ch.g.7 by Royal Anthem - My Tombola by Northern Fling Breeder: William L. Pape & Jonathan E. Sheppard $2 Exacta (1-7) Paid $27.60 $2 Trifecta (1-7-5) Paid $60.50 2ND 5 Furlongs 2YO MSW Purse: $50,000 1 Skylord Velazquez J R 5.20 3.10 2.60 5 Gangsterontherun Solis A 4.60 3.30 6 Halo Doctor Joe Santiago V 4.80 Time :58.03 Winning Trainer: Pletcher Todd A - Owner: WinStar Farm LLC Ch.c.2 by Sky Mesa - Skyscape by Marquetry. Breeder: Visionary Racing LLC $2 Exacta (1-5) Paid $24.20 $2 Quinella (1-5) Paid $12.60 $2 Trifecta (1-5-6) Paid $129.00 $2 Daily Double (1-1) Paid $21.00 Daily Double Pool $131,125

Paint the town blue and yellow

3RD John Morrissey 6 1/2 Furlongs 3&Up Stakes Purse: $70,000 6 Endless Circle Prado E S 9.40 3.50 2.20 2 Driven by Success Velazquez J R 2.20 2.10 1 Legal Consent Lezcano J 2.40 Time 1:16.66 Winning Trainer: Rodriguez Rudy - Owner: Scuderi, Vincent S. & Riccio, J. Dk. b or br.h.6 by Precise End - Inside Circle by Pentelicus Breeder: Sez Who Thoroughbreds $2 Exacta (6-2) Paid $18.40 $2 Trifecta (6-2-1) Paid $41.80 $2 Pick 3 (1-1-6) 3 Correct Paid $127.50 Pick 3 Pool $64,858 $2 Daily Double (1-6) Paid $33.60 Daily Double Pool $71,915 4TH 5 1/2 Furlongs 3 YO & Up Allowance Purse: $62,400 4 Ezzy Coa E M 9.00 5.90 5 Bachhaus Velazquez J R 23.20 9 Delano Gomez G K Time 1:05.16 Winning Trainer: Callejas Bernardo - Owner: Hayes Lynda S. Dk. b or br.g.4 by Rizzi - Guy’s Doll by Appealing Guy Breeder: Lynda S. Hayes $2 Exacta (4-5) Paid $192.50 $2 Quinella (4-5) Paid $96.00 $2 Trifecta (4-5-9) Paid $506.00 $2 Pick 3 (1-6-4) 3 Correct Paid $126.00 Pick 3 Pool $62,478 $2 Daily Double (6-4) Paid $43.00 Daily Double Pool $61,441 $2 Consolation Pick 3 (1-6-2) Paid $26.00 $2 Consolation Pick 3 (1-6-3) Paid $26.00 $2 Superfecta (4-5-9-1) Paid $1,120.00

3.60 7.50 2.90

5TH 5 Furlongs 2 YO MSW Purse: $50,000 1 Maple Forest Cohen D 20.00 8.00 4.50 5 Elusive Raven Velazquez J R 5.30 3.10 8 Playing Pirates Borel C H 2.70 Time :58.47 Winning Trainer: Pletcher Todd A - Owner: Blue Heaven Farm B.f.2 by Forestry - Maple Syrple by American Cheese Breeder: Blue Heaven Farm, LLC $2 Exacta (1-5) Paid $89.00 $2 Trifecta (1-5-8) Paid $265.00 $2 Pick 3 (6-4-1) 3 Correct Paid $491.50 Pick 3 Pool $73,995 $2 Pick 4 (1-6-ALL-1) 4 Correct Paid $211.00 Pick 4 Pool $196,285 $2 Daily Double (4-1) Paid $109.00 Daily Double Pool $77,023 $2 Superfecta (1-5-8-7) Paid $1,482.00

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6TH 1 1/8 Miles 3 YO & Up MSW Purse: $51,000 3 Indianapolis (BRZ) Borel C H 6.80 4.00 2.90 2 Temple Fair Gomez G K 8.20 4.20 9 Macedonian Desormeaux K J 2.70 Time 1:53.16 Winning Trainer: McPeek Kenneth G - Owner: Magdalena Racing B.g.4 by Nedawi (GB) - Gay Charm by Ghadeer (FR). Breeder: Fazenda Mondesir $2 Exacta (3-2) Paid $58.50 $2 Trifecta (3-2-9) Paid $155.50 $2 Pick 3 (4-1-3) 3 Correct Paid $268.50 Pick 3 Pool $62,561 $2 Daily Double (1-3) Paid $86.50 Daily Double Pool $59,438 7TH 6 F 3 YO & Up Maiden Claiming ($20,000) Purse: $22,000 2 Trust of Honor Velazquez J R 6.80 3.70 9 Scotchirish Garcia Alan 10.40 7 Reign of Kings Dominguez R A Time 1:11.81 Winning Trainer: Benzel Seth - Owner: Whitehall Stable Ch.c.3 by Speighstown - Explosive Beauty by Roudest Romeo. Breeder: Donald & R Mary Zuckerman $2 Exacta (2-9) Paid $76.00 $2 Trifecta (2-9-7) Paid $567.00 $2 Daily Double (3-2) Paid $20.40 Daily Double Pool $65,601 $2 Pick 3 (1-3-2) 3 Correct Paid $265.00 Pick 3 Pool $68,257 $2 Superfecta (2-9-7-5) Paid $2,261.00 8TH 1 1/16 Miles (Inner turf) 3&Up allow/OC ($75,000) Purse: $57,000 8 Rogue Victory Castellano J J 10.00 5.30 2 Sr. Henry Leparoux J R 6.10 6 Skipadate Albarado R J Time 1:43.73 Winning Trainer: Weaver George - Owner: R. A. Hill Stable Ch.h.5 by Victory Gallop - Romp and Stomp by Olympio Breeder: Runnymede Farm, Inc. & Catesby W. Clay Investment LLC $2 Exacta (8-2) Paid $56.50 $2 Trifecta (8-2-6) Paid $367.50 $2 Pick 3 (3-2-8) 3 Correct Paid $164.50 Pick 3 Pool $76,123 $2 Daily Double (2-8) Paid $43.60 Daily Double Pool $64,509 $2 Superfecta (8-2-6-5) Paid $1,442.00

3.20 6.90 5.30

4.00 5.00 5.30

9TH Latham S. 5 1/2 Furlongs (Turf) 3 YO Stakes Purse: $70,000 5 Bridgetown Leparoux J R 6.60 3.60 3.20 8 Flamin' Hot Garcia Alan 3.70 2.90 4 Red Rally Albarado R J 5.60 Time 1:03.65 Winning Trainer: McPeek Kenneth G - Owner: Melnyk Racing Stables, Inc. Ch.c.3 by Speighstown - Ellesmere by Tabasco Cat. Breeder: Eugene Melnyk $2 Exacta (5-8) Paid $28.80 $2 Trifecta (5-8-4) Paid $323.50 $2 Grand Slam (2,3,9-2,7,9-2,6,8-5) Paid $73.00 $2 Pick 3 (2-8-5) 3 Correct Paid $207.00 Pick 3 Pool $56,287 $2 Daily Double (8-5) Paid $44.40 Daily Double Pool $86,947 $2 Superfecta (5-8-4-2) Paid $2,154.00 10TH 1 Mile (Inner turf) 3 & Up Starter Allowance ($50,000) Purse: $49,000 4 Settling Seas Desormeaux K J 9.10 4.90 3.50 3 Princess Maura Velasquez C 10.40 5.60 10 Ambidaxtrous Castellano J J 3.00 Time: 1:37.39 Winning Trainer: Mott William I - Owner: Black Swan Stable Ch.f.3 by Stormy Atlantic - Humor Her by Distorted Humor - Breeder: Margaux Farm LLC $2 Exacta (4-3) Paid $99.50 $2 Trifecta (4-3-10) Paid $446.00 $2 Superfecta (4-3-10-2) Paid $2,503.00 $2 Daily Double (5-4) Paid $36.00 Daily Double Pool $190,173 $2 Pick 3 (8-5-4) 3 Correct Paid $255.50 Pick 3 Pool $117,290 $2 Pick 4 (2-8-5-4) 4 Correct Paid $961.00 Pick 4 Pool $292,196 $2 Pick 6 (1-3-2-8-5-4) 5 Correct Paid $499.50 Pick 6 Pool $2 Pick 6 (1-3-2-8-5-4) 6 Correct Paid $35,230.00 Pick 6 Pool $112,413 Saratoga Attendance: 13959 Mutuel Pool: $2,205,738 ITW Mutuel Pool: $2,663,942 ISW Mutuel Pool: $6,097,587

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Thursday’s Saratoga winners • Photos by dave harmon

1 Divine Fortune

2 Skylord

3 Endless Circle

4 Ezzy

5 Maple Forest

6 Indianapolis

8 Rogue Victory

10 Settling Seas

Trust of Honor

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Friday, August 6, 2010

THURSDAY RACING RECAP

Air Strike Skylord graduates in debut; Ezzy takes in a row BY MIKE KANE

Skylord heads to the finish in the second race on Thursday.

Tod Marks

Peter L. ViLLa Fine art American & European Sporting Paintings from the 18th to 21st Centuries

Skylord turned Thursday’s second race into a workout with a nice reward, winning by 5 3/4 lengths under John Velazquez over the sealed muddy track. It was the first of two juvenile winners for trainer Todd Pletcher. The Sky Mesa colt was purchased by WinStar Farm for $515,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Calder 2-year-old in training sale March 2. He was the ninthhighest price in the sale. “We really liked his looks and he’s a great individual,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s vice-president and racing manager. “We’re excited at the first start. He’s a colt that we felt like could be a good 2-year-old. So we’ll see what happens. We knew he was fast. We were a little concerned about the 1 hole, but he broke well, so there was a little relief there. We’re pleased with the effort.” Walden said the colt is likely to move

into stakes company in his next start, but said it might be asking too much to jump from a 5-furlong maiden race to the 7-furlong Hopeful. • Lynda Hayes’ homebred gelding Ezzy (Eibar Coa) picked up his third consecutive victory in the fourth, an open allowance sprint moved off the turf. The New York-bred son of Rizzi ran down Bachhaus to earn his fourth win in nine starts this year. Trainer Bernardo Callejas said he wasn’t sure what to expect since Ezzy had zero experience on a wet surface. “He tries all the way and on every single track. He doesn’t care,” Callejas said. “We’ve liked him better on the grass lately, but he proved today that he can run on anything. He never had run in the mud. He ran on dirt, broke his maiden there, but he never had been in the mud. We really liked him today. See Thursday page 25

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Thursday –

Continued from page 24

He’s doing great.” • Pletcher fans got a nice payoff if they put his 2-year-old maiden fillies together in an exacta in the fifth race – $89. Jockey David Cohen guided Maple Forest to a gate-to-wire victory, 2 1/2 lengths in front of stablemate Elusive Raven (Velazquez). Maple Forest was 9-1 and paid $20, while Elusive Raven, a half-sister to Winslow Homer, was 4-1. Playing Pirates, the favorite, was third. Pletcher said he wasn’t surprised that Maple Forest finished first. “I thought that both fillies were very equal in the morning,” he said. “I hated to run them both. I was hoping that the race would divide or something. It’s just one of those things.” Pletcher has a number of 2-year-olds ready for the races and not enough places to spot them. “I had to run them both and I’ve got another filly for the race next week, so I was going to have to run two of them together,” he said. “I hated to run because I thought they could both win first time out. It wasn’t so much that we thought Maple Forest was better or the other filly was better.” However, Pletcher acknowledged that bettors might have favored Elusive Raven, owned by Edward Evans, because Velazquez had the mount. See Thursday page 25

Tod Marks

Ezzy, ridden by Eibar Coa, rolls to his third consecutive victory in the fourth on Thursday.

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Thursday –

Continued from page 26

Velazquez typically rides the top horses in Pletcher’s barn, including Evans’ Quality Road, the favorite in Saturday’s Whitney Handicap. “With Johnny’s relationship with Mr. Evans and the horses he’s riding for him, we put Johnny on her,” Pletcher said. “If you switch it around, the public perceives that anything that we put Johnny on is naturally better, but I thought those fillies were very equal. • Maybe it was the blinkers off, but it’s fair to say that Kenny McPeek can give Mother Nature an assist for getting Indianapolis home first in the sixth. The 4-year-old gelding – a half-brother to the multiple Grade I winner Einstein – broke his maiden in his seventh attempt, but his first try on dirt. The race was originally carded for 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf course, but was run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, er, mud. Jockey Calvin Borel gave him a trademark ride, saving ground until the top of the stretch when he swung the Brazilian-bred out to run down Temple Fair. Indianapolis won by 1 1/4 lengths. Macedonian was third. McPeek smiled at the mention of a turf to dirt angle caused by rain. “Calvin thought he liked the synthetic when he rode him at Keeneland the first race of his career,” he said. “We just never had an opportunity to get him back on it. Maybe I should have moved quicker, but the pedigree said grass.” Einstein was one of the many horses McPeek purchased in Brazil for American clients. He turned the horse over to his assistant Helen Pitts when he took a break from training and she had great success with him. Indianapolis has developed as quickly as hoped for McPeek and Magdalena Racing. “From the beginning we expected him to be a really

Dave Harmon

George Weaver’s Rogue Victory heads to the wire to win the eighth on Thursday.

good horse,” McPeek said. “It just took him a while to come around. He’s just a little bit of a slow learner and hadn’t figured out how to get it done. Today he did.” • In the eighth, Rogue Victory, trained by George Weaver for R. A. Hill Stable, caught Sr. Henry in the stretch of the allowance/optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. It was another strong performance by the 5-year-old, whose only off-the-board finish this year was in the Maker’s Mark at Keeneland. “He’s always been one of the barn favorites. He always gives 100 percent,” Weaver said. “We just love him. He’s a horse that you can count on. Even when we ran him in a Grade I, he tries for you all the time. He’s a special horse in the barn and we’ve always been very fond of him.”

We make the grade.

It was Weaver’s fourth win in what has been a solid Saratoga season. “All the horses are running well,” he said. “We had a nice second yesterday in a very close race. Wins are nice and I want to win, that’s what everybody is looking for, but all our horses are going out there and running good. As long as they do that and they give 100 percent, it’s my job to spot them where they belong. We’re pretty happy with the way they are going.” NOTES: Velazquez won his second of the day in the seventh on Whitehall Stable’s Speightstown colt Trust Of Honor . . . Late in the afternoon, the news broke that Franny Freud, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s Grade I Test had been retired with a leg injury.

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Saratoga Leaders Through Thursday

Photos by Tod Marks

David Cohen

Jockeys John Velazquez..................................18 Javier Castellano................................17 Ramon Dominguez............................10 Julien Leparoux....................................8 Alan Garcia...........................................6 Edgar Prado.........................................6 Eibar Coa..............................................5 Garrett Gomez......................................5 Rajiv Maragh........................................5 Shaun Bridgmohan..............................4 David Cohen.........................................4 Kent Desormeaux.................................4 Jose Lezcano.......................................3 Cornelio Velasquez...............................2

Robby Albarado...................................2 Calvin Borel..........................................2 Jose Espinoza......................................2 Channing Hill........................................2 Miguel Mena........................................2 Freddie Lenclud....................................2 Jamie Rodriguez..................................2 Trainers Todd Pletcher.....................................10 Chad Brown.........................................9 Bruce Levine........................................4 Bill Mott...............................................4 Linda Rice............................................4 George Weaver....................................4

Steve Asmussen..................................3 Seth Benzel..........................................3 Tony Dutrow........................................3 Ken McPeek.........................................3 Tom Proctor.........................................3 Dale Romans........................................3

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It was a good work. A good work for any horse. For a jumper, it was go-to-the-window good. Monday morning on the turf, Divine Fortune and Danielle Hodsdon led Romp and Robby Albarado through a wicked 5-furlong breeze. The leader is – well, would become – a Grade II stakes horse, over jumps. The follower is a Grade II stakes horse, on the flat. The Jonathan Sheppard duo made a good, long run at the pole with Divine Fortune rolling along on the lead and Romp tracking him. Turning for home, Divine Fortune hugged the rail as Romp eased into his striking range. Hodsdon and Albarado asked them to finish; no whips, no elbows, simply cues to go on and go. That’s the way they finished, Divine Fortune a neck in front of Romp. Hodsdon yelled at Albarado to gallop out in front. Romp’s ears went up as soon as he made the lead. Clockers caught them going three quarters of a mile. Divine Fortune in 1:12.20. Romp in 1:12.60. Sheppard said they caught the gallop-out time, he called it a 5-furlong breeze. Sheppard lost concentration on his watch when someone started talking to him, but he figures they went in 58 and change. Hodsdon knew they went fast. Albarado thought they went perfectly. Seventy-five hours later, Divine Fortune won the A.P. Smithwick. A day later, Romp was set to run in the John’s Call but was excluded from the over-filled stakes.

Perfect Practice Albarado liked what he saw in front of him and what he felt beneath him. “I couldn’t tell you he was a jumper, I thought he was a very good flat horse,” Albarado said of Divine Fortune. “He worked really good. I said, ‘Dani, who’s that?’ She said, ‘I’m on him in a few days.’ I said, ‘Really?’ Nice work, nice horse. Just off the bridle, dangling the reins, she squeezed him, then yelled at me to gallop out. We came back and she said he was a good jumper. I liked the work.” So did Hodsdon and Sheppard. The jockey/trainer have perfected this breeze. Sheppard likes to tune up his horses in their final work before they run. Whether they’re jumpers or flat horses – Forever Together or Divine Fortune – Sheppard needs wind in their sails. “I know everybody else might not, but I like a fast final work. Some other people like to give a hard one two weeks out, an easier work one week out; that’s what (Steve) Asmussen seems to do. Al Stall with Blame, he’s done nothing with him. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night. Maybe that’s the way he’s always trained, I don’t know,” said Sheppard who was not criticizing any of his fellow trainers. “I’m a little more like Bob Baffert. I like a nice bullet work. I always have. It’s whatever your horse is used to but that works for me. My horses are used to increasing the momentum – medium, fairly fast, rock on. They know that means it’s time.” Hodsdon has the controls whether it’s Forever Together prepping for the Diana or Divine Fortune readying for the Smithwick. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Forever Together went five eighths in 59.60 five days before the Diana. By Hodsdon’s and Sheppard’s count, Divine Fortune went as fast or

faster. Hard to believe, a horse prepping to go 2 miles would post basically the same speed. Hodsdon isn’t surprised. “We give them a flat-horse type of breeze. They know. Every one of them knows, this is it. They’re smart. This horse is meant to go in 1:03. I was pretty thrilled with his work,” Hodsdon said after winning the Smithwick. “Sometimes I feel like why don’t we do our hardest work two out, but mentally that’s what gets them there. Walking back to the barn, I didn’t feel like it had taken too much out of him, he was walking back like it was nothing. Our horses bounce out of a work like that.” Seventy-five horses breezed on the turf Monday. One went three eighths of a mile. Most went a half. Some went five eighths. Four went three quarters of a mile. Like pellets out of a gun. John’s Call hopeful Dry Martini zipped 5 furlongs in 59.50. Belmont maiden winner La Cloche put in a maintenance 1:01. Turf stakes horse Expansion went 1:02. Prince Will I Am scorched a half in 46.2. Only one of them was tuned like a guitar for the first race Thursday afternoon. “I turned this horse out (Thursday) morning and he was squealing, dropping down and rolling, jumping up, squealing and bucking in place, he didn’t even know what to do with himself,” Hodsdon said after the Smithwick. “It’s nice to see them like that, then you’re hoping you can get them to the paddock and the pre-race without losing it. That’s the best run-on finish he’s had, he usually hits that top speed and flattens out.” Had to be the work.

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Friday, August 6, 2010

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