August, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Asmussen Still Smiling After Travers Day Wins With Yaupon, Jackie’s Warrior

Steve Asmussen was already back on the road scouting for new talent at the Texas yearling sales on Sunday morning, but there still were plenty of bright smiles lighting up the barn of the Hall of Fame trainer in the wake of Saturday's back-to-back wins in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego by Yaupon and the $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial by Jackie's Warrior, followed by Midnight Bourbon's runner-up finish in the $1.25 million Runhappy Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

“I was so proud of how our horses ran yesterday. It was a great day of racing,” said Scott Blasi, Asmussen's longtime assistant. “To win two Grade 1s in a row at Saratoga on Travers Day is a great feeling. There are certain days of the year that are incredibly competitive. There's Derby Day, Preakness Day, Belmont Day, Travers Day, Breeders' Cup. With that level of quality racing, it's the best of the best. On those kinds of days to do well, it's a special feeling.”

At this stage of the season, the two fastest sprinters, arguably, in North America, are stabled in this barn.

J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, who won the Grade 1 Hopeful at the Spa and the Grade 1 Champagne at Belmont in 2020, notched the first top-level victory of his sophomore season by beating the highly regarded Life Is Good in the ninth race on the 13-race card. In the eighth race, William and Corrine Heiligbrodt's Yaupon beat Firenze Fire in a race filled with drama.

As the two battled in deep stretch almost stride-for-stride with Yaupon to the inside under Ricardo Santana, Jr., Firenze Fire bared his teeth, turned his head to the left, and tried to savage his rival with no fewer than seven attempts. Afterward, Asmussen said that Firenze Fire was even trying to grab Santana.

“He [Yaupon] came out of it unscathed. No marks or anything. Luckily, Ricardo was able to continue to encourage him, although he was getting pretty close to the inside rail, which I was more worried about than the horse getting bit,” said Blasi. “I think it was a really hard thing for him [Jose Ortiz, up on Firenze Fire] to correct. The thing about it is those guys are riding hard, so they were going forward and it's not like you have the bit in their mouth. They're trying to persevere, and that's a hard to thing to correct when you're in that position. I've seen pictures of horses being savaged, and I've seen horses savage, or try to bite, but I've never seen any horse do it for that long. I've never seen it go on for that long.”

Blasi said even all that commotion could not dim the brilliance of these two sprinters.

“Yaupon is a special horse. It was a great win for him,” said Blasi. “Jackie's Warrior gave another game effort. He's a special talent. The horse he beat [Life is Good] is as well. You saw how they separated themselves from the rest of the field, and that just goes to show you the class and the quality of those two horses. It was a great race. Jackie is so consistent. At one turn, he's back to doing what he wants to do.”

The Heiligbrodts' Mitole won the 2019 Forego, the Breeders' Cup Sprint, the Grade 1 Met Mile at Belmont Park, and a fourth Grade 1 on the way to championship sprinter honors that year for the barn.

Does either Yaupon or Jackie's Warrior resemble Mitole?

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“They're just really fast horses and we've had some quality sprinters like Volatile [winner of the 2020 Grade 1 Vanderbilt at Saratoga] and Mitole. I mean they were great sprinters. These horses all have the same qualities. Both of these guys, you couldn't be any better to be around and to train. Yaupon and Jackie's Warrior are professionals,” said Blasi.

Though Winchell's homebred, Grade 3 winning Midnight Bourbon, didn't give Asmussen his first Travers victory, he finished only a neck behind 2020 Juvenile champion and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality.

“It was by far the best race of his career. We were a little bit unlucky to lose but that horse [Essential Quality] is a champion. Once that horse gets by you, he's not going to let anybody pass him, and he proved that time and time again. Hats off to the winner, but our horse is definitely improving. I think with the time that they ran and how they came home in the last quarter, you have to have quality to be able to do that,” Blasi said.

The effort is particularly gratifying considering his last race in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in July. That day he clipped heels with Hot Rod Charlie in the stretch and fell.

“I've got to give the credit to our team here. Everybody worked so hard on that horse after coming out of the Monmouth race. The whole barn did a great job getting him to come back around,” Blasi explained. “He was able to spend time in the round pen and we let him just be a horse up here in Saratoga, which is the great thing about Saratoga. You've got the environment. It's all good.

“I'm proud of how he acted going over to the paddock. We led the pony in front of him, which I think that made a big difference,” he continued. “He was a total professional yesterday. We really are happy with how he's progressing.”

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Sprint Champion Whitmore Retired

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-Some 15 hours after he suffered a career-ending injury, Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) was being Whitmore Sunday morning. Acting like he was quite ready to run in another Grade I at Saratoga Race Course, the 8-year-old was positioned in the front of this stall, alert, active and on the prowl for a carrot or a piece of candy.

During the gallop-out past the wire of the GI Forego S. Saturday afternoon, jockey Joel Rosario noticed something didn't feel right and pulled the champion up. As a precaution, he was vanned off, taken back to trainer Ron Moquett's barn and examined. The X-rays showed a minor injury, an apical fracture in his lower left foreleg. Moquett promptly decided that the Forego, the 43rd race of Whitmore's distinguished career, would be his last.

“He would easily come back and run,” said Laura Moquett, who trains the stable with her husband and is Whitmore's exercise rider. “The vet that took the pictures last night was basically like, 'He'll come back and run like a 100%.' But Ron immediately said, 'No, he won't. We're not doing this.'”

About 100 yards away from where Essential Quality was being saddled for his victory in the 152nd GI Runhappy Travers S., the Moquetts were in the midst of the bittersweet period. Their life-changing horse, a fan favorite who won the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint and an Eclipse Award last year and earned over $4.4 million, was finished with competition. But he was safe.

Ron Moquett checked on his ornery gelding before dawn Sunday and headed back to Kentucky and then on to Arkansas, as planned. Laura Moquett was at the barn, handling interviews and welcoming people who wanted to stop by, see Whitmore and thank him for the memories. She said her husband was dealing with the injury and retirement.

“He's sad, but he's really also relieved and happy that he's fine. That's the key,” she said. “We love racing, but we love horses before we love racing. As long as they're fine, we don't get too worried about whether they run again or not. That's the key to racing right? It's a very short window.”

Laura Moquett said she was distracted by the incident in the stretch of the Forego when Firenze Fire savaged eventual winner Yaupon and took her eyes off Whitmore. As she began running down the track to where Whitmore was being tended to in the first turn, she realized he was not in serious trouble.

“I saw him walk like two steps,” she said. “When they were trying to hose him off he was kind of walking in a circle. As soon as I saw him take the two steps, I was like, 'We're good. He's injured, but it's nothing catastrophic.”

Her long-distance analysis was correct. The X-rays showed the fracture at the top of the sesamoid.

“It's just like a little piece, where his suspensory attaches,” she said. “They may not even choose to take it out. It's not in the ankle. It's the two bones on the backside. It's where the suspensory is attached, so when they stand they've got structure. It's connecting his foot to his back of his leg.”

The X-rays were sent to Dr. Larry Bramlage at Rood and Riddle in Lexington for review and to determine whether surgery is needed.

Regardless, Laura Moquett said that when Whitmore's recovery is complete she will enter him in the Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) to be retrained. She expects he will learn to be a jumper in the show ring. She said she was not sad Sunday morning, “because I'm going to have him. Now it's just the next career, right? He's going to have a little layoff and then he's going to start his new job. So that's just a different structure.”

While Whitmore will stay with the Moquetts, his disposition may preclude him from working in the stable.

“He kicks a lot, so I don't think he'll be a pony,” Laura Moquett said. “He's not a biter, but he is nasty with his hind end. I don't know if he'll be able to do pony work. We'll see. I would love to have him on the track every morning. It would be so fun. If he goes on to be a jumper, I'm basically the only one that'll be around him instead of having all the guys keep tabs on him and stuff. They'd like to keep him around, so it would be cool to have him be a pony.”

Ron Moquett purchased the unraced 2-year-old named Pleasant Mel in a private sale for $37,000 and renamed him Whitmore after one of his high school teammates. Whitmore did run in the 2016 GI Kentucky Derby, but came out of the race with an injury. Since his return to racing several months later, he has been a sprinter.

Whitmore won 15 times and finished in the money 33 times. His victory in last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint at 18-1 carried him to the Eclipse Award.

Laura Moquett said that when her husband announced Whitmore's retirement Saturday night on social media, the reaction was immediate and intense with fans wishing him well.

“That's so cool,” she said. “They love him because he's just a hard-knocking guy that tries hard every time. He hurt himself and finished fifth and a Grade I, his last one. That's kind of incredible.”

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Brown Pleased With Viadera Win In Ballston Spa, Points Jack Christopher To Champagne

Chad Brown saddled a pair of winners Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with Viadera scoring in the $400,000 Grade 2 Ballston Spa and Jack Christopher impressing on debut to extend the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer's meet-leading win total to 32 [eight more than Mike Maker and Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher] heading into Day 34 of the 40-day summer meet.

Juddmonte homebred Viadera, a 5-year-old daughter of Bated Breath, was one of three entrants in the six-horse field along with pacesetter Tamahere [4th] and Kalifornia Queen [3rd].

Tamahere set strong splits of :22.60, :47.55, and 1:12.12 on the firm inner turf as Viadera saved ground in third under Joel Rosario. Viadera advanced up the rail through the final turn and angled out in the stretch run to reel in her stablemate and hold off the late charge of High Opinion.

Viadera, who capped her 2020 with a first Grade 1 score in the Matriarch at Del Mar, entered Saturday's test from a troubled fourth in the De La Rose on August 8 at the Spa.

“She had so much trouble in her first start of the year here and I was proud of her to come back on short rest and still get it done,” Brown said.

Viadera is likely to target the $400,000 Grade 1 First Lady on October 9 at Keeneland.

Jim Bakker and Gerald Isbister's Jack Christopher earned a 92 Beyer for his winning debut in a six-furlong maiden special weight for juveniles, powering to an 8 3/4-length score as the even-money favorite.

The Munnings chestnut, a $135,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale, exited post 5 in the seven-horse field under Jose Ortiz and settled in second position before taking command.

“I was very pleased. The word was out. He had worked well and he ran to his works, which is always a relief for a trainer,” Brown said.

Brown said Jack Christopher will point to the $500,000 Grade 1 Champagne on October 2 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., a one-turn mile offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in November at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Brown saddled Royal Flag and Dunbar Road to respective third and fourth-place finishes Saturday in the Grade 1 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti.

Royal Flag, a 5-year-old Candy Ride chestnut, entered from a score in the Grade 3 Shuvee on July 25 at the Spa, while Dunbar Road, a 5-year-old Quality Road bay, was looking to secure her first win since taking the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap last July.

While multiple Grade 1-winner Letruska won the nine-furlong test gate-to-wire, Royal Flag closed willingly to complete the trifecta, a head in front of Dunbar Road, who was forced in at the start under Flavien Prat, and had to rally six-wide down the lane.

“Dunbar Road had a bit of an unfortunate trip as she fell a little far out of it after missing the break and went quite wide,” Brown said. “Royal Flag had her normal trip that worked out just fine. I was proud of both of their efforts. A really great filly won the race.”

Peter Brant and Robert V. LaPenta's Miles D, a sophomore son of Curlin, garnered a career-best 100 Beyer for his third-place effort in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers. The lightly-race Curlin chestnut, a $470,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, graduated at second asking in June at Belmont and followed with a strong runner-up effort to Dynamic One in the nine-furlong Curlin on July 30 at the Spa.

Brown said he was pleased with the effort.

“He's only run four times and he might be a little bit better at a mile and an eighth,” Brown said.

Brown also confirmed Klaravich Stables' Technical Analysis, last-out winner of the Grade 2 Lake Placid on August 21, will point to the $500,000 Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on October 15 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

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Gufo Gets 104 Beyer Speed Figure For Sword Dancer, Targets Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Next

Otter Bend Stables' Gufo continued his career-long stretch of ultra-consistent efforts when holding off Japan for a neck victory in the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., improving his career ledger to 7-2-3 in 12 races.

Gufo, bred in Kentucky by John Little and Steve Cainelli, earned a personal-best 104 Beyer for his second career Grade 1 victory and first since the Belmont Derby Invitational in October. He cracked triple digits for the second time in three starts after garnering a 100 for his third-place finish in the Grade 1 Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day June 5.

Clement said Gufo will now target the $500,000 Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on October 9 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

“He came out of his race in very good shape and I was very proud of him. He looks very good this morning,” Clement said.

Clement added blinkers to Gufo before his start in the Grand Couturier going 1 1/2 miles on July 5 at Belmont. After winning that contest by one length, Clement kept the blinkers on, with the 4-year-old Declaration of War colt responding by rallying from last-of-7 under jockey Joel Rosario to make a strong three-wide move in the upper stretch before digging in.

“We put the blinkers on and it helped Joel get in a better position,” Clement said. “It put him more in contention to run a better race.”

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Darlene Bilinski's Senbei improved to 2-for-2 with a 2 3/4-length win in the Funny Cide during New York Showcase Day.

Bred in the Empire State by Dr. Jerry Bilinksi, Senbei went gate-to-wire to capture the 6 1/2-furlong main track sprint. Clement said he has not picked out a next spot yet for Senbei, who won his debut by 4 3/4 lengths on July 18 at Saratoga before going 2-for-2 at the prestigious summer meet.

“He came out of his race perfect. I was very impressed,” Clement said.

Senbei was a $280,000 purchase at the 2020 Keeneland Association January Horses of All Ages Sale.

Clement's 1-2 finishers in the West Point presented by Trustco Bank on New York Showcase Day both are set for fall spots at Belmont, Clement said, with City Man targeting the $125,000 Ashley T. Cole for state-breds 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the turf on September 24.

City Man, owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Peter Searles and Patty Searles and bred by Moonstar Farm, bested stablemate Therapist by a nose on Friday in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes.

Clement said he will likely run Oak Bluff Stables' Therapist, who earned his first stakes black type in five attempts dating to his win in the 2020 Artie Schiller in November at Aqueduct Racetrack, back at Belmont as well.

“He ran a really good race again. He's just a fun horse. He's still consistent and he still tries,” Clement said.

Therapist has registered Beyer numbers of 90 or greater in 10 consecutive starts dating to June 2020.

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