Month: November 2021

‘We’ve Found His Game’: Gear Jockey Comes Into Turf Sprint Off Career Best

It took a few races — OK, 12 — to figure out what Calumet Farm's 4-year-old colt Gear Jockey really wanted to do. But the wait and perseverance paid off this summer and fall, with Kentucky Downs' $1 million FanDuel Turf Sprint winner a leading contender for Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.

A year ago, when the Breeders' Cup was at trainer Rusty Arnold's hometown track of Keeneland, Gear Jockey was awaiting his first victory. That didn't come until this past January in the colt's first start as a 4-year-old.

Even though he started off 0 for 8, Gear Jockey has uncorked only two truly bad races, the first being his debut at six furlongs on dirt at Saratoga by almost 23 lengths. Stretched out to a mile on grass, the winless colt still ran very well, including finishing a close third at 67-1 odds in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita in 2019.

In fact, his tantalizing talent was such that Gear Jockey made a fleeting appearance on last year's Kentucky Derby trail. That ended in his second poor race in Gulfstream Park's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, his last race on dirt. He subsequently was sidelined for six months with a repairable leg fracture.

Back on grass, Gear Jockey won maiden and allowance races and came very close to winning a graded turf stakes. Still, Arnold thought there was more the horse could do.

“We sat down and said, 'Let's sprint the horse. He's just not finishing off, and he shows a lot of talent,'” Arnold said. “We've sprinted him three times on turf, and I think we've found his game.”

Gear Jockey earned a second-level allowance victory, was a rallying third after breaking slowly in Saratoga's Grade 3 Troy and then captured the Grade 3, six-furlong FanDuel Turf Sprint. That victory not only proved worth $576,600 to Calumet Farm but with the added perk of giving Gear Jockey a fees-paid berth in the five-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series' Win And You're In program.

Gear Jockey needed to win the FanDuel Turf Sprint to even make the Breeders' Cup. That was no small feat as Gear Jockey was the last horse to get into the overflow Kentucky Downs' race. If he lucked into the race, he made his own luck coming out with an authoritative 2 1/2-length victory over the well-regarded Diamond Oops.

“It was by far his best race,” Arnold said. “He did everything right…. (But) if one more horse had entered, we'd have been out. I can't tell you how big it was.”

The five-furlong Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint also includes third-place Bombard and Fast Boat, who beat Gear Jockey in the Troy Stakes. Sixth-place Got Stormy, who won the 2020 Ladies Sprint at Kentucky Downs, is going in the $2 million Mile on turf.

“I don't think the Breeders' Cup can be much tougher than that race,” Arnold said. “… I'm confident my horse is going to show up. It's a little shorter than I'd like, but we're hoping we've got him sharp enough.”

The Kentucky Downs victory provided a special thrill for Calumet Farm owner Brad Kelley, who grew up in Bowling Green and Franklin, Ky., started his path to billionaire status back in Bowling Green and now lives in Franklin, Tenn. Kelley also is a previous owner of Kentucky Downs, and Gear Jockey won with Calumet Farm the racing card's day sponsor.

“It was nice to win a big race for him close to his home,” Arnold said.

A third-generation horseman, Arnold is tied for No. 2 with Bill Mott in all-time victories at Keeneland at 288, trailing only D. Wayne Lukas' 296.

Arnold also is one of the most successful trainers to never have won a Breeders' Cup race. Kelley won the short-lived Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint in 2012 with Hightail racing the name of Kelley's old Bluegrass Hall. But Calumet Farm has never won a Breeders' Cup race.

“Disappointing is the wrong word,” Arnold said of himself being 0 for 14 in the Breeders' Cup. “But it's on your bucket list. You don't want to be one of the guys who has won the most graded races without winning the Breeders' Cup.

“I'd like to win for any of my owners. I want to win one for Calumet; I'd like to win one for myself. I'm a little bit jealous on that.”

Calumet also has its homebred Lexitonian in the $2 million Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint. The 5-year-old horse, trained by the farm's private trainer Jack Sisterson, won Saratoga's Grade 1 Vanderbilt. Detroit City is on the also-eligible for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf and needs two scratches to run.

“If he shows up on his best effort, he'll be right there,” Sisterson said of Lexitonian, who finished second by a nose in last year's Grade 1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar. “It's great the support and the passion that Mr. Kelley has for this sport. Although he doesn't come, he watches every race. People don't know how emotional he gets after a big win.”

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Breeders’ Cup Diaries: When Leonard Looks At California Angel, He Sees A Bright Future

This continues our daily diary following Breeders' Cup first-timer George Leonard and his fan favorite filly California Angel on their route to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. See the first edition here.

Trainer George Leonard can finally rest easy – his princess has arrived at Del Mar.

After numerous plane delays for a flight that included not just California Angel but a number of Kentucky-based shippers, including the Brad Cox barn, the 2-year-old chestnut finally stepped onto the Del Mar backstretch around 10:30 last night. Stable staff can't travel with horses flying on FedEx, which is the default air carrier for horses since Tex Sutton closed up shop, so California Angel arrived without an entourage. Leonard said he probably couldn't have spared the help back at Indiana Grand anyway, where his remaining staff is looking after his other 19 horses. That means as long as she's here, Leonard is his filly's groom and hotwalker, which is no small feat.

Horse people know the old warning about chestnut fillies – they have strong opinions, and plenty of them. Those opinions can sometimes turn on a dime.

Sure, Leonard said, she has a streak of that stereotypical chestnut in her. She's always smart, nearly always easy and very mentally mature. She doesn't mind being handled until she does mind, and will make an impressive series of sour faces at Leonard. She's more bark than bite (most of the time); Leonard thinks sometimes she's just not in the mood to be social.

“She can be sweet and sour,” he said. “When she gets irritated with you she'll nip at you like, 'Get away from me.' But most of the time she's pretty sweet. She's all lady.”

When she gives him the stink eye, Leonard takes note. He moves quietly, does what he needs to do, and gets out of her way.

She's also quick on her feet. On Tuesday morning, Leonard's big hurdle was giving her a chance to see the track. He debated whether to walk her in her busy barn or let her stretch her muscles on the racetrack, so he brought her out for a relaxed walk in the yard to get a feel for her. The 2-year-old took in the scenery, looking relaxed in a way that smart fillies can when they're plotting something. In no time, her hind heels were above her head with an impressive series of bucks. Leonard, in a way only really experienced horsemen can, stood still, spoke to her in a low voice, and kept his hands quiet, waiting for the episode to pass. When she moved on, he moved on – no fuss, no yanking on her shank.

After that, he decided she probably wanted to go to the track.

 

“I went on and let her gallop,” he said. “She was too hyper. She did real well. I didn't know how she was going to handle it but she was really ready.”

The beauty of having a really great 2-year-old is that they evolve. While a successful juvenile campaign is very often about finding a horse who's at their peak early on, Leonard said he can look at California Angel and see more to come. She's an impressive scaffolding, but she'll be even better when she has filled in the gaps.

“She's still growing. She's grown since I bought her [in June],” said Leonard. “I'm looking for her to develop. She's just starting to develop now. She's not half the horse she's going to be. She's mature mentally but physically she's still growing and she'll be a lot more horse here in a little while. More muscle and body tone. She has shown very good talent already and you know there's a lot more to come.”

For now though, Leonard said he's focused on this weekend. He has seen many of the fillies the California Chrome daughter will face in the Juvenile Fillies Turf. Several were with them in the Jessamine, and he got a glimpse of the others Tuesday morning. They're impressive, and the field is full at 14 total. It'll be her toughest challenge yet, but that doesn't mean Leonard is planning to be content with hitting the board.

“She ran against 13 horses in the Jessamine too,” he said. “I like to be optimistic. I'm here to win. I don't aim for second or third, I want to win. I think if everything goes right, we have a good chance to win if everything works for her.”

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Breeders’ Cup Notes: Dr. Schivel’s Perfect Del Mar Record On Line In Sprint

SPRINT

Dr. Schivel – Dr. Schivel, the alias name of the villainous character Mr. Freeze from the iconic Batman series, was on the track in the early hours this morning, well before the break, galloping 1 1/4 miles under regular exercise rider Jorge Loza.  The sophomore colt has reeled off five successive victories, the past three for trainer Mark Glatt.  Glatt took over training of the horse as the result of an ownership change prior to his victory in the Del Mar Futurity.

“It's difficult to get a Grade 1 winner, then inform the owners we should stop on him.  But I felt it was in the horse's best interest to give him plenty of time to develop and to get over some minor things,” Glatt said.  “So far, that decision has seemed like the right one.”

Dr. Schivel, unbeaten in all three of his Del Mar starts, is the second choice in the morning line at 4-1 for the six-furlong dash.

FILLY & MARE SPRINT

Bella Sofia – Proving again the adage that horses can come from anywhere, Bella Sofia, a $20,000 purchase as a 2-year-old has won four of five career starts and is the 5-2 second choice behind champion Gamine in the $1 million Filly and Mare Sprint.

As the daughter of Awesome Patriot, who stands for $2,500, she doesn't have the pedigree pizzazz of some of the competition she will face, but she has speed and has a resume that shows she knows how to win.

Rudy Rodriquez has developed Bella Sofia for the group of nine partners. She has given Rodriguez, a New York stalwart, his first graded stakes victories in four years. Her 4 ½-length victory in the Test at Saratoga in August brought Rodriquez to tears and his eyes were wet Tuesday morning at the mention of that important 7f race for 3-year-old fillies.

From the beginning, Bella Sofia has been a challenge for Rodriguez and his staff. Since all of her races have been at Belmont and Saratoga, he brought her to California two weeks before the race to give her time to acclimate to the new surroundings.

“She's a kind of quirky filly, not nervous,” Rodriguez said. “I think she just hears everything. Every little thing that she hears she just reacts very, very fast. Most of the time you've just got to be careful with her. We were jogging around, there was the sound of hitting something with a hammer and right away she started jumping all over the place. Nobody was behind her. You've just got to be alert and that's what we try to do.”

After she won the Gallant Bloom on Sept. 26, beating older horses in a graded stake, the owner opted to supplement her to the Breeders' Cup for $100,000.

“They said we're going,” Rodriguez said. “I'm just happy to be here. I know it's a lot of money, but more people have gotten into the group on the filly. They like the game.”

Bella Sofia, who is out of Love Contract by Consolidator, was sold in July 2020 at the OBS Horses of Racing Age sale. She was part of a package of seven horses that Rodriguez said cost about $500,000. So far, she is the star of the group – and his barn, too, Rodriquez said – with $542,600 in earnings.

On May 6 at Belmont at odds of 8-1, Bella Sofia broke her maiden at 6f by 11 ¼ lengths.

“She showed that she was more than just a horse,” Rodriquez said.

DIRT MILE

Ginobili – Ginobili will be the last horse to arrive for this weekend's Breeders' Cup World Championships when the 4yo son of Munnings makes the short commute from the San Luis Rey Training Center this morning. The impressive winner of the “Win and You're In” Pat O'Brien Handicap has done all his training at the nearby facility for trainer Richard Baltas, who explained, “He's run two huge races off his conditioning there, so I don't want to change a thing.  Don't call it superstition, though, it's intelligence—and experience.”  He's passed all the tests so far, winning at one mile, followed by the O'Brien at seven furlongs, and is coming into this race fresh.  I've always thought a lot of this horse.”

Ginobili completed his final preparations last Saturday with a five-furlong drill timed in 1:00 4/5.

Life Is Good – With four wins and a narrow second in five lifetime starts, Life Is Good is one of the highest-profile horses in the 38th Breeders' Cup. He will have an opportunity to add to his already substantial reputation Saturday as the 4-5 favorite in the Dirt Mile, which has a field of eight horses. Only Gamine, at 3-5 in the Filly and Mare Sprint, has lower odds on the morning line.

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club purchased the Into Mischief colt for $525,000 as a yearling in 2019 and sent him to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in California. He emerged as a top Triple Crown prospect with wins in the Sham and the San Felipe at Santa Anita Park, but went to the sidelines on March 20 with an ankle chip in his left hind leg. The chip was removed by surgery.

In June, Life Is Good was transferred to the care of trainer Todd Pletcher in New York. He returned to the races at Saratoga where his unbeaten record ended at three at the Graveyard of Favorites when he was beaten a neck in the seven-furlong Allen Jerkens Memorial on Aug 28. Life is Good answered that loss with a dominating 5 ½-length victory at odds of 1-20 in the mile Kelso Handicap Sept. 25 at Belmont Park.

“He's a super-talented horse,” Pletcher said. “He's shown that all of these races and he always breezes very impressively. He appears to be very talented and fast. Hopefully he has the ability to continue to carry that speed over a route of ground.”

Even though Life Is Good easily dispatched the competition in the four-horse Kelso, Pletcher said he and the connections did not flirt with the possibility of sending him to the 1 ¼ miles $6 million Classic.

“We've pretty much been focused on the Dirt Mile,” Pletcher said. “We just felt like, considering that he missed a good portion of the middle part of the year, that we were giving up too much recency and seasoning to be ready to fire his best shot in the Classic. We have confidence that the horse will handle more distance in the future, but we just felt like for right now the Dirt Mile is the correct spot.”

Life Is Good shipped from New York on Sunday. Pletcher said Life Is Good and his other horses have settled in well at Del Mar. He galloped Tuesday morning and Pletcher said he got over the track well.

Monday afternoon, Life Is Good drew post five in the Dirt Mile, a spot that Pletcher said was fine for him.

“He's pretty much in the middle,” Pletcher said. “We'll just play it off the break.”

Pletcher has started five horses in the Dirt Mile and has a record of 1-1-1. His winner was Liam's Map in 20 15.

Irad Ortiz Jr., who won the 2019 Dirt Mile on Spun to Run, will ride.

JUVENILE FILLIES

Ain't Easy – Unbeaten stakes winner Ain't Easy, one of the early prerace favorites for Friday's $2 million NetJets Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, will have surgery on her left ankle Wednesday after X-rays Monday showed a tiny chip.  Trainer Phil D'Amato termed the procedure “a simple one, with an expected quick recovery.”  Dr. Ryan Carpenter will perform the surgery.

The daughter of leading sire Into Mischief had some heat on her ankle following a gallop over the main track Monday.  “She had worked on Saturday and came out of it fine, then walked on Sunday and was doing well,” D'Amato said.  “It was a difficult call to make (to her owners), but we had to do the right thing for the horse.”

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