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Helium Floats Away from Them at Woodbine to Become First Stakes Winner for Ironicus

Helium backed up a sharp and fast track-and-trip debut score Sept. 27 to dominate Sunday’s Display S. at Woodbine and become the first black-type winner for his freshman sire (by Distorted Humor). Off as the narrow 7-5 favorite over fellow impressive debut winner Maclean’s Posse, the bay broke well and took up a stalking spot off the inside as his chief market rival took heat from two foes through splits of :23.65 and :46.40. Helium advanced ominously while out wide heading for home, and found another gear when called upon in the stretch to float away from his foes at will while capping a huge weekend North of the border for his trainer.

For the racing week at Woodbine, Casse sent out one winner each on Thursday and Friday; five on Saturday including dominant ‘TDN Rising Star’ Souper Sensational (Curlin) in the filly equivalent of the Display, the Glorious Song S.; and three on Sunday. He now boasts more than triple as many wins as the next trainer in the Woodbine meet standings.

“He’s a pro, this horse is like an old soul,” said pilot Emma-Jayne Wilson, who was celebrating a three-win day of her own that also included a victory in the GI Northern Dancer Turf S. “First time he ran, we wanted to just get his legs and come running. He was up near the point and when I asked him to quicken, he quickened… So today, I was pretty confident. They set some decent fractions in front of him and he wasn’t fazed. Even the horse on the outside moved up and he was like ‘Oh, can I go now?’ I said ‘No, we’ll just wait.’… And sure enough, when I pulled the trigger–you’ve heard this said time and time again when you’re standing in this winner’s enclosure…when you pull the trigger and they go, they’re good horses. Well, that’s what got me here today.”

Helium’s dam produced a Classic Empire maker colt in 2019 and an Accelerate colt this term before being bred back to American Pharoah. Sire Ironicus, now a Claiborne resident, blossomed at ages four and five, annexing a trio of graded races on the grass for Shug McGaughey and Stuart Janney III before just missing in the 2016 GI Shadwell Turf Mile S.

DISPLAY S., C$101,600, Woodbine, 10-18, 2yo, 7f (AWT), 1:22.62, ft.
1–HELIUM, 120, c, 2, by Ironicus
                1st Dam: Thundering Emilia, by Thunder Gulch
                2nd Dam: Saint Emilia (Per), by Saint Ballado
                3rd Dam: Proud Emilia, by Proud Appeal
($55,000 Ylg ’19 FTKOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-D. J. Stable
LLC; B-Teneri Farm Inc & Bernardo Alvarez Calderon (KY);
T-Mark E. Casse; J-Emma-Jayne Wilson. C$60,000. Lifetime
Record: 2-2-0-0, $77,763. *1/2 to Mighty Scarlett (Scat
Daddy), GSP, $225,860; Emilia’s Moon (Malibu Moon),
G1SW-Per.
2–Gospel Way, 120, g, 2, Brody’s Cause–Bible Belt, by Pulpit.
O-William B. Thompson, Jr.; B-William B. Thompson (VA);
T-Nathan Squires. C$20,000.
3–Decimator, 118, g, 2, The Big Beast–Ragtime Road, by
Dixieland Band. ($40,000 Ylg ’19 OBSOCT). O-Colebrook Farms;
B-Jimmie Ballinger (FL); T-Ashlee Brnjas. C$11,000.
Margins: 4 1/4, NK, 4. Odds: 1.40, 5.35, 56.85.
Also Ran: Exceed, Maclean’s Posse, Knight Kingdom, Souper Classy. Scratched: Rocket Reload. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Get Smokin Turns Tables On Decorated Invader In Hill Prince Upset

Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin made every call a winning one to turn the tables on familiar foe Decorated Invader in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Hill Prince, a one-mile Widener turf test for sophomores at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Tom Bush and expertly piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Get Smokin ensured his fourth attempt versus Decorated Invader was successful after finishing third in the Cutler Bay in March at Gulfstream Park and second in the G2 Hall of Fame in July at Saratoga in races won by his Christophe Clement-trained rival. Both Get Smokin [8th] and Decorated Invader [5th] entered the Hill Prince from off-the-board efforts in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 15.

The free-wheeling Get Smokin once again broke sharply Sunday and led the field of seven through splits of 24.25 seconds and 49.52 over the yielding turf, with Assiduously tracking in second. Decorated Invader, the prohibitive 2-5 mutuel favorite, raced from sixth position under Joel Rosario as Get Smokin continued to dictate a moderate tempo into the turn.

Bodecream advanced along the rail late in the turn with Starting Over following suit to his outside as Decorated Invader was roused into action racing inside of Buy Land and See. Get Smokin maintained a two-length advantage at the stretch call, as Decorated Invader surged beyond Starting Over and angled outside of Assiduously and the stubborn Bodecream to take dead aim at the leader.

Decorated Invader continued to find more inside the final sixteenth under urging from Rosario, but there was no reeling in Get Smokin who held on for a head score in a final time of 1:36.95.

It was a further two lengths back to Bodecream in third with Buy Land and See, Starting Over, Glynn County and Assiduously rounding out the order of finish. Chocolate Bar and main-track only entrant Money Moves were scratched.

Castellano, who guided Get Smokin to a second-out maiden score in September 2019 on the Belmont turf, secured his third win in the Hill Prince following scores with Rey de Café [2005] and Outperformance [2006].

“The way I handicapped the race, I felt the horse would fit the mile perfectly,” said Castellano. “The last race was a little longer. The last time the horse won, I was on him when he broke his maiden last year.”

Get Smokin is by the Bush-trained multiple Grade 1-winner Get Stormy, who Castellano piloted to six wins in prominent fashion.

“When I got to the paddock, the first thing he [Bush] told me was, 'ride him like Get Stormy,' and that's what I did,” said Castellano. “I rode his father at Keeneland and New York, too. Today, he was so patient. I was walking the dog, basically. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”

Get Smokin narrowly missed making the grade in his seasonal debut when second, defeated a half-length to Island Commish in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy on January 4 at Gulfstream Park.

The front-running chestnut continued that run of form at the Hallandale Beach oval with a second in the Dania Beach in February ahead of the Cutler Bay effort.

Following a freshening, Get Smokin returned to action in June at Belmont to be fifth in an allowance tilt ahead of a memorable Grade 2 Hall of Fame run in which he opened up a 7 ½-length lead at the half-mile, only to be collared late by Decorated Invader. He arrived at the Hill Prince from a pacesetting eighth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 15, where he leapt at the start.

“He's been in some tough spots in running against the best horses on the East Coast, so we pointed for this race since Saratoga and we're really delighted,” said Bush. “We weren't sure about the soft ground, but he handled it.

“I've thrown this horse to the wolves,” continued Bush. “He's one of these rare horses that you'll see horses that run very out of their condition and they don't get discouraged and keep being a top runner and that's the type of horse he is. You're not breaking his spirit.”

Rosario said Decorated Invader, who won the Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine as a juvenile, was hampered by traffic trouble when trying to find a clear path for the stretch run.

“With the soft ground, it's hard to close. He ran well. He put in his effort,” said Rosario. “Turning for home, I had to start moving. Then, the horse in front of me came out a little bit, so that got him out of balance. He ran a good race. He looked like he was going comfortable. He was trying hard, but it's just too bad we couldn't get them.”

Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm, Get Smokin banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 10-2-3-2. He paid $17.40 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday with a nine-race card at Belmont with a first post of 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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Mehmas Ties Iffraaj at 38 First-Crop 2yo Winners

Tally-Ho Stud resident Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}-Lucina {GB}, by Machiavellian) equaled Iffraaj (GB) (Zafonic)’s number of first-crop 2-year-old winners on Sunday, with Power Under Me (Ire) bringing up his 38th individual winner. The gelding, bred by Barbel Reiss and a €28,000 Goffs November weanling, won on debut over six furlongs at Naas. Always prominently placed, the Vincent Gaul colourbearer asserted late to win by 2 1/4 lengths over Coulthard (Ire) (Coulsty {Ire}).

Of Mehmas’s 146 2-year-olds, 94 (64%) have started, and his winners to runners percentage stands at 26%. Clustered among his winning progeny are four black-type winners-G1 Middle Park S. and G2 Richmond S. hero Supremacy (Ire), G2 Gimcrack S. winner and Middle Park third Minzaal (Ire), Listed Julia Graves Roses S. victor Acklam Express (Ire) and Listed Rose Bowl S. and G3 Cornwallis S. third Method (Ire). Mehmas stood for €7,500 at Tally-Ho this season.

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Blame Debbie Wins Stretch Duel With Always Shopping In Marathon Dowager At Keeneland

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Michael Cloonan and Tim Thornton's Blame Debbie held off Always Shopping through a stretch-long duel by a head to win the 29th running of the $125,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3) for fillies and mares Sunday afternoon at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

Trained by Graham Motion and ridden by Manny Franco, Blame Debbie covered the 1 1/2 miles on a firm turf course in 2:34.74 and became the first 3-year-old to win the race.

Blame Debbie is cataloged to Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale, which begins Nov. 9. Consigned as a racing or broodmare prospect by Bluewater Sales, agent, she is Hip 1310.

Today's victory in the Rood & Riddle Dowager is the third in the race for Motion, who previously triumphed with Kitten's Point in 2015 and Humaita (GER) in 2004.

Blame Debbie went right to the front with Always Shopping tracking just off her flank to the outside through fractions of :26.66, :53.68, 1:20.68 and 1:46.98.

On the far turn, Tyler Gaffalione on Always Shopping turned up the pressure and drew alongside Blame Debbie. The two ran as a team the rest of the way with Blame Debbie never letting her older rival get in front.

“She was so nice and so game in the lead,” said Franco. “I think she felt that other horse (Always Shopping) coming by the five-sixteenths pole to the wire. She never let that one pass her. I was really pleased. I was riding to the wire, and she responded to me the whole way.”

Gaffalione, aboard the runner-up, said: “We went pretty easy early on in the race. There wasn't much speed so I figured it would be a sprint to the wire. My filly just couldn't get her nose in front but she put in a big effort today.”

The victory was worth $75,000 and increased Blame Debbie's earnings to $215,920 with a record of 10-3-1-3. It is the first stakes victory for the Kentucky-bred daughter of Blame out of the Invasor (ARG) mare Jadwa. She is a graduate of Keeneland's 2018 September Yearling Sale.

Sent off as the favorite, Blame Debbie paid $5, $3.20 and $2.60. Always Shopping returned $4 and $2.80 and finished 2¼ lengths in front of With Dignity, who paid $2.60 to show under Julien Leparoux.

It was another half-length back to Over Thinking, who was followed in order by Siberian Iris (IRE) and Naomi Broadway (BRZ).

The final four days of the 17-day Fall Meet kick off Wednesday afternoon with an eight-race program beginning at 1:05 ET.

Keeneland will offer a Super High 5 carryover of $24,224.49.

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