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Gunite Upstages Elite Power In Gate-To-Wire Forego Romp

Gunite turned the tables on familiar rival Elite Power when defeating the reigning champion male sprinter in a tour de force performance in the $500,000 Forego (G1) Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

Second to Elite Power in an epic duel in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt (G1) July 29 at the Spa, Gunite was too strong Saturday when leading at every point of call, shaking off an inside challenge from his foe in the stretch, and drawing off for a 1/3/4-length victory under Tyler Gaffalione.

Gunite returned $4.60 after covering the seven furlongs for 4-year-olds and older in 1:21.53. While pursued by Pipeline, Gunite clocked early fractions of :23.16 for the opening quarter mile and :46.20 for the half before shaking off Elite Power, who tracked from third before challenging in the stretch, and cruising clear for the win.

High Oak finished third, four lengths behind stablemate Elite Power, the 3-5 favorite.

A Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred trained by Steve Asmussen, Gunite added a second Grade 1 win to his record after taking the 2021 Hopeful, also at seven furlongs. Overall, the 4-year-old Gun Runner colt out of the Cowboy Cal mare Simple Surprise has a 9-6-2 record from 19 career starts.

Forego Quotes

Steve Asmussen, winning trainer of Gunite (No. 2, $4.60): “Gunite is just a very special horse to race at the level he has for as long as he has and do it consistently. It was a very tough defeat for him in the Vanderbilt and for him to not blink an eye, come back and lay it down again today just proves what a special horse he actually is.

“Elite Power is a great champion. I can't say how much I respect him, being by the unbelievable Curlin. But Gunite has seen good horses and he doesn't blink. That's what makes him so special. He came out of the box trying to prove who Gun Runner was as a 2-year-old, had six runs as a 2-year-old, two of them were here, and he's still winning Grade 1s at 4. Those horses are hard to come by right now.

“The horse gives us a tremendous amount of confidence. Tough defeat in the Vanderbilt, but the next day all he wanted was another chance at him. Today was his chance and he proved how truly good he is.

“Seven-eighths is probably his distance. His other Grade 1 win was the Hopeful which was seven-eighths of a mile. Yes, he can three-quarters and yes, he can mile, but seven-eighths is ideal for him.

“It's amazing what Gun Runner is as a sire. It brings back great memories. His summer here winning the Whitney and the Woodward was just magnificent. For us to be so blessed to get to have multiple Gun Runners. We have three Grade 1 contenders and all three are Gun Runners.”

On training up to Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Sprint: “He likes racing. He's never been a flashy trainer. I believe he'll need another race.”

Ron Winchell of winning owner Winchell Thoroughbreds of Gunite (No. 2): “Very redeeming. Obviously, we came up a little short in the last one after having the lead. So this was definitely redeeming from the last race. I think he's getting better over time. With the Gun Runners, like you see with Echo Zulu also, their last few races just seem to be getting better and better as they get older.”

Tyler Gaffalione, winning jockey aboard Gunite (No. 2): “He broke alertly, put himself in a good spot. The difference between today and last time was, going the three quarters, you've got to use him a little more than you'd like to. Seven-eighths suits him a little bit better. He's a big colt, just let him get into his stride and let him do his thing.”

On riding against Elite Power: “You try to just ride your own horses, but these kind of races against this group of quality, you've got to pay attention [to] who you're running against.”

On Gunite's response in the stretch: “I slapped him on the shoulder, threw him his head, and he exploded. Especially after he switched leads late, he found another gear.

“I think [last time] I used him a little too much early on and I wanted to get a little bit of separation coming into the stretch last time, might've cost us a bit. He definitely made up for it today. He's such a tremendous horse. All the credit goes to Steve and his team.”

On his trip last time: “There wasn't a lot of pace. I was drawn outside of Elite Power that day so I wanted to kind of keep him bottled up. My horse didn't really get underneath himself until we got him to the three-eighths pole, and it's not like I can take a hold there.”

Bill Mott, trainer of runner-up and beaten favorite Elite Power (No. 3) and third-place High Oak (No. 1): “Maybe I've seen him [Elite Power] run a little better before, but I can't give any big excuse. We gave the winner six pounds, I don't know if that's enough to use as an excuse.”

On if Elite Power will have another race before the Breeders' Cup Sprint: “Probably not.”

On High Oak [No. 1]: “It was a short field and Lee [Einsidler, co-owner] wanted to take a shot at it and the horse ran well. He justified being in there.”

Katie Davis, jockey of third-place High Oak (No. 1): “It was just a very patient ride. There was a lot of speed in the race, so turning for home he was really engaged and it was something you really wanted to see in him after these last couple of races. He's changed completely and we're looking forward to moving forward with him. He tried his heart out and I couldn't ask for anything else.”

Winning margin: 1 3/4 lengths

Final time (seven furlongs): 1:21.53

Fractions: 23.16, 46.20, 1:09.67

Full order of finish: 2-3-1-4-5

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Promising Juvenile Pastor T Suffers Catastrophic Injury

Pastor T (Into Mischief–Top Quality, by Quality Road), named a 'TDN Rising Star' for a 4 1/4-length debut victory at Del Mar Aug. 12, was euthanized Saturday after sustaining fatal injuries in a workout.

Bred by WinStar Farm and campaigned in partnership with Siena Farm and trainer Bob Baffert, Pastor T was nearing the conclusion of his workout when he suffered the injury. Pastor T was a likely starter in the GI Del Mar Futurity.

California Horse Racing Board chairman Greg Ferraro confirmed that Pastor T suffered an irreparable injury to his right front fetlock joint, involving the sesamoid and canon bones, at the end of a routine workout.

“It happened right at the wire. He looked like he was going easy, too,” said Ferraro. “The rider came off. The rider seems to be okay. Complained about a stiff neck, but he didn't fall that hard so I think he'll be okay. Of course, Bob [Baffert] was quite upset.”

Ferraro added: “Hard to predict sometimes. We do everything we can to avoid these things.”

Pastor T is the fifth horse death–racing and/or training–during the current meeting at Del Mar which began July 21, according to CHRB records.

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Del Mar Summer: For Top Jockey Agent Craig O’Bryan, Retirement Can Wait

Second generation jockey agent Craig O'Bryan called it a career a few years back after representing some of the game's top riders for nearly a half century, including four Hall of Famers: Eddie Delahoussaye, Gary Stevens, Alex Solis, and Corey Nakatani. He grew up in the game as the son of the late George O'Bryan, who was agent for Manuel Ycaza, Laffit Pincay Jr., Johnny Adams and Don Pierce, among others. Craig O'Bryan's son Brandon is the third generation of the family to ply hid trade as an agent.

Midway through 2020, O'Bryan got a phone call from fellow agent Tom Knust about a rider who was looking to move south from Northern California. Knust was representing another Bay Area transplant, Abel Cedillo, who had a made a successful transition to Southern California. Knust had just added a second rider, 2017 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice Evin Roman, so he couldn't take on anyone else.

“Tom called and asked if I wanted to come out of retirement,” O'Bryan said. “My wife and I were traveling and having a pretty good time, but I asked who the jockey was. When he told me Juan Hernandez, who I'd watched ride, I said, 'It's a done deal. Tell him to call me.'”

Hernandez hit the ground running, winning the Soi Phet Stakes aboard Galilean for John Sadler on his second day riding at the Los Alamitos meet in June 2020. He headed to Del Mar with momentum and wound up fourth in the summer meet standings behind Flavien Prat, Humberto Rispoli, and Cedillo.

Winner of four graded stakes prior to relocating to Southern California, Hernandez has added 68 graded stakes victories since, including a dozen Grade 1 races. He won his first Del Mar riding title in the 2021 fall meet, was the runaway leader last summer, and sits atop this year's standings with 27 wins from 105 mounts, a strike rate of 26 percent. He was the leader the last several meets at Santa Anita, including this winter-spring meet when he doubled up the number of wins on his closest competitors.

“He rides 25 percent or over no matter where he is,” O'Bryan said of Hernandez. “Up north he was winning at 30 percent. And when he got here, he was winning on longshots — he wasn't getting on 8-5 shots.”

O'Bryan said one of the reasons for the success the 31-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico, has enjoyed is that “he's as good a person as he is a rider.”

There is no drama surrounding Hernandez. He goes about his business quietly and respectfully. As a rider, he doesn't seem to have a weakness, winning on dirt and turf, going short or long.

“Horses just run for him,” O'Bryan said. “Juan is really good out of the gate, he's a good finisher, and he rides a smart race. He knows the other horses and other jockeys. He's very cool and doesn't panic. He won't really get after a horse until inside the eighth pole.”

O'Bryan said a brief conversation with Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert helped Hernandez get to the next level. “Baffert came to me last year and said, 'I want to get in the Juan Hernandez business.' I said, 'That won't be a problem.'”

Since then Hernandez has been aboard some of Baffert's best horses.

O'Bryan has seen a lot of changes in his profession since hebegan booking mounts for his first rider, Manny Ortiz, in 1972.

“We used to have to do everything on foot,” he said. “You didn't have telephones on the backside or frontside. You'd call a trainer at home and find out he's on his way to the track, so (fellow agent) Scotty McClellan and I would wait in the parking lot for trainers to arrive and ask if we can ride for them. Cell phones have changed all that. And we used to have to sit around the racing office for hours during entries. Now we all go home, do our thing and have a conference call, which is 100 times better.”

Now, on to the races.

By the Numbers

Don't want to sound like a broken record, but last week I wrote that the chalk parade continued in the fourth week of the summer meet. The abbreviated week five (with racing cancelled Aug. 20 because of the tropical storm) and first two days of week six continued that pattern. Of the 42 races run from Aug. 17-25, there have been 19 winning favorites, 45.2 percent. For the meet, favorites have won at a 38.2 percent rate. The average payout during this last period is almost identical to the meet-to-date average, $12.61. Average field size for the meet is 8.9 horses per race.

The 42 races run from Aug. 17-25) were equally divided on dirt and turf. Interestingly, despite having nearly one more horse per race (8.6 vs. 7.7), the turf races have been more formful, with 11 winning favorites, 52.3 percent. Dirt races have been won by favorites 38 percent of the time.

After a period where speed dominated both on dirt and turf, the results have been more balanced recently, with horses seemingly able to win on the front end, while pressing the pace, in mid-pack, or closing from far back.

Who's hot?

After going 0-for-19 at the start of the meet, trainer Michael McCarthy has won six of his last 19. Peter Eurton is even hotter, winning with eight of his last 15 starters. Among riders, Antonio Fresu has snuck up the standings, with 18 wins from 111 mounts. He's won eight of his last 23, moving him to fourth behind Hernandez, Rispoli, and Hector Berrios.

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Trainer Biehler Hits Milestone 1,000th Career Win At Remington

Trainer Michael Biehler was 25 years old in 1989 when he sent out his first winner, and now at age 59 he won for the 1,000th time in his career when Medalla Match captured the eighth race on Friday night at Remington Park.

Biehler's first trip to a winner's circle was July 1, 1989 with Raise a Wolf in a $5,000 maiden claiming race at Canterbury Park in Minnesota. His first win at Remington Park was on April 9, 1994 with Gato Macho.

Friday night's milestone victory was in a 7 1/2-furlong turf allowance race for fillies and mares. Medalla Match covered trip in 1:30.83 and led from the half-mile pole on with Stewart Elliott aboard.

“This is really exciting for me,” Biehler said of his 1,000th win. “I never had a number like this in mind when I first started. I've had some big wins at Remington Park. This was great and I'll never forget this, but it's hard to top winning the Oklahoma Derby with Wally's Choice in 2004. He was the longest shot on the board (33-1 odds) and I really didn't think he had a chance that day. He came from dead last with Quinonez up. That was my only graded stakes win. I'll never forget that one or this one.”

Biehler watched Medalla Match provide the milestone victory from his travel trailer on lake in Minnesota with coverage from the RTN network. He didn't have much choice because he has horses entered at Canterbury on Saturday. The milestone celebrations will have to be postponed as well.

“Yeah, I have to get up at 4 a.m.,” said Biehler, said with a laugh. Medalla Match, a 5-year-old mare by Summer Front out of the Bernardini mare Channel of Gold, went off as the prohibitive favorite at 1-2 odds. She took all the suspense out of the milestone, pulling away in the stretch to win by three lengths, but Biehler enjoyed his sixth win over the past two nights.

“She's a nice mare,” said Biehler, “and I think they picked her up for about $7,500. Bought her sight unseen.”

Medalla Match ($3) is owned by Twisted Chaps Racing Stables (John Morris) of Edmond, Okla. They pocketed $22,749 from the $38,000 purse. The mare improved her record 6-3-1 from 18 career starts and earnings of $147,482. The winner was bred in Kentucky by Jane Wiggins.

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