Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker, making her career debut, rang up a $44.40 surprise in Thursday's Grade 3 Schuylerville Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the opening day of Saratoga's 2023 meet on Thursday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Ridden by Javier Castellano for trainer Gary Contessa, Becky's Joker – a daughter of Practical Joke bred in Kentucky by Warran J. Harang – rallied from just off the pace to by 3 1/4 lengths while covering six furlongs on a fast main track in 1:12.52. She earned the $96,250 winner's share of the Schuyerville's $175,000 purse.
Saratoga Secret and Luis Saez finished second, with Closing Act and Tyler Gaffalione third. Favored Wine On Tap, ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., finished fourth in the field of seven juveile fillies.
“She was very professional,” said Castellano. “I liked the way she did it today. She was right behind the horses and she covered up a little bit. She got an education and dirt in the face.
“I liked that move at the quarter pole when she split horses and took off. She leveled off a little bit near the top of the stretch and she did it the right way today. Very professional. She has a lot of potential. To do it like today in her first time, very impressive. She did it the right way.”
Pokoik purchased Becky's Joker as a weanling for $130,000 at the Keeneland November Breeder Stock Sale and she was RNAed for $50,000 when re-offered as a yearling at Keeneland the following September. Pokoik opted to keep the filly and turned her over to his longtime trainer, Contessa.
“We bought her as a weanling and my game plan was to sell all the horses that I can and if I don't sell them, I race them,” said Pokoik. “I tried selling this one twice. Nobody wanted it and she was a good horse. This happened before when I won the Spinaway several years before with Sippican Harbor. No one wanted her either.
“We've been together for 35 years. Even when he was working in Delaware, he was still buying and selling horses for me.”
“I knew that physically she was as good as anything in this race,” said Contessa. “She trained like a stakes horse, but you don't know what's going to happen once the gate opens. I ran a filly that I thought couldn't lose at Belmont and when the gate opened, she started getting hit in the face with dirt and was in full retreat. So you never know, but she told me from Day One, 'I'm the right horse, and I'm good enough for a race like this.' With Lee Pokoik, it's easy because he always wants to run in stakes races. I didn't have to do much convincing to the owner and I would have to just eat a little crow if I was wrong.
“When she broke a little slow, I wasn't surprised because she's so big. She's 16.3 [hands], so I expected her to break slow and I was hoping she would engage immediately and she did. She got right behind the leaders and I loved her position. I felt we had a big chance turning for home.
“I don't have a horse in the barn that can work in company with her, so I started having to work her on her own and she's still working three-quarters [fast]. She's that kind of horse.
“I bought her as a weanling right after she was born and with Lee, we always try to sell them as yearlings. If they don't sell as yearlings, we sell them as a 2-year-old. When she went to the yearling sale, everyone said she was too big. Then we took her to the March 2-year-old sale in Ocala this year and everyone that looked at her said she was too big. I'm thinking in the back of my mind, 'This is good, I may get to keep this one.' That's exactly what happened, and the same thing happened with Sippican Harbor, who won the Spinaway a few years ago. Nobody wanted her at the yearling sale or the 2-year-old sale and we got to win a Grade 1 with her, so hopefully we get to win a Grade 1 with this one.”
The Schuylerville was the first win from seven starts for Contessa, a longtime leader on the NYRA circuit who backed away from trainer for a spell.
“This is the way to come back,” he said. “I've tried the real world, but this side of the fence is the happier place for me. I like the other side of the fence, but I love this side of the fence.”
The post Becky’s Joker Debuts With Opening-Day Schuylerville Score At Saratoga appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
