Trainer Bret Calhoun said he experienced “the highs and lows of racing in a matter of ten minutes” after seeing Mr. Wireless capture a second graded stakes triumph in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Racetrack in New Cumberland, W. Va., before saddling By My Standards to a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Second in last year's Whitney to Improbable, Allied Racing and Spendthrift Farm's By My Standards stumbled and lost a front left shoe a few strides leaving the gate. Unable to catch pacesetter and winner Knicks Go, By My Standards trailed throughout finishing 15 ½ lengths off the winner.
Calhoun said By My Standards, a 5-year-old son of Goldencents, emerged from the race in good order.
“For what he went through, he came back pretty well, better than expected,” Calhoun said. “He stumbled twice and wasn't going to do too well without a shoe. The foot is a little sore and we got lucky it didn't tear anything up. He's just a little bruised up is all.”
A four-time graded stakes-winning millionaire, By My Standards arrived at the Whitney off a runner-up effort despite a troubled trip in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on June 5 at Belmont Park.
Calhoun said By My Standards could target the $1 million Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 4 at Saratoga.
“The Whitney was a race we had dialed in for quite some time,” Calhoun said. “Obviously, you don't know what to take from that race other than just drawing a line through it. We'll figure out where we go. I wouldn't think the Jockey Club is impossible. Knicks Go ran them off their feet, went fast early, and he kept on running. He just ran that race he ran in the Breeders' Cup.”
Mr. Wireless notched a second graded stakes triumph in the West Virginia Derby after winning the Grade 3 Indiana Derby on July 7 at Indiana Grand Race Course in Shelbyville, Ind.
Calhoun said the JIL Stable-owned son of Dialed In could return in the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby on September 25 at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa.
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