american pharoah | Horse Racing Free Tips

The Friday Show: Hall Of Fame Slam Dunks … And One Notable Miss

In a busy news week – the aftermath of Saturday's Kentucky Derby and a look ahead to the May 15 Preakness Stakes – the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame unveiled its 2021 class of inductees: seven-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 13-time champion steeplechase trainer Jack FIsher.

In this week's edition of the Friday Show, publisher Ray Paulick, news editor Chelsea Hackbarth and bloodstock editor Joe Nevills touch on those inductees and look ahead to the list of potential candidates for the 2022 Hall of Fame ballot – and Ray has a meltdown over one 2021 candidate who did not get enough votes for induction.

In his weekly Toast to Vino Rosso, Joe introduces us to another first-crop foal sired by Spendthrift Farm's Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Curlin. Finally, the team congratulates the ageless John Velazquez in our Star of the Week segment for his victories in the Kentucky Oaks and Derby and his ongoing commitment to his fellow riders through his work with the Jockeys' Guild and as a newly appointed member of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority's standing committee on racetrack safety.

Watch this week's Friday Show below.

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Baffert: Medina Spirit More Of A Silver Charm Than An American Pharoah

A favorite interview standby for turfwriters speaking to a jockey, trainer, or owner with historical success is to ask them to compare their most successful horses to each other. Who is better than who? Who reminds you of who? Trainer Bob Baffert, who is asked this sort of question often, was queried on Thursday's NTRA national media teleconference about the similarities between Derby winner Medina Spirit and Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

Baffert said the colt by Protonico reminded him of neither champion, but did harken back to some more vintage runners.

The trainer has made no secret of the fact he was surprised by Saturday's result.

“After watching the race, it was pretty impressive because he didn't get an easy lead,” he said. “He carved out some serious fractions; it wasn't a gimme. Turning for home when the swarm came, I was expecting all those horses to go by him and he just dug in and outran them all to the wire. I just kept thinking of Cavonnier — I didn't want to get too excited.”

Cavonnier was Baffert's great hope for the roses in 1996, and is best remembered for a breathless finish fighting off a late charge from D. Wayne Lukas-trained Grindstone after dealing with a smack to the face from Craig Perret, who accidentally struck the gelding with his whip while urging on Halo Sunshine. Though the official margin indicates Grindstone prevailed by a nose, many on site that day swore it was a dead heat. Cavonnier would go on to be fourth in the Preakness and pull up with a badly-bowed tendon in the Belmont. Two and a half years later, Baffert got him back to the races for a win in the 1998 Ack Ack. Cavonnier would leave the track in 2000 a hometown, homebred hero in Sonoma County, Calif., where he was born. A 2016 feature by the Press Democrat indicated that the family who bred Cavonnier retired him to a life of leisure at a ranch in western Sonoma County.

Medina Spirit was 12-1 when the gates opened, and Baffert said he could see why. It was a tough field and although he had solid finishes in his prep races, Medina Spirit hadn't looked dominant. He's also not a hugely physically imposing horse — he's not short at 16.1 hands, but is a light-framed creature.

“I really can't compare him to a horse like American Pharoah or Justify,” said Baffert. “They were superior horses that came in with the Beyers were off the charts, the numbers were faster. He's getting better though. We've learned a lot about that horse.

“He reminds me of Silver Charm. He's gutty. He's going to fight, give you that extra. He's a courageous horse. When he turned for home, he had every reason…I really thought Mandaloun was going to go on by him and he would not let him by. He did that in the Robert Lewis, where Hot Rod Charlie and all these horses came to him, and he went really, really fast early. I noticed that day when he came back, he wasn't tired, he wasn't blowing hard.

“All these good horses, they have a set of lungs on them. And you can't worry about what they cost. Real Quiet was the same way, he only cost $17,000. Actually Silver Charm was a $15,000 yearling, you know. We never take their cost into consideration.”

Neither do they.

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Versatile Harvey’s Lil Goil Tops Field Of Six In Beaugay

Multiple Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf participants will make their first respective starts of 2021, with Harvey's Lil Goil, Civil Union and Nay Lady Nay comprising a six-horse field in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay at Belmont Park.

The 44th running of the Beaugay, a 1 1/16-mile inner turf test for older fillies and mares, will see Harvey's Lil Goil, the third-place finisher of the Breeders' Cup contest going 1 3/16 miles on the Keeneland turf in November, make her 4-year-old debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Owned by the Estate of Harvey A. Clarke and Paul Braverman, the daughter of 2015 Triple Crown-winning Hall of Famer American Pharoah won a pair of graded stakes in her sophomore campaign, capturing the Grade 3 Regret in June at Churchill Downs going 1 1/8 miles in just her second career turf start.

Next-out, Mott returned her to the main track, where she had run her three previous starts [including a win the Busanda in February 2020 at Aqueduct Racetrack], and she ran third in the Grade 1 Alabama in August at Saratoga Race Course.

The versatile Harvey's Lil Goil was then switched back to grass, where she found a comfort zone in running second in the Dueling Grounds Oaks in September at Kentucky Downs before besting next-out winner Micheline to win the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in October at Keeneland. That preceded her Breeders' Cup effort, where she ran just a neck and a head behind the winner Audarya and runner-up Rushing Fall in a blanket finish, registering a career-best 102 Beyer Speed Figure.

Mott said her success on both surfaces keeps options open, though a strong Beaugay effort could facilitate a start in the Grade 2, $750,000 New York going 1 1/4 miles on the turf on June 4.

“She's been doing fine. We're happy with her,” Mott said. “Interestingly enough, we think she's one that can do both. First things first, if she runs well in the Beaugay we could come back in the New York.”

Junior Alvarado, aboard for the Breeders' Cup effort, will have the return call from the inside post.

Allen Stable's Civil Union is also making her way back to the track after a successful 2020 that saw her win 4-of-6 starts, with all victories coming consecutively. Civil Union posted back-to-back graded scores, with a one-length win in the 1 3/8-mile Grade 2 Glens Falls in September at Saratoga and the 1 1/4-mile Grade 1 Flower Bowl in October at Belmont.

In nine career starts, Civil Union has never posted a Beyer Figure that was less than her previous start, commencing with a 78 for her first-out win in August 2018 and culminating with a personal-best 99 for a competitive fifth-place effort in Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Civil Union, who had been training at Payson Park in Florida, shipped to Belmont and recorded two works. The 6-year-old War Front mare first worked four furlongs on the main track on April 18 and then posted a half-mile breeze in 47.88 seconds on the inner turf course on Sunday.
“She's been doing real good and we're excited to get her out there,” McGaughey said. “I think she likes Belmont. The distance, going a mile and a sixteenth, might not be the perfect spot, but we just need to get her going.”

Joel Rosario will ride from post 5.

Nay Lady Nay will be making her first start at Belmont since running third in the Flower Bowl in October. After running eighth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Irish-bred 5-year-old will look to record a fourth consecutive Beaugay victory for trainer Chad Brown, who won the 2018-20 editions with A Raving Beauty, Homerique and Rushing Fall. Brown has won this race four times in total, starting with Waterway Run in 2014.

Nay Lady Nay won the Grade 3 Matchmaker going 1 1/8 miles in July at Monmouth Park, adding to her first graded stakes score in the 2019 Grade 2 Mrs. Revere.

“She certainly seems like she's training well,” Brown said of her recent works at Belmont including a five-furlong breeze Sunday in 1:02.54 over the inner turf.

Hall of Famer Javier Castellano will be in the irons from post 3.

Peter Brant's Lemista a dual group stakes-winner in her native Ireland will be making her North American debut after winning four of seven races for previous trainer G.M. Lyons. Brown has taken over the conditioning responsibilities for the 4-year-old Raven's Pass filly, who spent the winter training at Payson Park before shipping to New York and working twice at Belmont in preparation for her first start since September.

“She wouldn't mind some cut in the ground,” Brown said. “She shows some turn-of-foot during her training in the morning. We're really just excited to get the season underway.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will ride from post 2.

Bass Stables' Thankful will be trying a surface change after going 3-1-1 in eight main track starts in her career. Trained by newly named Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Thankful started her 4-year-old campaign strong with a win in the Ladies Handicap going 1 1/8 miles over the Aqueduct main track before finishing out of the money in the Heavenly Prize and the Top Flight Invitational.

Luis Saez will have the call in Thankful's turf debut, departing from post 6.

Just In Time Racing's Platinum Paynter, second last out in the one-mile Plenty of Grace over the Aqueduct turf on April 11, will make her first start at Belmont for trainer Juan Vazquez. Luis Rodriguez Castro will ride from post 4.

The Beaugay, listed as Race 6 on the 11-race card, is one of five graded stakes on the Saturday program. The day will be highlighted by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o' War for 4-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the turf; the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles in a prep race for the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes; the Grade 3, $150,000 Runhappy for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy for older fillies and mares competing at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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American Pharoah, Pletcher, Fisher To Be Enshrined in HOF

American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), who became racing's first Triple Crown winner in 37 years in 2015, and trainers Todd Pletcher and Jack Fisher are the 2021 inductees into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame. American Pharoah and Pletcher were elected in the contemporary category and each in their first year of eligibility. Fisher was chosen by the Museum's Steeplechase Review Committee, which convenes once every four years.

Bred and raced by Zayat Stables, American Pharoah was a $300,000 buyback at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale and broke his maiden at second asking in the GI Del Mar Futurity before adding the GI FrontRunner S. Named the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male despite having to miss the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the son of Littleprincessemma (Yankee Gentleman) launched his assault on the Triple Crown with towering victories in the GII Rebel S. and GI Arkansas Derby before taking the GI Kentucky Derby by a length.

The seven-length winner of the GI Preakness S., he led throughout to win the GI Belmont S., becoming the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. He added the GI Haskell Invitational S. and rebounded from a runner-up effort in the GI Travers S. to demolish his rivals by 6 1/2 lengths in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, closing his career with a record of 11-9-1-0 and earnings of $8,650,300. American Pharoah is now a leading sire at Ashford Stud.

“He's certainly among the all-time greats. I don't think there is any question about that,” Baffert said. “He did everything so effortlessly and with such class. The way he moved, his mechanics were absolutely flawless. He also has such a wonderful personality. Pharoah is really a sweet and kind horse and he loves humans. I went and saw him the other day [at Ashford] and he looks as good as he's ever looked, if not better. Winning the Triple Crown with American Pharoah was the greatest sports moment of my life. It was so emotional and such a terrific thing for racing. He deserves all the accolades he gets.”

WATCH: American Pharoah wins the 2015 Belmont S. to secure the elusive Triple Crown

Pletcher Also a No-Brainer First-Ballot HOFer…

A native of Dallas, Texas, 53-year-old Todd Pletcher went out on his own in 1996 following a six-year stint as assistant to trainer D. Wayne Lukas. He won his first race 25 years ago and owns records for career earnings ($405.7 million) and Eclipse Awards (seven) and is the seventh winningest trainer of all time with 5,118 trips to the winner's circle. He has saddled two winners of the Kentucky Derby (Super Saver, 2010; Always Dreaming, 2017) and has won the Belmont S. on three occasions (Rags to Riches, 2007; Palace Malice, 2013; Tapwrit, 2017). Just last Friday, Malathaat (Curlin) became Pletcher's fourth GI Kentucky Oaks winner, joining Ashado (2004), Rags to Riches and Princess of Sylmar (2013).

Pletcher is responsible for 11 champions and has been leading trainer at 60 individual race meetings, including 17 at Gulfstream Park, 16 at Belmont and 14 at Saratoga. According to data from Equibase, Pletcher has saddled the winners of 708 graded events, including 166 Grade I races.

“I'm really humbled to be elected to the Hall of Fame. It's an incredible honor and something that doesn't happen without having great support around you,” Pletcher said. “I've been extremely fortunate to have a great team to work with and my family has been there every step of the way. There have been so many great owners who have trusted me with their horses and those horses have meant everything to me. Along with my family and team, I had amazing opportunities to learn from the likes of Wayne and Jeff Lukas and working winters alongside Kiaran McLaughlin, who taught me a lot about horses and also how to work with owners and communication skills. It really was a stroke of good fortune to come up with people like that around me.

“Training horses is all I ever wanted to do,” he added. “I remember being 11 or 12 and telling my mom I wanted to train and she said it was wonderful. From that point on with her endorsement I never thought of doing anything else.”

Fisher Also Gets the Nod…

Jack Fisher, 57, a native of Unionville, Pennsylvania, won his first race as a licensed trainer in 1988 at Middleburg and has been a perennial leader at the top of the National Steeplechase Association standings for two decades. He won his first trainers' premiership in 2003 and has since led the pack 12 other times. In 2004, he was the leading trainer by earnings for the first of nine times. Through May 4, Fisher has sent out the winners of 593 steeplechase races and ranks second in all-time earnings with more than $17.8 million (behind only Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard).

Fisher is the only trainer in steeplechase history to exceed $1 million in earnings in a single season, a feat he has accomplished five times. Among the horses he conditioned were Eclipse Award winner and Hall of Famer Good Night Shirt, a 10-time NSA graded winner, and additional Eclipse winners Scorpiancer and Moscato.

“I've always loved being around horses. It's been my life,” Fisher said. “I was terrible in school and didn't want to be there. I loved riding and I love training. I learned a lot from my father (trainer John Fisher) and from guys like (Hall of Fame trainers) Mikey Smithwick and Tommy Voss. They were examples to me of the work it takes to be successful and also how they built a good team. You can't do it alone.

The class of 2021 will be enshrined along with the 2020 inductees–trainer Mark Casse, jockey Darrel McHargue, horses Tom Bowling and Wise Dan, and Pillars of the Turf Alice Headley Chandler, J. Keene Daingerfield, Jr., and George D. Widener, Jr.–Friday, Aug. 6, at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion in Saratoga Springs at 10:30 a.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on the Museum website at www.racingmuseum.org. An announcement regarding public attendance at the ceremony will be made at a later date.

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