DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — In the spring of 2018, Bucchero (Kantharos) took the Ironhorse Racing Stable on the ride of a lifetime. Having burst onto the scene with an upset victory in Keeneland's GII Woodford S. the previous fall, the popular Indiana-bred finished fourth, beaten just one length, in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Behind him that afternoon were the likes of Lady Aurelia (Scat Daddy) and Marsha (Ire), both world-class turf sprinters, and it got IHR managing partner Harlan Malter's wheel's spinning. If Bucchero could mix it with those at home, why not try them on their home turf?
Malter and his IHR partners eagerly accepted an invitation to Royal Ascot for the 2018 G1 King's Stand S. over a straight and undulating five-furlong trip. Bucchero acquitted himself exceptionally well against some of the best European short-trackers in recent memory like Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal), Battaash (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Mabs Cross (GB) (Dutch Art {GB}), just missing fourth while beaten under five lengths.
The flames had been fanned and this weekend at Meydan Racecourse, a half a world away, Get Smokin (Get Stormy) faces a diverse bunch in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the G1 Dubai World Cup undercard.
“I think once you're exposed to international racing and the enthusiasm and passion that the rest of the world has toward all of the racing, it makes you want to put your horse on that stage,” Malter said last week from his home in Southern California. “You have to have the right horse. And when we went with Bucchero, we were 50-1, but the horse ran as competitively on the world stage as you possibly could have hoped. And we feel the same way about Get Smokin.”
Malter and partners BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners acquired Get Smokin in a private transaction late last year.
“We've been working with [bloodstock agent] Phil Hager for about three years now, and he came to us with the horse,” Malter said when asked how they came to own the 5-year-old. “He had picked the horse out as a yearling [$11,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky in 2018] and had stayed quite involved with his progress both through his friendship with [trainer] Tom Bush and with the [previous owners the] Sullivans.
He continued, “They were starting to disperse a little bit of some of their holdings, and they had kind of leaned on Phil to hopefully find a really good spot for the horse to end up in. And so he came to us with the possibility of purchasing the horse. We were able to put together a really, really good team of Ironhorse partners plus some outside partners who were super game and have been really great to own the horse with. There's some very obvious similarities to another horse that we campaigned internationally, a chestnut with four white socks, but the thing that really, really caught our eye about the horse is, you just don't see a horse that's more game than this horse. If you look at his past performances, it's littered with the top turf horses in the country the last two years.”
Get Smokin posted a front-running defeat of the classy Decorated Invader (Declaration of War) in the 2020 GIII Hill Prince S. going Belmont's one-turn mile and made the majority of the running in that year's GI Hollywood Derby over a stamina-stretching nine panels, only to be swarmed late to finish a close fourth to divisional leaders Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}), Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) and Gufo (Declaration of War). A four-race campaign in 2021 included a 3/4-length success in the GIII Tampa Bay S. from just off the pace and he also annexed a graded-stakes quality renewal of the Seek Again S. in May. He was sidelined off a fifth in the GIII Poker S. and resumed with a very useful runner-up effort in defense of his title in the Tampa Bay S. Feb. 5, going a good gallop before just running out of fitness late in his first run for his new owners.
“I think any time you give a horse some time off, you don't know exactly how tight they'll be when they come back. So we were thrilled,” Malter said. “[Trainer] Mark [Casse] said he was extremely happy with the way he was training. So we were excited about the way of coming into it. And he put in exactly the effort we had hoped off a break like that.”
Malter is well aware that the task ahead in the Al Quoz will not be an easy one, as Get Smokin is set to face a distance and configuration he is generally unaccustomed to. The competition in the race, contested over a straight six furlongs, figures extremely strong, including last-out G3 Nad Al Sheba Turf Sprint romper Man of Promise (Into Mischief), European Group 1 winners Emaraaty Ana (GB) (Shamardal) and A Case of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) and GI Jaipur S. hero and recent G3 1351 Turf Sprint runner-up Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) among what is expected to be a full field. Flavien Prat has accepted the mount in the race won last year by fellow Yankee Extravagant Kid (Kiss the Kid).
“In talking to people who have experience with Dubai and some of the past success, and some of the Americans going over, the cutback milers have fared quite well,” Malter said. “The near miss by Long on Value (Value Plus) comes to mind. It is one of those situations where you don't know that he can't do it, and you don't know that he can do it. And we tend to lean to the side that we don't know that he can't do it. So he's the type of horse that gives you a ton out of the gate going through turns, and immediately pretty much rates himself. And he gives you a kick toward the end.
He added, “It's really going to be a lot up to how he decides to handle early, faster fractions, because he's never really been exposed to them. And what we obviously hope is that we've put one of the best riders in America on him, who's run this type of race before. And we'll leave it to him and the horse to see how they're feeling when the gates open. But we do feel like, with the speed he has, he should be able to position himself quite handy. And you hope that a horse that is normally used to going a much longer distance should have plenty left for the last two furlongs.”
Win, lose or draw Saturday, the allure of traveling horses has led Malter, Ironhorse and his partners to the sprawling Meydan Racecourse. And he is relishing the opportunity.
“When you get a chance to have the world bring their horses to a single race and put your head in there and let your horse be seen on that stage, it really does become about the horse,” he offered. “And giving the horse the chance. This is a unique opportunity to give your horse a chance to show what he's got against the top horses in the world and really make a mark. And we would definitely not go unless we thought this horse was going to be very competitive.”
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