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Cooke Creek On Target For Rematch With Courvoisier, Smarten Up In Feb. 5 Withers

Cooke Creek on target for G3 Withers; Undefeated Jet Force set for stakes debut

Cheyenne Stable's Cooke Creek breezed a half-mile in 50.58 over the Belmont dirt training track Jan. 19 in preparation for the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on Feb. 5 at Aqueduct in Ozone Park, N.Y. The nine-furlong test for sophomores offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

Cooke Creek is one of three Jeremiah O'Dwyer trainees stabled in New York at the barn of Belmont-based trainer Natalia Lynch along with Jet Force and Sibelius.

A dark bay son of Uncle Mo, Cooke Creek finished third as the mutuel favorite last out in the one-turn mile Jerome, contested over a sloppy and sealed main track on New Year's Day.

“Cooke Creek came back here [to Laurel] after the Jerome and I sent him back up to Belmont last week and he breezed there Wednesday,” O'Dwyer said. “He'll have one more breeze at Belmont – I'd love it to be Saturday, but I'll have to see how the weather is going to be. If all goes well, he'll have a nice five-furlong breeze next week and then run in the Withers.”

Cooke Creek made his first two starts at Delaware Park, winning a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight in September ahead of a driving half-length score around two turns in the one-mile Rocky Run in October.

He entered the Jerome from a runner-up effort to Rockefeller in the one-turn mile Grade 3 Nashua on Nov. 7 at Belmont.

Cooke Creek will enjoy a rematch in the Withers with Jerome-winner Courvoisier and runner-up Smarten Up. Although Cooke Creek garnered two Kentucky Derby points for his third-place Jerome effort and is currently 24th on the leaderboard, O'Dwyer said he's not thinking about the first Saturday in May just yet.

“The Withers is going to be another test. You're always hoping you might have a Derby horse, but they have to progress along to get there,” said O'Dwyer, whose past Derby trail success includes a win in the 2019 Grade 2 Remsen with Shotski. “This is the path we're taking and I think it's a good spot for him, going two turns up there. He seems to be fit and well and I think the two turns will help him.

“But the first three that ran in the Jerome are all going to be thinking the same thing – the further they go, the better they'll be,” O'Dwyer added. “The winner of the Jerome broke his maiden going a mile and an eighth up there and the [connections of the] second horse are adamant their horse wants to go further as well, so we're all thinking along the same line. That's why we run them – to find out.”

Orpen Horses' Jet Force, a sophomore daughter of Jimmy Creed, boasts a perfect record through two starts at Penn National. She breezed a half-mile in 53.06 Jan. 19 over the Belmont dirt training track.

A $17,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the Pennsylvania-bred chestnut graduated sprinting 5 1/2-furlongs on December 8 and followed up nine days later with a 2 3/4-length score in a six-furlong allowance sprint.

O'Dwyer said Jet Force is nominated to Saturday's $100,000 Xtra Heat, a six-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies at Laurel Park but could also consider the $100,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies on Feb. 6 at the Big A.

“She's going to sprint for now. She went an easy half and had a nice gallop out after,” O'Dwyer said. “We'll probably enter in the stakes at Laurel and see how it comes up and we have the Ruthless as a backup.”

Sibelius, a 4-year-old son of Not This Time owned by Jun. H. Park and Delia Nash, has made his last two starts at the Big A, winning a seven-furlong allowance sprint last out on Jan. 8.

“He's ran two nice races up there in New York,” O'Dwyer said. “We'll try and run him through his conditions first of all. There's one for him at the beginning of February going seven-eighths again.”

Bred in Kentucky by Taylor Brothers Properties and Pollock Farms, Sibelius graduated at second asking sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs in April at Keeneland ahead of off-the-board efforts in the off-the-turf Grade 3 Penn Mile in May, the six-furlong Concern in July over the Pimlico main and the seven-furlong Robert Hilton Memorial on August 27 at Charles Town.

O'Dwyer said Sibelius benefited from the more than three-month layoff out of the Charles Town effort.

“He was immature mentally more than anything else and a little bit physically, I guess,” O'Dwyer said. “When he threw in a couple of clunkers, there was nothing wrong with him physically and he was sound, but we just decided to take a step back. We gave him a little turn-out time and let him re-group. Thankfully, it worked. He came back really good and is after running two decent races off the layoff. We hope there's a bit more progression in him.”

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What’s in a Name? Mr. Baffert, Doppelganger, and More

Mr. Baffert, c, 2, Bodemeister–Commandaria, by Smart Strike. Monterrico, 11-14, Maiden, 1000m. B-Sanford Robertson (KY).

The one and only Mr. Bob Baffert has had quite a share of intriguingly named winners in the last few weeks. Incidentally, Baffert is himself the namesake of a brilliant Peruvian (and U.S.-bred) colt by his old alumnus Bodemeister–the 2-year-old being a fast horse who won by almost five lengths at five furlongs on his racetrack debut (from another hemisphere in more ways than one?).

8th-Los Alamitos, $54,312, Msw, 12-11, 2yo, 6f, 1:09.21, ft, 3 1/2 lengths. Doppelganger (c, 2, Into Mischief–Twice the Lady {SW & MGSP, $312,204}, by Quiet American) O-Golconda Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Starlight Racing, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, Robert E. Masterson, & Jay A. Schoenfarber; B-WinStar Farm LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

Anyway, Baffert-trained Los Alamitos winner Doppelganger, being out of dam Twice the Lady and by the horse who has endeared us to mysterious conduct, has a really ingenious name. A doppelganger (in German literally a “double-walker”) is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person.

4th-Santa Anita, $65,660, Msw, 12-31, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:17.81, gd, 1 length. McLaren Vale (c, 2, Gun Runner–Magical Weekend, by Any Given Saturday) The winner is his dam's last American-born foal, as she was exported to Australia. O-Golconda Stable, Madaket Stables LLC, SF Racing LLC, Siena Farm LLC, Starlight Racing, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Waves Edge Capital LLC, Catherine Donovan, Robert E. Masterson, & Jay A. Schoenfarber; B-Austramore Pty.Ltd (KY); T-Bob Baffert

McLaren Vale is another brilliant and young winner handled by the white-haired trainer from Nogales, Az. The name may be connected to the renowned Australian wine region south of Adelaide–a “Bacchic jukebox” of excellence for precious, famous and worldly vintages: Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sangiovese, Tempranillo, Zinfandel, and so on. You name it, they produce it.

LA CANADA S.-GIII, $200,000, Santa Anita, 1-1, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16m, 1:44.31, ft. As Time Goes By (m, 5, American Pharoah–Take Charge Lady {Broodmare of the Year, MGISW, $2,480,377}, by Dehere) O-Michael B. Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, & Derrick Smith; B-Orpendale & Chelston (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat

You must remember this: As Time Goes By is a classy name for a lovely mare, as well as the classiest and most philosophical of love songs. No wonder Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) and Humphrey Bogart (Rick) appeared to be fixated on it in “Casablanca” (1942), probably one of the best movies ever made. The lyrics are pure gold, including the line, “The fundamental things apply”, which rhymes efficiently with the following verse, the very title of the song. This wonderful female recently victorious at Santa Anita reiterates a fundamental thing applied to horse racing: that Bob Baffert has a permanent stable of well-bred prodigies.

9th-Aqueduct, $80,000, Msw, 12-2, 2yo, 1 1/8m, 1:56.14, ft, neck. Courvoisier (c, 2, Tapit–Take Charge Brandi {Ch. 2-year-old Filly, MGISW, $1,692,126}, by Giant's Causeway) O-Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (J. G. Sikura) & James D. Spry; B-Elevage II, LLC & Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (KY); T-Kelly J. Breen.

While I suspect that there is some name wordplay with brilliant colt Courvoisier being out of the great mare Take Charge Brandi, I wonder what is the actual state of affairs between cognac (as Courvoisier definitely is) and brandy–aren't they both distilled fruit? I will stop at “cognac is the best brandy money can buy” and respect the all-out endorsement of Courvoisier by two famous members of the history-shaking Bonaparte family. Let's hope this young colt is also destined for a Napoleonic career.

4th-Santa Anita, $71,500, (S), (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($20,000), 1-2, 4yo/up, f/m, 6fT, 1:09.39, fm, 2 lengths. That's Amare (m, 5, Unusual Heat–Amare, by Flatter) Lifetime Record: 4-2-2-0, $112,580. O-Marsha Naify, Ali & Francie Nilforushan; B-Ali Nilforushan (CA); T-Philip D'Amato.

10th-Santa Anita, $72,000, (S), (NW1$X)/Opt. Clm ($20,000), 1-1, 4yo/up, 6fT, 1:09.49, gd, nose. Riding With Dino (g, 5, Vronsky–Belloma, by Yankee Gentleman) Lifetime Record: 10-3-4-2, $153,908. O-Paradise Farms Corp., Todd Cady, Roger Featherston & Jeffrey Lambert; B-G Krikorian (CA); T-Robert Hess, Jr. *$7,000 Ylg '18 BARJAN.

Finally, an old Italian crooner-in-the-sky may have had a little smile to himself with two winners at Santa Anita in the new year: That's Amare is very similar wording to the song “That's Amore” (1953), made famous by Dean Martin, who was born Dino Paul Crocetti–yes, Dino, as in Riding With Dino . Everybody loves a winner, sometimes.

An Italian native, Andrea Branchini now lives in Lexington, Ky., where he works in the equine transport industry.

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Top Three Finishers In Jerome Expected To Run Back In Feb. 5 Withers

Regally-bred Courvoisier rang in the New Year with authority, passing his first stakes test in Saturday's $150,000 Jerome at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., earning a 73 Beyer Speed Figure with a 1 ¼-length victory in the one-turn mile for sophomores.

Courvoisier, a son of multiple champion-producing stallion Tapit and out of 2014 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Take Charge Brandi, showed similar tactics from his maiden coup at Aqueduct one month prior.

Courvoisier pressured pacesetter Hagler from the outside down the backstretch over the sloppy and sealed main track, remaining in battle with his foe in upper stretch, ultimately coming out on top while fending off a late rally from Smarten Up. In capturing the Jerome, Courvoisier earned 10 qualifying points toward the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Finishing in the money in his first three starts at the maiden level at Monmouth and Delaware Park, Courvoisier graduated at fourth asking going nine furlongs before turning back in distance for the one-turn mile Jerome.

Trainer Kelly Breen said Sunday morning that Courvoisier will most likely return to nine furlongs in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers on February 5 at the Big A, which also offers 10-4-2-1 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers.

“That's the plan,” Breen said. “Right now, he seems to like the track and the Withers is there, so we're staying home with him for now.”

John Sikura of Hill 'n' Dale Farms, who owns Courvoisier in partnership with James D. Spry, expressed delight in seeing the newly turned 3-year-old chestnut win his stakes debut.

“It was very satisfying to see him win,” Sikura said. “It was rather frustrating in his initial starts. We went from having high hopes to moderate expectations, but he ran very determined yesterday. Now the question is will he continue to improve, and we hope that he will.

“We want to be realistic and not get too over the top too early. Every race is a new test,” Sikura added. “The water gets deeper and some 3-year-olds get better with each start. Everyone finds their level. We'll just let the horse do the talking and hope that he does so loudly.”

Sikura praised Breen for managing the horse effectively.

“Kelly has done such a great job with this horse,” Sikura said. “The best trainers are intuitive people that don't feel pressure from an owner or other things. So, I'll let Kelly map out the schedule, but the Withers would be the next logical step.”

Courvoisier hails from the prestigious Take Charge Lady broodmare line, a family which also includes 2013 Champion 3-Year-Old Will Take Charge, as well as Grade 1-winners Take Charge Indy and Omaha Beach. A multiple Grade 1-winning multimillionaire in her own right, Take Charge Lady also produced As Time Goes By, who captured her fourth graded stakes win in the Grade 3 La Canada at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Smarten Up's Bad Start Changed Jerome Tactics
Trainer Alfredo Velazquez said Happy Tenth Stable's Smarten Up, a rallying second behind Courvoisier, will also return to Aqueduct from his Parx Racing base.

With regular pilot Anthony Salgado up, Smarten Up was bumped leaving the gate – hampering an expected prominent trip – and forced to track behind horses near the back of the pack over the sloppy and sealed main track, before rallying six-wide down the lane to complete the exacta, 1 1/4 lengths behind Courvoisier.

“We were supposed to be two-to-three lengths off the pace, but when he got bumped leaving the gate, he got cut on his left front and that backed him up,” Velazquez said. “He had never had mud in the face before and that intimidated him for a little while. The jockey had to get after him a little bit because when the mud hit the face, he didn't want any part of that. But as soon as he took him outside, he started to run. He's a nice horse.”

Smarten Up, who boasts a perfect in-the-money record of 4-1-2-1, made his first three starts at Parx, finishing second on debut sprinting seven furlongs in September. He followed with a pair of two-turn starts, pressing the pace in a one-mile event in October when third in a race won by Eloquist, who exited that effort to run fifth in the Grade 2 Remsen in December at the Big A.

Smarten Up entered the one-turn mile Jerome from a romping nine-length score traveling one mile and 70 yards on November 22.

Velazquez said he is looking forward to stretching Smarten Up back around two turns at the Big A in the Grade 3 Withers.

“The longer he goes the better it is for him. I can't wait to run him two turns. If everything goes good, I'll be there,” Velazquez said.

Velazquez said Salgado is also likely to return for the Withers aboard Smarten Up, who earned 4 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Jerome.

“He rides the horse good. It's better to take the guy that knows the horse,” Velazquez said.

Velazquez conditioned the Canadian-bred Private Zone to Grade 1 wins on the NYRA circuit in 2014, capturing the Vosburgh Invitational at Belmont and the Cigar Mile Handicap at the Big A.

“We were lucky to win the Cigar Mile and Cigar was my favorite horse,” Velazquez said.

The veteran conditioner said he is hopeful of another graded stakes win at the Big A when Smarten Up returns in February.

“He's going to be tough in that race. If everything goes well, they're going to have to run to beat him,” Velazquez said.

By American Freedom and out of the stakes-winning Smarty Jones mare Sarah Cataldo, Smarten Up is a half-sibling to multiple sprint stakes winner Tiger Blood. Smarten Up, who matched a career-best 71 Beyer in the Jerome, was purchased for $50,000 from the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Cooke Creek Looking For Fast Track After Third In Slop In Jerome
Cheyenne Stable's Cooke Creek will hope for a fast track when he makes his next start in the Grade 3 $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct on February 5. Trained by Jeremiah O'Dwyer, the 3-year-old son of Uncle Mo finished third as the post-time favorite in Saturday's Jerome going a one-turn mile over the sloppy and sealed Big A main track.

Cooke Creek wrapped up his juvenile campaign with a runner-up effort to Rockefeller in the Grade 3 Nashua at Belmont Park on November 7, ridden from off the pace by Manny Franco to be beaten 2 ¾ lengths.

In Saturday's Jerome, Franco was forced to keep Cooke Creek closer to the pace than the dark bay colt typically prefers.

“We had to take him out of his comfort zone after watching the earlier races,” O'Dwyer said. “It was very hard for horses to close over that track and the surface became faster and harder throughout the day. We decided that we had to put him closer to the lead to have a chance to win.”

Despite less-than-favorable track conditions and needing to adjust his running style, Cooke Creek was beaten just two lengths in the Jerome.

“He's got a ton of class and he wasn't tired afterwards,” said O'Dwyer. “He's a very honest horse. He did not disappoint us – he ran really well. I just think he'd be better on a fairer track and also going two turns.”

Cooke Creek, who won the Rocky Run around two turns in October at Delaware Park, will again have the chance to run two turns in the nine-furlong Withers, a race O'Dwyer hopes will offer more favorable conditions.

“The extra furlong in the Withers will help him,” O'Dwyer said. “The pace of the race and the dynamic will be different compared to a one turn mile. They go a little steadier and he'll get a chance to settle in. We can just let him break and get a little time to find his rhythm. Hopefully, it's just a regular fast track and we see him in a better light.”

O'Dwyer said Cooke Creek, who picked up 2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points in the Jerome, will make his preparations for the Withers at his home base of Laurel Park.

“He might have one or two breezes at the most,” said O'Dwyer. “He just needs maintenance and a light couple of weeks to freshen up and enjoy himself. He's happy and he knows his job. He's a forward training horse and we have to be careful he doesn't overdo it. He'll do what you want and is a very good horse.”

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A Toast to Tapit’s Jerome Winner

The well-bred Courvoisier (Tapit), a narrow maiden winner at fourth asking at the Big A last time Dec. 2, picked up 10 points for the GI Kentucky Derby while securing his second straight win in Saturday's sloppy $150,000 Jerome S.

His third and second-place finishes in his first two starts respectively set the colt up for a move forward with the addition of blinkers Oct. 27 at Delaware Park, where he was caught late going a mile and lost by a nose. Stretching out to 1 1/8 miles for his final start as a 2-year-old at Aqueduct and coming off Lasix for the first time, he came through with yet another hard-fought effort, breaking his maiden by neck.

Cutting back to a mile here, he brushed Smarten Up after the start, and was promptly passed by Cooke Creek and an intent Hagler (Tapiture) went out to lead. Out pacing the former, the 4-1 shot glued himself to the frontrunner and the pair pushed each other through a :45.78 half. Coming to the top of the stretch, Jose Ortiz had already been riding the $600,000 Keeneland November graduate through most of the far turn and the colt continued to respond as the pair powered through the foggy final yards to deliver a career high.

“Right now, it looks like [Courvoisier] has a nice affinity for Aqueduct and in four more weeks is the [GIII] Withers [S. Feb. 5] going two turns,” said trainer Kelly Breen when asked about the nine-furlong Kentucky Derby point race. “We're excited for it because it's where we were pointing him. We didn't know if we were even going to run in the Jerome because we believe he is a two-turn horse.”

Courvoisier is his champion dam's first winner and black-type horse. On the track, said dam took the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies and GI Starlet before retiring for a hotly anticipated second career as a broodmare. Take Charge Brandi brought $6 million from Hill 'n' Dale at 2015 KEENOV, was a $3.2 million buyback in 2019 at the same sale, and went through the star-studded Fasig-Tipton November ring last year for $1.15 million to Three Chimneys. Take Charge Brandi's unraced Take Charge Curlin (Curlin) went for $850,000 at 2018 Keeneland September, while Best Time (Tapit) missed his reserve after the last bid came up $775,000 in 2019 at the sale. She has a 2-year-old filly by Justify named Justly, a yearling filly by Quality Road ($450,000 FTKNOV graduate), and was bred to Uncle Mo for 2022.

JEROME S., $150,000, Aqueduct, 1-1, 3yo, 1m, 1:38.86, sy.
1–COURVOISIER, 118, c, 3, by Tapit
1st Dam: Take Charge Brandi (Ch. 2-year-old Filly,
MGISW, $1,692,126), by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Charming, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Take Charge Lady, by Dehere
($600,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $275,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP).
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O-Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. (J.
Sikura) & James D. Spry; B-Elevage II, LLC & Hill 'n' Dale
Equine Holdings, Inc. (KY); T-Kelly J. Breen; J-Jose L. Ortiz.
$82,500. Lifetime Record: 5-2-2-1, $147,450.
2–Smarten Up, 118, c, 3, American Freedom–Sarah Cataldo, by
Smarty Jones. ($20,000 Ylg '20 OBSWIN; $50,000 2yo '21
OBSAPR). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Happy Tenth Stable; B-A. Francis
& Barbara Vanlangendonck (FL); T-Alfredo Velazquez. $30,000.
3–Cooke Creek, 123, c, 3, Uncle Mo–Genre, by Bernardini.
O-Cheyenne Stable LLC; B-Candy Meadows LLC (KY);
T-Jeremiah O'Dwyer. $18,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, 3/4, 3/4. Odds: 4.00, 21.30, 1.45.
Also Ran: Unbridled Bomber, Hagler, Mr Jefferson, Ohtwoohthreefive, Rumble Strip Ron. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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