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Get Smokin Turns Tables On Decorated Invader In Hill Prince Upset

Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin made every call a winning one to turn the tables on familiar foe Decorated Invader in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Hill Prince, a one-mile Widener turf test for sophomores at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Trained by Tom Bush and expertly piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, Get Smokin ensured his fourth attempt versus Decorated Invader was successful after finishing third in the Cutler Bay in March at Gulfstream Park and second in the G2 Hall of Fame in July at Saratoga in races won by his Christophe Clement-trained rival. Both Get Smokin [8th] and Decorated Invader [5th] entered the Hill Prince from off-the-board efforts in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 15.

The free-wheeling Get Smokin once again broke sharply Sunday and led the field of seven through splits of 24.25 seconds and 49.52 over the yielding turf, with Assiduously tracking in second. Decorated Invader, the prohibitive 2-5 mutuel favorite, raced from sixth position under Joel Rosario as Get Smokin continued to dictate a moderate tempo into the turn.

Bodecream advanced along the rail late in the turn with Starting Over following suit to his outside as Decorated Invader was roused into action racing inside of Buy Land and See. Get Smokin maintained a two-length advantage at the stretch call, as Decorated Invader surged beyond Starting Over and angled outside of Assiduously and the stubborn Bodecream to take dead aim at the leader.

Decorated Invader continued to find more inside the final sixteenth under urging from Rosario, but there was no reeling in Get Smokin who held on for a head score in a final time of 1:36.95.

It was a further two lengths back to Bodecream in third with Buy Land and See, Starting Over, Glynn County and Assiduously rounding out the order of finish. Chocolate Bar and main-track only entrant Money Moves were scratched.

Castellano, who guided Get Smokin to a second-out maiden score in September 2019 on the Belmont turf, secured his third win in the Hill Prince following scores with Rey de Café [2005] and Outperformance [2006].

“The way I handicapped the race, I felt the horse would fit the mile perfectly,” said Castellano. “The last race was a little longer. The last time the horse won, I was on him when he broke his maiden last year.”

Get Smokin is by the Bush-trained multiple Grade 1-winner Get Stormy, who Castellano piloted to six wins in prominent fashion.

“When I got to the paddock, the first thing he [Bush] told me was, 'ride him like Get Stormy,' and that's what I did,” said Castellano. “I rode his father at Keeneland and New York, too. Today, he was so patient. I was walking the dog, basically. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”

Get Smokin narrowly missed making the grade in his seasonal debut when second, defeated a half-length to Island Commish in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy on January 4 at Gulfstream Park.

The front-running chestnut continued that run of form at the Hallandale Beach oval with a second in the Dania Beach in February ahead of the Cutler Bay effort.

Following a freshening, Get Smokin returned to action in June at Belmont to be fifth in an allowance tilt ahead of a memorable Grade 2 Hall of Fame run in which he opened up a 7 ½-length lead at the half-mile, only to be collared late by Decorated Invader. He arrived at the Hill Prince from a pacesetting eighth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 15, where he leapt at the start.

“He's been in some tough spots in running against the best horses on the East Coast, so we pointed for this race since Saratoga and we're really delighted,” said Bush. “We weren't sure about the soft ground, but he handled it.

“I've thrown this horse to the wolves,” continued Bush. “He's one of these rare horses that you'll see horses that run very out of their condition and they don't get discouraged and keep being a top runner and that's the type of horse he is. You're not breaking his spirit.”

Rosario said Decorated Invader, who won the Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine as a juvenile, was hampered by traffic trouble when trying to find a clear path for the stretch run.

“With the soft ground, it's hard to close. He ran well. He put in his effort,” said Rosario. “Turning for home, I had to start moving. Then, the horse in front of me came out a little bit, so that got him out of balance. He ran a good race. He looked like he was going comfortable. He was trying hard, but it's just too bad we couldn't get them.”

Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm, Get Smokin banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 10-2-3-2. He paid $17.40 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes Thursday with a nine-race card at Belmont with a first post of 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

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Decorated Invader Turns Back for Hill Prince

West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook, William Freeman and Cheryl Manning’s Decorated Invader (Declaration of War), a close fifth as the 4-5 favorite in the 1 3/16-mile Saratoga Derby last time Aug. 15, resurfaces in Sunday’s GII Hill Prince S. at Belmont Park.

Last term’s GI Summer S. winner and unlucky GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf fourth-place finisher kicked off his sophomore campaign with three straight ultra-impressive victories, including Belmont’s GII Pennine Ridge S. at this same one-mile distance June 20 and Saratoga’s GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. July 18.

“He didn’t run great going a mile and three sixteenths, but he only got beat three quarters of a length,” West Point’s Terry Finley said. “He’s getting a bit of a breather here. He’s been at it once a month pretty much since the end of March when he made his 3-year-old debut and [trainer] Christophe [Clement] and his staff have done a great job with the horse.”

Decorated Invader is the even-money morning-line favorite for the Hill Prince.

The speedy Get Smokin (Get Stormy) figures to be on the engine once again from his rail draw. He was a good second after opening a lengthy early lead in the Hall of Fame, and most recently tired to eighth after setting the pace in the Saratoga Derby.

Buy Land and See (Cairo Prince), last fall’s Awad S. winner over this same course and distance, enters off a third-place finish going 5 1/2 furlongs in Saratoga’s Mahony S. Aug. 26.

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Decorated Invader Cuts Back In Distance For Sunday’s Hill Prince Stakes

West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook, William Freeman and Cheryl Manning's Decorated Invader will see a cutback in distance when competing against fellow sophomores in Sunday's 46th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Hill Prince going one mile over the Widener turf at Belmont Park.

Trained by Christophe Clement, who saddled Have At It [2018], Summer Front [2012] and subsequent multiple-champion Gio Ponti [2008] to Hill Prince triumphs, Decorated Invader arrives off a close fifth-place finish in the Saratoga Derby on August 15. The son of Declaration of War tracked in second position and made a three-wide bid at the top of the stretch before engaging in a stretch battle while in-between horses, but was overtaken inside the sixteenth pole to finish three-quarters of a length back to winner Domestic Spending.

The Saratoga Derby was the first loss of the year for Decorated Invader, who captured the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park in his 2020 bow before winning the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 20 at Belmont Park and the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on July 18 at Saratoga.

Decorated Invader will be cutting back to one mile for the Hill Prince.

“He didn't run great going a mile and three sixteenths, but he only got beat three-quarters of a length,” said Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds. “We aren't necessarily thinking about going past 1 1/8 miles because it's not in front of us at the moment. With Christophe, Gio Ponti is a good comparable. He was an incredibly talented horse and Christophe and the owner [Castleton Lyons] did a great job in managing him. The good thing with these types of horses is that you have good comparables. You can see the good moves and the ones that didn't work.”

During his 2-year-old campaign, Decorated Invader scored a breakthrough win in the Grade 1 Summer last September over a yielding turf at Woodbine, which came after a second-out maiden victory over the Mellon turf at Saratoga over next-out winner and eventual graded stakes-placed Summer to Remember.

“He's getting a bit of a breather here,” Finley said. “He's been at it once a month pretty much since the end of March when he made his 3-year-old debut and Christophe and his staff have done a great job with the horse.”

Finley praised sire Declaration of War for producing quality runners. In addition to Decorated Invader, the fourth crop sire by War Front has produced Grade 1 winner Gufo, also conditioned by Clement, as well as stakes winners Peace Achieved, Silver Prospector and Shesonthewarpath.

“Declaration of War's progeny have been winning everywhere,” Finley said. “They show brilliance, but it seems like they're durable on top of that. You're in a good spot when you have those two things.”

With three graded stakes victories and a record of 8-5-1-0, Decorated Invader boasts the highest amount of lifetime earnings in the field with $473,035.

Jockey Joel Rosario will target his fourth stakes victory of the meet aboard Decorated Invader, who drew post 3.

Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust's Get Smokin commanded the pace in the Saratoga Derby and seeks his first stakes victory for trainer Tom Bush.

Sure to show speed, the front-running son of Get Stormy broke his maiden last September going one mile over the Widener turf and has since been stakes-placed four times. Two starts after his maiden win, he made his sophomore debut in the Grade 3 Kitten's Joy on Jan. 4 at Gulfstream Park, where he attempted to wire the field at 11-1 odds but ended up finishing a half-length back to Island Commish.

Following another pair of stakes placings at Gulfstream Park in the Dania Beach on Feb. 1 and the March 28 Cutler Bay, Get Smokin was second in the Hall of Fame to Decorated Invader, where he established a 7 ¼-length lead before ultimately being overtaken by the winner at the top of the stretch.

Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano will ride from post 1.

After sending Buy Land and See to Belmont Park to a victory last October in the Awad, trainer Steve Klesaris will seek another stakes triumph on the NYRA circuit with the Pennsylvania-bred son of Cairo Prince.

Owned and bred by Joseph Imbessi, the lightly-raced Buy Land and See did not race again after the Awad until July 28, where he bested his Pennsylvania-bred counterparts going 7 ½ furlongs over the Parx turf by 5 ¼ lengths and registered an 84 Beyer Speed Figure for the win. In his most recent start, he cut back to 5 ½ furlongs for the Mahony at Saratoga, where he closed late to get third, beaten 4 ¾ lengths to frontrunning winner Jack and Noah.

Jockey Jose Lezcano will be in the irons from post 7.

Rounding out the field are Glynn County [post 2, Jose Ortiz], Bodecream [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], Starting Over [post 5, Dylan Davis], Chocolate Bar [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], and Assiduously [post 9, Luis Saez]. Money Moves [post 8, Luis Saez] entered for main track only.

The Hill Prince honors Christopher T. Chenery's 1950 Horse of the Year, who scored victories in that year's Preakness Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup and Wood Memorial. Trained by Casey Hayes, Hill Prince was named Champion 2-Year-Old the year prior, when he won the Cowdin at Aqueduct. Upon retirement, Hill Prince stood at Claiborne Farm. He was inducted into Racing's Hall of Fame in 1991.

The Hill Prince is slated as Race 9 on Sunday's 10-race program, which offers a first post of 12:20 p.m. Eastern. America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the 27-day fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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Clement’s ‘Declaration Of War’ On Belmont Derby Led By Decorated Invader, Gufo

Trainer Christophe Clement breezed a number of turf workers on Sunday morning at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., including the graded stakes-winning pair of Decorated Invader and Gufo, both of whom are targeting the Grade 1, $250,000 Belmont Derby Invitational at 10 furlongs for sophomores on October 3 over the inner turf.

The two 3-year-old sons of Declaration of War worked in company, covering a half-mile in an easy 51.01 seconds over the inner turf.

“They both had a very good work together,” Clement said. “They started slow but finished up great. They will be nominated to the Belmont Derby and we'll go from there. A back up race could be a race like the [Grade 2, $150,000] Hill Prince [on October 12], but at the moment both are being trained to the Belmont Derby.”

Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, Decorated Invader finished a close fifth in the Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 15 as the beaten favorite, where Otter Bend Stables' Gufo finished a closing second, a head back to Domestic Spending.

A three-time graded stakes winner, Decorated Invader won last year's Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine before recording a productive sophomore campaign, with victories in the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park, the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge on June 20 at Belmont and the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame on July 18 at Saratoga.

Never off the board in six lifetime starts, Gufo captured his stakes debut from well off the pace in the English Channel on May 2 at Gulfstream Park before capturing the Grade 3 Kent on July 4 at Delaware Park over next-out stakes winners Pixelate and Vanzzy.

Clement said City Man, who worked a half-mile in 50.66 seconds over the inner turf Sunday, could also target the Belmont Derby. Owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, and Peter and Patty Searles, the son of Mucho Macho Man was a recent second in the Albany at Saratoga.

Bred in New York by Moonstar Farm, City Man is 2-2-1 in nine career starts.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stable and Bethlehem Stable's Plum Ali logged her first work since winning the Mint Juvenile Fillies on September 7 at Kentucky Downs with a half-mile effort in 50.66 over the inner turf and will target the Grade 2, $150,000 Miss Grillo on October 4.

“It was her first work since winning at Kentucky Downs. That was a half-million dollar race so it was a good race to win,” Clement said. “The plan is to run her in the Miss Grillo. I wanted to run in Saratoga, but the P.G. Johnson came off the turf.”

A 2-year-old daughter of First Samurai, Plum Ali won her career debut going 1 1/16 miles over the Mellon turf at Saratoga on July 23.

Clement also spoke of Space Launch, a first-out winner on Friday afternoon's program who broke his maiden by 1 1/2 lengths going one mile over the Widener turf and registered a 71 Beyer Speed Figure for the debut win.

“Space Launch is a nice horse,” Clement said. “He's trained well and we have always liked him. He always trained better on the turf than on dirt. He's a well-bred horse. So far, he came back in good shape.”

Owned by Athlone Racing, Daniel Burke and Jane Burke, the son of Bernardini is out of multiple black type-producing Awesome Again mare Spacy Tracy, who also produced main track graded stakes winners Benner Island and Victim of Love.

“That [the main track graded-stakes winning progeny] was the reason I kept asking myself if I was doing the right thing by running him on turf,” Clement said. “But his turf works were just so much better than his dirt works.”

Clement said that Space Launch could return to action in the $80,000 Awad on October 31 at Belmont Park.

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