As the saying goes, 'you miss 100% of the shots you don't take,' and it was with that mindset that Get Smokin (Get Stormy)–a Grade II and Grade III winner, but unproven over the 12-furlong trip of the GII FanDuel Kentucky Cup Turf–was even entered in the first place. But given a perfect ride from the front by Fernando de la Cruz on a day the rail was where you wanted to be at Kentucky Downs, the chestnut, off at 19-1, forgot to stop and proved 1 3/4 lengths superior over Spooky Channel (English Channel) when all was said and done. Santin (Medaglia d'Oro) raced prominently throughout and settled for third.

“I have often told [Ironhorse Racing Managing Partner] Harlan [Malter] that he is the craziest owner I train for. But this was not a crazy idea,” winning trainer Mark Casse said in the immediate aftermath of the upset.

The hard-fought winner of a Gulfstream allowance first off a September layoff back in April, Get Smokin was sixth in a graded-stakes quality renewal of the Opening Verse S. at Churchill May 4, then was run down late and finished runner-up in the GIII Arlington S. June 3 and in the July 1 Wise Dan S. at Ellis. Tried over 10 furlongs for the first time in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup Aug. 6, Get Smokin made the running, but was reeled in late and settled for fourth.

Though he had a bit of early company in the form of Santin in the final event of Saturday's stakes-laden program, Get Smokin took the field into the first turn and opened up four or five lengths on his rivals as they hit the backstretch. Despite the loose lead, Get Smokin switched off beautifully on the engine, getting the half in :49.61 and the opening six panels in a comfortable 1:14.18.

Even though the next couple of furlongs were covered in a testing :23.81, Get Smokin was still full of run down the side of the track, daring some proven stayers to come and get him. But catch him they could not, as he switched his leads at the quarter pole, flopped back and forth in the final furlong, but remained clear to the wire.

Malter was full of praise for de la Cruz, who won back-to-back runnings of the GII Woodford S. aboard Ironhorse's Bucchero (Kantharos) before also partnering with the horse in consecutive renewals of the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.

“We looked at this race,” Malter said. “We wanted to test out at Ellis [in the 1 1/4-mile prep]. Even though we ran fourth, we were happy. He ran a similar figure to what he was running at a mile and a sixteenth. We were all systems go. We kind of came up with the idea to have Fernando. We made a very specific plan, and it's amazing how well Fernando executed it.”

Pedigree Notes:

By Get Stormy, winner of the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at nine furlongs on the turf, Get Smokin is out of a mare by noted sprint sire Smoke Glacken. There is a bit of stamina as you go down the page, as second dam Doc's Leading Lady–the dam of MSW Spanish Pipedream (Scat Daddy)–was a full-sister to Phi Beta Doc, who set a Saratoga course record when winning the 1999 GIII Saranac S. over a mile and three-sixteenths before annexing that year's 10-furlong Virginia Derby, also in course-record time. Third dam Smart Queen was a half-sister to 1977 GII Arkansas Derby hero Clev Er Tell (Tell).

Hookah Lady is the dam of a 2-year-old colt by Vino Rosso who was a $32,000 RNA as a KEENOV weanling, then sold for $35,000 at KEESEP last fall before blossoming into a $550,000 OBS March breezer. Smoldering Ash, a yearling full-sister to Get Smokin, went for $102,000 at this year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Sale to NBS Stable's John Ballantyne, coincidentally the owner of Turf Cup runner-up Spooky Channel. The mare produced a Classic Empire colt this year and was bred back to Practical Joke.

Saturday, Kentucky Downs
FANDUEL KENTUCKY TURF CUP S.-GII, $1,675,429, Kentucky Downs, 9-9, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:28.66, fm.
1–GET SMOKIN, 122, g, 6, by Get Stormy
                1st Dam: Hookah Lady, by Smoke Glacken
                2nd Dam: Doc's Leading Lady, by Doc's Leader
                3rd Dam: Smart Queen, by King Pellinore

($11,000 Ylg '18 FTKOCT). O-Ironhorse Racing Stable LLC, BlackRidge Stables LLC, T-N-T Equine Holdings, LLC and Saratoga Seven Racing Partners, LLC; B-Hurstland Farm, Inc. & James Greene Jr. (KY); T-Mark E. Casse; J-Fernando De La Cruz. $972,220. Lifetime Record: 27-6-7-2, $1,650,497. Werk Nick Rating: B+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Spooky Channel, 124, g, 8, English Channel–Spooky Kitten, by Kitten's Joy. ($10,000 Ylg '16 FTKOCT). O-NBS Stable; B-Calumet Farm (KY); T-Jason Barkley. $316,200.
3–Santin, 122, h, 5, Distorted Humor–Sentiero Italia, by Medaglia d'Oro. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $158,100.
Margins: 1 3/4, HD, NO. Odds: 19.57, 17.54, 4.29.
Also Ran: Red Knight, Verstappen, Kitodan, Me and Mr. C, Therapist, Never Explain, Foreign Relations, Another Mystery, Nautilus (Brz). Scratched: Cellist, Highest Honors, Red Run, Sy Dog.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

GET SMOKIN ($41.14) smoked 'em in the $1.7 million @FanDuel Kentucky Turf Cup (G2) @LanesEndFarms #WinAndYoureIn @BreedersCup Challenge Series Race at @KYDownsRacing. Trained by @markecasse and ridden by Fernando De La Cruz. Congrats to owners Ironhorse Racing Stable! pic.twitter.com/oF6GOybm2E

— TVG (@TVG) September 9, 2023

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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.”

Grade 2-winning $1.5m Al Quoz Sprint (G1) hopeful GET SMOKIN stretched his legs for the first time @RacingDubai on Friday morning as he prepares for #DubaiWorldCup day. @markecasse @casseracingdc @racingwithihr

Full video: https://t.co/GMp0Y0ptXC pic.twitter.com/eMVnk0J2rV

— Michael Adolphson (@AdolphsonRacing) March 18, 2022

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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The Endeavour is the sixth race on a 10-race card on Tampa Bay Downs's “Turf Champions Day.” The Tampa Bay Stakes is the eighth race. There are 13 horses entered in the Tampa Bay Stakes and only 12 are permitted to run, so the connections of Carpenters Call would need a late scratch to compete.

The 5-year-old gelding Get Smokin will be making his first start since June. Now trained by Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse, Get Smokin, who will be ridden by Antonio Gallardo, won the G2 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont as a 3-year-old. Get Smokin will break from the No. 7 post.

South Florida-based trainer Chad Brown will be sending two horses for the Tampa Bay Stakes in 5-year-old gelding L'Imperator and 8-year-old gelding Devamani. Samy Camacho is named to ride L'Imperator, while Pablo Morales will be aboard Devamani.

Tampa Bay Downs trainer Arnaud Delacour also has two entrants: 6-year-old horse Eons, who was second to Get Smokin last year, and 6-year-old gelding Talk Or Listen, last year's fourth-place finisher.

Brown, who is bidding for his first Tampa Bay Stakes trophy, has two entrants in search of his fourth Endeavour victory. Both of his 4-year-old fillies, Bleecker Street and In Italian, are owned by Peter M. Brant, with Bleecker Street a perfect 3-for-3 and In Italian 2-for-3 with a second. Hector Rafael Diaz, Jr., rides Bleecker Street and Camacho is on In Italian.

They could have their hands full with 4-year-old Lady Speightspeare, who is 4-for-5 for trainer Roger Attfield, including the G1 Natalma at Woodbine as a 2-year-old. Her regular rider, Emma-Jayne Wilson, again has the assignment.

Trainer H. Graham Motion will bid for his third Endeavour victory with 4-year-old Oyster Box, who will be ridden by Gallardo. She was third in last year's Florida Oaks at the Oldsmar oval.

“Turf Champions Day” kicks off the track's seven-event graded-stakes schedule, which continues on Feb. 12 with the 42nd running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” points race for 3-year-old Triple Crown hopefuls.

The Sam F. Davis is the centerpiece of a four-stakes Festival Preview Day card that includes the mile-and-40-yard, $150,000 Suncoast Stakes, a “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” points race for 3-year-old fillies; the 6-furlong, $100,000 Pelican Stakes for horses 4-years-old-and-upward; and the $50,000, 6-furlong Minaret Stakes for fillies and mares 4-years-old-and-upward.

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In her fourth start of 2021, Oleksandra, who is currently in foal to Into Mischief, broke a step slow from the gate, bumping into favorite Raging Bull, and was last for the first six furlongs of the one-mile Poker. Jockey Joel Rosario did not panic, though, content to let his mount run at the back of the pack and allow the race to develop in front of them. Get Smokin, winner of the Seek Again Stakes in his previous start, took the lead within the first furlong, with Raased and Tell Your Daddy running close behind, and he held onto that advantage until the final turn.

Favorite Raging Bull found himself boxed in for much of the race, but, as the field entered the stretch, he made his move on the rail, just to the inside of Get Smokin. At the back of the field on that last turn, Rosario took Oleksandra to the outside, moving down the center of the course as Raging Bull began to overtake Get Smokin. Raging Bull got to the lead in that last furlong, but Oleksandra moved past him, taking over first place and determinedly holding off Raging Bull to win the G3 Poker by a head. The final time for the mile was 1:32.11.

Behind Oleksandra and Raging Bull came Front Run the Fed, Sanctuary City, Get Smokin, Penalty, Tell Your Daddy, Raased, and Veronesi.

Oleksandra paid $36.80, $7.30, and $5.40. Raging Bull paid $2.60 and $2.10. Front Run the Fed paid $3.00 to show.

Trainer Neil Drysdale was pleased with Oleksandra's career finale. “Things haven't gone exactly smooth this year for her. We ran in Kentucky and realized she doesn't like the soft going. So, then we decided not to run here [in the Jaipur] because it was raining a lot here too at the time. Since she's more relaxed this year, we decided to try her at a mile hoping she could get the distance, and she did. She's pregnant [in foal to Into Mischief], so this was her swan song. She'll go out on a high note.”

Joel Rosario was not deterred by that slow start. “She always comes out of there like that [slow] but then she can be a little aggressive after. She relaxed very nicely. Neil Drysdale is a tremendous trainer.”

Foaled in Australia, Oleksandra is a daughter of 2011 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom out of the Caesour mare Alexandra Rose. Bred by her owner Team Valor, this 6-year-old mare was a $1.45 million RNA at the November 2020 Keeneland Breeding Stock sale. This victory in the G3 Poker Stakes is her first win of 2021 and her eighth career victory in 20 starts for career winnings of $705,748.

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Brown's third chance at a first-ever Poker title is Klaravich Stables's lightly raced Front Run the Fed (Fed Biz), who was most recently a neck second to subsequent GI Jaipur S. upsetter Casa Creed (Jimmy Creed) in the seven-furlong Elusive Quality S. here Apr. 24. Narrow third finisher Value Proposition (GB) (Dansili {GB}), also trained by Brown, returned to take an optional claimer with a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

Overachiever Get Smokin (Got Stormy) was eighth when part of that hot pace in the Maker's Mark, but he's won three of his last five, including the GII Hill Prince S. in October and GIII Tampa Bay S. in February. He was last seen running off with the Seek Again S. here May 22, two spots ahead of savvy $40,000 claim Tell Your Daddy (Scat Daddy).

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Get Smokin, who won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay going 1 1/16 miles on the Tampa Bay Downs turf on February 6, ran eighth after a nearly two-month respite in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile on April 9 at Keeneland. Bush said Get Smokin can better demonstrate his ability when wheeling back in just five or six weeks, and the schedule adjustment resulted in his second win in three starts of his 4-year-old campaign.

Get Smokin broke sharp under jockey Junior Alvarado, leading the field through the opening quarter-mile in 24.25 seconds and the half in a moderate 48.61 over the firm turf as the Chad Brown-trained Flavius pressured the pacesetter from the second position.

Out of the turn, Alvarado kept his charge alert, maintaining the edge as Flavius made a stretch-drive bid from the outside. But Get Smokin did not wilt under pressure, finishing strong to the wire in a final time of 1:33.96.

“He's very quick,” Alvarado said. “If anyone else wants the lead, they have to work very hard. He broke sharp today again, which makes my job easy. I just had to nurse him along. Turning for home, I knew I had plenty of horse left and he gave me that nice kick that he has.

“You can never get too excited until you cross the wire first, but I was very happy with the pace I was going with him,” he added. “He was traveling comfortable enough that I knew he'd have a kick at the end.”

Bush, who also trained Get Stormy to nine stakes wins from 2009-'12, said the pace scenario set up well for Get Smokin.

“He's dangerous on the front end, that's for sure,” Bush said. “When they're loping along like that and they aren't using themselves too much, you're always happy to see that. I knew they'd be laying a little closer, too, since we were the only speed, but they couldn't get by him. It was a terrific effort.”

Owned by Mary Abeel Sullivan Revocable Trust, Get Smokin won for the third time in four career Belmont starts, going 2-for-2 in stakes at the Elmont-based track after winning the Grade 2 Hill Prince in October. Bred in Kentucky by Hurstland Farm and James Greene, Jr., Get Smokin improved to 4-3-2 in 14 career starts and increased his career earnings to $376,040.

“Junior was saying after the race that he would love for this horse to have a target and just lay second or third, but he's so good leaving the gate that you can't take the gate away from him,” Bush said. “This is what we were looking for today. That's the class of the horse. He didn't get discouraged and that's what good horses do.”

Off at 9-2, Get Smokin returned $10.80 on a $2 win wager in the Seek Again's inaugural edition. Bush said the effort could set him up for a start in the Grade 3, $250,00 Poker going one mile on June 20 at Belmont.

Flavius, a close fourth last out in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita, was making just the second start of his 6-year-old year after ending 2020 with a second in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap in November at Del Mar. Flavius edged the Tom Morley-trained Tell Your Daddy by a nose for second on Saturday.

“It was a fun race because the two best horses fought all the way from the beginning to the finish,” said Flavius' Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano. “There was no pace in the race and he [Get Smokin] had pace and went pretty slow. With no pace and the winner being able to go 24 and 48, that probably cost us the race.”

Fellow Brown trainee Delaware finished fourth, with Grade 1-winner Decorated Invader running fifth. Tiberius Mercurius, Olympic Runner and Epic Dreamer completed the order of finish.

Main track-only entrants Danny California and Yankee Division were scratched.

Live racing continues Sunday with a nine-race card and a 1 p.m. Eastern first post.

Starting on May 1, Belmont Park re-opened to a limited number of spectators. All admission must be purchased in advance at nyra.com/belmont/tickets/.

For comprehensive information on health and safety protocols in effect for the Belmont Park spring/summer meet, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/belmont/visit/plan-your-visit.

The post Front-Running Get Smokin Takes Seek Again Foes Wire To Wire appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Ridden by Junior Alvarado, the Thomas Bush-trained 4-year-old gelded son of Get Stormy covered 1 1/16 miles on firm turf in 1:40.75. He returned $10 for the win, his third in 12 starts and second graded stakes triumph.

Eons checked in second, three-quarters of a length behind the winner, with a fast closing Admission Office a neck back in third, Talk or Listen fourth and 5-2 favorite Greyes Creek fifth in the field of 12 older runners.

Usually a front-runner, including his last start when fourth in the G1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar, Get Smokin settled into second when longshot Proven Strategies forged to an early lead. The latter went an opening  quarter mile in :22.75, a half in :46.39 and six furlongs in 1:10.65.

Alvarado sent Get Smokin after the pacesetter into the far turn and the gelding spurted away from the field with a strong move at the top of the stretch. He hit the mile marker in 1:34.44 en route to his final clocking.

“I had to get out of there running,” said Alvarado. “He's a fast horse and he likes to be on the lead, but I knew (Proven Strategies) has a lot of speed too, so it wasn't necessary for me to keep going after him and go head-to-head. So I took a hold and my horse came back to me beautifully and relaxed so well. I knew the whole way around I had plenty of horse under me and by the three-eighths pole, when I put him outside and started picking it up, I had plenty of horse left. Turning for home, I was just a passenger and keeping him happy and he started picking it up on his own without me asking, so I knew I was in good shape.”

“We're thrilled,” Bush said. “We were worried about the speed in there and I knew that one horse (pace-setter Proven Strategies) would be a little bit of a thorn in our side today, but (Get Smokin) was ready today. We were pretty confident. (Junior Alvarado) rode a beauty for sure. Our horse was coming into it great, we gave him a little freshening after California and he has really responded since he got to Florida. He's been in the feed tub and we were really hoping he would run this race and he did. We're probably going to hold off on him and hopefully he will be ready for Keeneland. (Owner Mary Abeel Sullivan) lives in Vero Beach and just watched it on TV and she just called and is very excited. She will be 92 on Monday and is thrilled.”

The post Get Smokin Sharp Off Layoff, Wins Tampa Bay Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Trainer Christophe Clement has never won the Derby, but he is double-fisted with a pair of high-quality turf sophomores. Gufo (Declaration of War) has won five of his seven trips to the post, having earned a maiden graded success in the GIII Kent S. at Delaware July 4 ahead of a narrow defeat at the hooves of Chad Brown’s charge Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the Saratoga Derby Aug. 15. In his most recent appearance, he sprinted his final two furlongs in a wicked :22.60 off a slow tempo and he’ll be the one they’re gunning for, assuming Flavien Prat can work out a trip from the 12 hole. For his part, Brown has won two of this race’s last four runnings.

Stablemate Decorated Invader, also a son of Declaration of War, has developed a fair bit of versatility this season, sitting relatively handy to the pace when winning the GIII Pennine Ridge S. and using a strong late kick to just miss catching front-running Get Smokin (Get Stormy) in the GII Hill Prince S. at Belmont Oct. 18. Mike Smith rides from stall eight.

Ever Dangerous (Kitten’s Joy), whose sire accounted for 2015 Derby hero Chiropractor, is no stranger to an awkward gate, having overcome the 14 to cause a 74-1 upset in the Nov. 6 Bryan Station S. at Keeneland. Well held by the aforementioned trio earlier in the season, the dark bay colt has the 10 hole Saturday.

Meanwhile, the chief local hope, Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) should enjoy the run of the race from his low draw. Winner of the GIII LaJolla H. going a mile over this course Aug. 9, the homebred was an alibi-free fourth as the 6-5 choice in the GIII American Turf S. at Churchill Sept. 5, but bounced back with a 1 1/2-length defeat of a troubled Scarto (Paynter) in the GII Twilight Derby at Santa Anita Oct. 18.

The post East Coasters Done No Favors In Hollywood Derby Draw appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The 1 1/8-mile turf event, won by California Chrome in its initial edition at the seaside track north of San Diego, Calif., in 2014 as a springboard to Horse of the Year honors, had 13 set as the entry deadline approached Sunday morning. Among the group were five shippers from East Coast-based trainers with two from Christophe Clement and one each from Chad Brown, George Weaver and Thomas M. Bush.

Clement is sending out Decorated Invader, a winner of the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes at Belmont Park and the G2 Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga last summer and Gufo, a winner as the favorite of the Belmont Derby on October 3.

Brown is dispatching Domestic Spending, a winner of the Saratoga Derby Invitational in August by a head over Gufo; Weaver will be represented by Ever Dangerous, fresh from a win in a $150,000 stakes at Keeneland on November 6, and Bush sends Get Smokin, a wire-to-winner of the Grade II Hill Prince on a yielding Belmont turf on October  18.

Joel Rosario, who has ridden Decorated Invader for Clement for the son of Declaration of War's last five starts, was in the irons for a four-furlong workout in 51.66 seconds Sunday morning at Belmont Park. Stablemate Gufo also worked the same time and distance.

“He put in a good work,” Rosario said by phone while en route from Belmont to Aqueduct for the Sunday card. “He's doing very well and hopefully he'll make the trip well and run a good race.”

A supplemental entry, at a $3,000 cost, was Roadrunner Racing and Sayjay Racing's Strongconstitution. The Kentucky-bred son of Constitution, a $220,000 purchase at a 2-year-old in training sale last spring, was second in the Bob Hope last year and won the Let It Ride Stakes on the second day of the current meeting.

“The Let It Ride was a really good race for him and we're hoping he can step it up another notch because obviously he's going to have to against the horses he'll be up against this time,” trainer Doug O'Neill said.

The entrants, in alphabetical order with jockeys in parenthesis: California Kook (Juan Hernandez); Decorated Invader (Rosario); Domestic Spending (Irad Ortiz, Jr.); Ever Dangerous (Victor Espinoza); Get Smokin (Mike Smith); Gufo (Flavien Prat); Kanderel (Geovanni Franco); Lane Way (Drayden Van Dyke); Scarto (Manuel Franco); Smooth Like Strait (Umberto Rispoli); Storm The Court  (Juan Hernandez); Strongconstitution (Abel Cedillo), and Taishan (Jose Valdivia, Jr.).

The post Decorated Invader, Gufo Among East Coast Invaders For Saturday’s Hollywood Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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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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