So what chance did Jason Cook have in the GII John A. Nerud S. at Belmont? He has a four-horse stable and in the 34 years he's been training, had never won a graded stakes race.

Now he has.

Three Technique (Mr. Speaker), a horse Cook claimed for $40,000, won the seven-furlong sprint by 3 3/4 lengths, beating, among others, horses trained by Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott.

“To tell you the truth, it didn't sink in until later,” Cook said. “But it was great to win a graded stakes. That's what make this sport so great. Anybody can win on any given day. That's why we run them.”

That Cook has persevered the way he has is admirable. For the last 11 years, he has raised his daughter Peyton by himself. Cook's wife Tracey died from sepsis when Peyton was just 2 1/2 years old. He has had to balance being a single parent, taking his daughter to her soccer games and attending parent-teacher conferences with training horses. He admits it hasn't been easy and that he hasn't been able to devote all his time to training.

“I have raised my daughter by myself,” the 49-year-old Cook said. “That's one of the reasons things have been pretty slow for me. I'm spending a lot of my time going to her soccer games. There are trade offs in life.”

Cook grew up on the racetrack. His father Lois Cook was a jockey who won the 1957 Kentucky Oaks with Lori-El and finished tenth in the 1955 Kentucky Derby. Jason Cook started out as a hotwalker when he was 13 and took out his trainer's license when he was 17. He won his first race in 1993 when he was just 19.

“I never really thought about doing anything else other than training,” Cook said. “It was what I wanted to do when I younger. At that age, you think being a trainer is the greatest thing in the world. You find out it's not. Its not as easy as you thought it would be.”

He won three stakes in 1996 and another in 1997, but his win totals remained modest. Based on wins, his best year was 2008 when he won 18 races. There have also been plenty of years like 2020, when he went 1-for-19, and 2018 when he was 1-for-24. He said he never got discouraged, but the right horses never seemed to find their way into his barn.

“There are a lot of capable people that given the chance might be the next big trainer,” he said. “There's somebody training horses somewhere out there not doing any good and the reason why is they don't have the stock that allows them to show their talent. It all comes down to the horse. You have to have the horses.”

But he says he can see why so many owners flock to the same top five or six trainers.

“Those people who have those big stables, I've never begrudged them,” Cook said. “Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, they are at the top of the game because they produce very good results. You can't be mad at somebody because of their success.”

To help make ends meet over the years, Cook would haul horses, something he no longer does. His main client was Dale Romans.

“That was something I did to help me make a living,” he said. “I used to go to all the stakes races for Dale. I trained a few horses, I hauled horses for Dale. That's how I got by.”

In the fall of 2021 Cook, who had just two winners on the year at the time, was surprised to see Three Technique show up in a $40,000 claimer at Churchill. Four starts earlier, he had finished third in the same John A. Nerud S. for trainer Jeremiah Englehart and owner Bill Parcells's August Dawn Farm. Just prior to the claiming race, he RNA'd for $47,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

“It looked like they were giving up on him,” Cook said. “Yes, I was worried that it was a suspicious drop in class.”

But to be able to acquire a horse for $40,000 that had, only a few months earlier, hit the board in a graded stakes race was something Cook and owners David Miller, Eric Grindley and John Werner couldn't resist. They weren't alone. There were 27 claims put in for Three Technique that day.

“Someone asked me what did you see in this horse to claim him,” Cook said. “I just got lucky and hit the lottery.”

Three Technique lost his first five races for Cook, but broke through to win last year's Knicks Go S. at Churchill Downs at 36-1, giving Cook his first stakes win in 25 years. He would go on a six-race losing streak before winning a May 27 allowance at Churchill. Cook couldn't decide between the Nerud and the July 2 Hanshin S. at Ellis Park, the same race in which he almost beat Cody's Wish (Curlin) last year, losing by just a neck. He decided on the Nerud because he thought his horse preferred one turn.

Three Technique | Joe Labozzetta

Prior to the Nerud, he had never started a horse at Belmont. His lone starter in New York had come in a 1997 claiming race at Saratoga.

“I'm going to try and buck the trend and win one in New York,” Cook said prior to the race. “My dad was a jockey and I like history and that track has a lot of history. My dad was one of the leading riders in the country in the '50s.”

With Javier Castellano aboard, Three Technique won comfortably, looking like a horse who can hold his own against top sprinters.

“I just got to sit back and watch,” Cook said. “The horse had to do all the hard work. He is a very determined horse and he always runs his race.”

One of the first calls he got after Three Technique crossed the wire was from Peyton. She usually joins her father at the track whenever he has a horse in a race, but she didn't make the trip to New York.

“This was one of the few trips she didn't make,” Cook said. “She was home with some friends. She was so excited. She was crying and screaming she was so excited. I wish she would have been here.”

Cook isn't sure where Three Technique will run next. One concern he has is that the horse doesn't like the heat, which could be a factor later this summer in places like Saratoga. That's a problem for another day. For now, he's going to sit back and relax and enjoy the day he beat the big boys.

The post The Week In Review: On Another Day Dominated By Super Trainers, Jason Cook Wins One For The Little Guy appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Showdown in Belmont's Dwyer

One of two graded stakes on Saturday in Elmont is the GIII Dwyer S. Going a mile, the race pits Fort Bragg (Tapit), who was forced to scratch from the GI Woody Stephens S. by trainer Bob Baffert when the 3-year-old colt came down with a fever, against the undefeated Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming), who is making his stakes debut for Brad Cox.

“This gives us options. We can see how we do here,” said Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Racing. “There will be opportunities to stretch him out down the road if we feel that's the right thing. A race like the Allen Jerkens could be on the radar for him later in the summer if we felt like he needs a cutback.”

The other half of the co-feature is the GII John A. Nerud S. for older horses at seven furlongs, which includes Candy Man Rocket (Candy Ride {Arg}) the winner of the GIII Runhappy S. at Belmont May 13 for Bill Mott. “He's run some good races and if he gets a good trip, he usually runs pretty well,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “I think he's fine on the lead or fine with a target. It just depends how the race sets up.”

Promiseher America Looks to Rebound

Trainer Ray Handal scooped up the first graded race of his career when 3-year-old Promiseher America (American Pharoah) won the GIII Gazelle S. at Aqueduct in early April. With a tough trip in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the chestnut filly will look to rebound in Saturday's GIII Delaware Oaks. She will face a pair of challengers in Juddmonte homebred Fireline (Arrogate) from the barn of Chad Brown and Siena and WinStar Farm's Miracle (Mendelssohn) trained by Todd Pletcher. Also part of this card is the GIII Robert G. Dick Memorial S. over the grass, which includes Ian Wilkes trainee Miss Yearwood (Will Take Charge)–winner last out of the Keertana S. at Churchill Downs.

Five at Woodbine

Canada Day on Saturday fits in well as Woodbine Entertainment hosts its own fireworks when it cards five graded races. The GIII Marine S. includes Chad Brown invader Turf King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) whose main rival will be King's Plate hopeful Twin City (Klimt), while the GIII Selene S. witnesses the return of reigning Eclipse Award-winning juvenile filly Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief).

Wonder Wheel | Coady Photography

Not seen since she was ninth in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the Mark Casse trainee makes her first start at her trainer's home base. “I was really disappointed with her effort in the Ashland,” Casse said from his Ocala base. “And the Oaks was kind of a weird-run race. Then I wanted to get her up there and train her on the Tapeta. I just find that horses thrive at Woodbine, more than anywhere. I just kind of felt like we needed to get her back to square one, try to get her some confidence.”

Switching to the turf, trainer Larry Rivelli sends sprinter One Timer (Trappe Shot) north of the border for the GII Highlander S. as his 4-year-old gelding meets George Weaver shipper Outlaw Kid (Violence). Also on the grass, the GII Nassau S. includes Todd Pletcher trainee Scotish Star (Arg) (Key Deputy) who will look to upend current Canadian Horse of the Year Moira (Ghostzapper). Back on the Tapeta, the top three finishers from the June 4 running of the GII Eclipse S. at Woodbine–Treason (Constitution), Carrothers (Mshawish) and Tyson (Tapit)–will once again face one another in the GIII Dominion Day S.

Antonucci After More Graded Glory

Trainer Jena Antonucci made history when she won the GI Belmont S. last month and now she is looking for more graded hardware, this time at her southern digs in South Florida. Doc Amster (Midshipman) will compete in Gulfstream Park's GIII Smile Sprint Invitational S., but the 6-year-old will have to face down potential favorites in Dean Delivers (Cajun Breeze) for trainer Michael Yates and Todo Fino (Chi) (Verrazano) for Amador Sanchez.

The post Graded Stakes Fireworks Set For Saturday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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