Owner Michael Cannon woke up on Memorial Day with a gut feeling. Cannon Thoroughbreds was going to win a Grade I that day.
His inkling didn't come without good reason. The stable's leading earner Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) would be attempting to defend his title in the GI Shoemaker Mile and was slated as the 4-5 morning-line favorite.
Of course as anyone in this business can attest, favoritism doesn't secure a trip to the winner's circle no matter how small the odds. So while Smooth Like Strait had to settle for second in the Shoemaker, it was Cannon's other entry at Santa Anita–the one they considered scratching hours before the race–who made his Grade I premonition come to fruition.
The second-longest shot in a field of five in the GI Hollywood Gold Cup S., There Goes Harvard (Will Take Charge) pulled the upset to win by a length, making him Cannon Thoroughbreds' second Grade I-winning homebred and giving trainer Michael McCarthy his first Gold Cup score.
“I'm shocked that he won,” Cannon admitted as he relived the victory. “I was hoping for third. Until about nine o'clock that morning, we weren't sure if we were even going to run him. It was only a two-week break from his last race and we usually give them three to four weeks, but he looked like he was ready to go.”
Coming off a seven-month layoff this spring, There Goes Harvard ran second in his 4-year-old debut at Santa Anita. He dead-heated for a win in April and scored in a turf allowance on May 14 before stepping up to Grade I company on Memorial Day. Cannon credits jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. for his hand in the colt's accomplishment.
“Irad was a gamechanger,” he said. “He did a great job. There were some serious horses in there and it was not an easy win. I'm still in shock, to be honest.”
Now that There Goes Harvard is making top headlines, Cannon is constantly asked about the story behind the colt's name.
“Everybody asks me and I feel like a bad parent every time I answer,” he said with a laugh. “When my kids say something dumb, I always joke with them and say, 'there goes Harvard.'”
Based about two hours north of Las Vegas, Cannon has been involved in racing for decades. He started purchasing and syndicating racehorses after graduating college, but soon decided to get “a real job.” He made a career in entertainment lighting and is now the President and CEO of Cannon Nevada, a venture capital firm.
Michael Cannon | photo courtesy Michael Cannon
When Cannon decided to re-enter the Thoroughbred business, he committed to a new business plan. He would purchase broodmares and establish a breed-to-race operation. One of his very first broodmare purchases, Beautiful Lil (Aptitude), is now the granddam of his stable's top performer Smooth Like Strait.
Several years after launching his new operation and with the assistance of bloodstock agent Kathy Berkey, Cannon purchased There Goes Harvard's dam Soul Crusader (Fusaichi Pegasus) for $75,000 at the 2016 Keeneland January Sale. While There Goes Harvard was somewhat of a standout as a foal a few years later, Cannon said that Soul Crusader tended to throw small foals and did not live up to expectations as a producer. He sold the mare two years ago.
“There Goes Harvard was a little different than her other foals, but there was really nothing special about him in the first year,” Cannon admitted. “He was definitely bigger than the rest, but I didn't think he would ever be a Grade I winner, that's for sure.”
Even after There Goes Harvard was sent to trainer Michael McCarthy, it took some time for him to show his true potential.
“He was actually a bit of a handful,” Cannon explained. “Smooth Like Strait was always a real professional and did everything right, but when this colt first got to Michael, he was doing everything wrong. He was difficult to manage and Michael really had to work with him to get him turned around.”
It took six tries for There Goes Harvard to break his maiden, finally getting the win in his first attempt on turf. When he ran second two starts later in the 2021 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, Cannon said they got a feel for the homebred's true potential. He dealt with a chip soon after and sat on the sidelines for the remainder of the 2021 season, but has improved steadily in his return this year.
“What's great about this horse is that he's probably better on the turf than the dirt,” Cannon said. “It's nice to have a horse that we know can do both.”
Asked where There Goes Harvard could end up next, Cannon replied slyly, “The one thing I know about Michael [McCarthy] is that you don't discuss that until a couple weeks down the road.”
Cannon acknowledged that he was disappointed with Smooth Like Strait's runner-up effort on Monday, given that the 5-year-old has now finished second or third in his last six starts, but he said that their end goal for this year is still a return to the Breeders' Cup, where Smooth Like Strait ran second in last year's GI FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile.
“He tries so hard every time and you feel bad that he hasn't gotten it done in the last few races,” Cannon said. “He's in great shape and he just got caught up in a fast pace [in the Shoemaker]. We will probably follow the same races with him as we did last year at Del Mar.”
Cannon won't get too down on one string of bad luck. After all, it was just a few years ago that his stable had no graded stakes winners, which wasn't for lack of trying.
“Before these last two years, I had very limited success,” he said. “I don't take anything for granted now because I know how quickly you can go backwards.”
Cannon plans to stick with his breeding-to-race operation. He said he tried giving the commercial market a chance, but quickly learned that it wasn't what he wanted to focus on. He forces himself to keep a broodmare roster of just six members and currently has a collection of 14 racehorses and future racehorses, including the 2-year-old full-brother to Smooth Like Strait in training with Michael McCarthy. At his cattle ranch at home in Nevada, one pasture is set aside for his stable's retired racehorses and is now up to eight residents.
As Cannon told TDN in a story on Smooth Like Strait last year, half of the earnings from his racing stable are set aside for The Special Operations Care Fund, a non-profit organization that provides support to soldiers who have served in special operations forces. While those earnings may have seemed insignificant to Cannon when he was first starting out, with two colts performing at the top of their divisions this year–and both coming in the money, appropriately, on Memorial Day–those funds are quickly adding up.
Asked about his secret to building a program that can produce two Grade I winners within a year, Cannon replied with a laugh and said, “I wish I knew the secret because it has taken me a long time to figure this out. Honestly, the secret is patience, staying in your lane in terms of developing a program and sticking with it, and hiring good people and listening to their advice. Then you just hope it all works out.”
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