‘Maturing’ Capo Kane Cuts Back To One-Turn Mile For Gotham

Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane, a pace-setting third last out in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Withers, turns back to a one-turn mile in Saturday's Grade 3 Gotham at Aqueduct.

Trainer Harold Wyner put Capo Kane through a smart training session on Feb. 26 at Parx with the California-bred working behind a pair of horses before circling his company and completing the five-eighths breeze in 1:00.21.

“He worked real well. We had two horses set off in front of him and he sat behind them and got the dirt in his face and passed them. He finished off his work real strong,” said Wyner. “I know there's going to be a lot of speed in the Gotham and I don't think he needs to be on the lead.”

Wyner said Capo Kane, who has demonstrated a tendency to drift out during the stretch run, completed his work straight as an arrow.

“In his work the other day, he didn't drift out one little bit,” said Wyner. “He stayed right where he should be and went around the horses nicely and didn't drift at all. He's maturing. He's a lot bigger and wider now.”

The Street Sense colt picked up 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points on New Year's Day when taking the one-mile Jerome. He added two additional qualifying points for his Withers effort and currently sits in 11th position in the standings with 12 points.

Wyner said the connections will consider a start in the Kentucky Derby if the $26,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Two-Year-Olds-In Training sale purchase posts a strong effort on Saturday with 50-20-10-5 qualifying points on the line.

“I still think this horse will get the mile and an eighth and the mile and a quarter,” said Wyner. “If he runs real well in the Gotham, I'm almost forced to try him in the Wood Memorial going a mile and an eighth [on April 6] to see if he'll get the distance because if he doesn't there won't be any point going to the Derby. The timing is close so we'll have to see how he runs in the Gotham and go from there.”

Capo Kane ran second on debut in October at Parx going seven furlongs and capped his juvenile year with a maiden-breaking 4 1/2-length score on Nov. 25 at the same track stretched out to a mile and 70 yards.

Capo Kane won his first stakes start – and sophomore bow – in gate-to-wire fashion, besting a five-horse Jerome field by 6 1/4 lengths, garnering a personal-best 84 Beyer.

Wyner said Capo Kane will ship to New York on the day of the race with jockey Dylan Davis to retain the mount.

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Blinkers, Added Distance Making The Difference For Withers Winner Risk Taking

Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure for his triumphant stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Chad Brown, the son of Medaglia d'Oro broke well from post 5 and settled in sixth in between horses before inching his way closer to the front under little asking from Eric Cancel. Nearing the sixteenth pole, Risk Taking confronted and overtook pacesetter Capo Kane en route to a 3 ¾-length win as the post-time favorite. He earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

“He came out of the race good. He doesn't look too tired so I'm very happy with how he came out of the race,” said Dan Stupp, Brown's Belmont Park-based assistant.

Risk Taking arrived at the Withers off a third-out nine-furlong maiden special weight score where he sported blinkers for the first time to defeat next-out winners The Reds and Unbridled Honor, both of whom also broke their maidens at two turns.

Stupp said blinkers and added distance have benefitted Risk Taking.

“He's always been a forward training horse in the morning, but the blinkers and the added distance were beneficial,” Stupp said. “The blinkers helped him focus a bit more. It really brought out what we saw in the morning. That combination has certainly worked well for him.”

Following the Withers, Brown said Risk Taking would likely target the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at the Big A. The nine-furlong Wood Memorial is the final local prep for the Grade 1, Kentucky Derby and awards the top-four finishers qualifying points according to a 100-40-20-10 scale.

Bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey, Jr., Risk Taking was purchased for $240,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the Distorted Humor mare Run a Risk, who was twice stakes-placed on grass. He comes from the same extended family as Grade 1-winner and champion producing sire Seeking the Gold.

Runner-up Overtook Handles Two Turns
The Todd Pletcher-trained Overtook rallied from last-of-9 to finish second in Saturday's Grade 3 Withers, earning a career-best 83 Beyer.

“He came out of the race in good shape and ate up last night. His energy level looks good walking around, so I was happy with his effort,” said Pletcher assistant Byron Hughes.

Owned by Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith, Overtook showed a strong closing kick under Manny Franco in the stretch run in pursuit of the victorious Risk Taking.

“That seems to be how he wants to run,” Hughes said. “Manny did a good job of getting him to settle down the backside and got a good run at him. He seems to be steadily improving and getting sharper. That was a big jump up from his maiden win. I don't know what the next step is but two turns looks like what he wants to do.”

Bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Farm and Phillip J. Steinberg, Overtook is by dual Horse of the Year and champion producing sire Curlin and out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Got Lucky, making him a direct descendant of La Troienne. He was purchased for $1 million from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Capo Kane May Shorten Up Next Out In Gotham
Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane came out of his third-place effort in the Withers in good order, trainer Harold Wyner said Sunday morning. The veteran conditioner said the Street Sense colt could cut back in distance next out in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham going a one-turn mile on March 6 at Aqueduct.

The Withers, offering 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, marked Capo Kane's first start at nine furlongs after posting two wins and a runner-up finish between seven furlongs and a mile and 70 yards through his first three starts.

Under jockey Dylan Davis, Capo Kane led the nine-horse Withers field through the first mile before tiring in the stretch. Capo Kane still pressed on, earning a pair of qualifying points after finishing behind Overtook and winner Risk Taking.

After earning an 81 Beyer for his first start at two turns, Capo Kane will likely be shortened up in the Gotham, which offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the first Saturday in May.

“He came out of it good and ate up his dinner last night and seems fine this morning,” Wyner said. “The track wasn't speed-favoring, that's for sure and it caught up to him in the last sixteenth of a mile. We're going to point him towards the Gotham.”

Capo Kane ran second on debut in October at Parx going seven furlongs and capped his juvenile year with a maiden-breaking 4 1/2-length score on November 25 at the same track stretched out to a mile and 70 yards.

On New Year's Day, Capo Kane won his first stakes start – and sophomore bow – in gate-to-wire dominance, besting a five-horse Jerome field by 6 1/4 lengths at one mile. That win, which earned a personal-best 84 Beyer, coupled with Saturday gives Capo Kane 12 total qualifying points; tied for sixth-most on the leaderboard with Jackie's Warrior.

“I just think he's learning every race and has talent and natural speed,” Wyner said. “He's just training nicely and moving forward from each race.”

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Capo Kane Back for More in Withers

Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane (Street Sense), a romping 6 1/4-length winner of the one-mile Jerome S. at Aqueduct Jan. 1, will look to add a furlong and a graded race to his resume in the GIII Withers S. at Aqueduct Saturday. Trained by Harold Wyner, the bay colt was runner-up in his seven-furlong debut at Parx Oct. 28. He graduated by a front-running 4 1/2 lengths going one mile and 70 yards at Parx Nov. 25 and had everything his own way when loose on the lead in the Jerome last time out.

Chad Brown sends out Klaravich Stable's Risk Taking (Medaglia d'Oro). Off the board sprinting over the main track at Belmont and over the Aqueduct lawn to open his career last fall, the bay colt graduated over track and trip Dec. 13.

Trainer Todd Pletcher sends out a pair of maiden winners in the Withers. Repole Stables, St Elias Stables and Michael Tabor's Overtook (Curlin), a $1-million KEESEP yearling, was a two-length winner while shedding blinkers in a one-mile special weight at Aqueduct in his third start Dec. 20.

“I think he's learning,” Pletcher said of the son of Grade I winner Got Lucky (A.P. Indy). “He's gained some confidence with the experience and we felt like the blinkers needed to come off. He got a nice hot pace to run at which helped. He's an improving horse who is bred to get better with more distance and more time. We've seen him making progress throughout the fall and winter. This is a big step up, but hopefully he's up for it.”

Pletcher also saddles Donegal Racing's Donegal Bay (Uncle Mo). The bay gelding opened his career with a sixth-place effort going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga last August and was last seen romping to a front-running 4 1/4-length maiden score going one mile at Gulfstream Dec. 12.

“I think it was the additional time, having a start under his belt as well as having some good works leading into that,” Pletcher said of that graduation effort. “He also got a better start, which a lot of horses do in their second race. He has a pretty high-cruising speed. Pedigree-wise, he's bred to go that far. It's a big step up from a maiden race, but we're hoping for a big run.”

Donegal Bay has been prepping for his stakes debut at Pletcher's winter Florida base in Palm Beach Downs where he worked four furlongs in :49 flat (1/16) last Friday.

“It's a bit of a tricky race,” Donegal Racing's Jerry Crawford said. “This is the time of year where some horses get better and some don't, and he needs to get better on Saturday if he can turn himself into a contender. Obviously, there's a fair amount of front-end speed and they'll be asked to go a mile and an eighth at the same time. Donegal Racing has always been treated exceptionally well in New York and have had some good success up there.”

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David and Goliath Both Seeking That One Horse

During this era of globalisation, our own walk of life has also become ever more adapted to scale. In the old days, trainers and stallions alike would draw the line at a similar number: up to three dozen, say. Now all big brands seem to require big volume.

With stallion books, the traditional limits guaranteed undiluted quality. If you wanted to get a mare to Bold Ruler, boy, did she have to deserve the privilege. That's why I always look for those venerable influences, up-and-down, behind modern pedigrees: because you're getting the good stuff, whatever filters through.

Nowadays, however, science and avarice routinely conspire to corral 200-plus mares for many unproven young stallions, and I suspect we'll be reaping a dismal harvest even after we introduce a ceiling of “only” 140.

The advent of the “super trainer” has been viewed with equal concern by many of the old school. How, they ask, can even the most masterly horsemen monitor every nuance as fastidiously as did Charlie Whittingham, when they have 10 times as many animals on their books–and, moreover, have to commute between divisions by plane?

Yet many of the biggest investors seem happy to forfeit that kind of intimate surveillance and it's hard to argue with the results. Granted assistants of adequate caliber, the system is demonstrably equal to pressures of scale; and it schools elite trainers who themselves, in turn, start delegating responsibility to emerging talents.

The template for that process was Todd Pletcher, who learned his trade managing East Coast divisions for the mold-breaking Wayne Lukas. By prodigious focus, organization and dynamism, Pletcher has parlayed his talent into record-breaking yields since 1996. Only last weekend he became the first trainer to bank $400 million; he has seven Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Trainer (only the late Bobby Frankel even has five); and the many stallions he has made include Uncle Mo, Speightstown, More Than Ready, Quality Road, Munnings, English Channel and now Constitution.

This is the year Pletcher becomes eligible to take a place long reserved in the Hall of Fame. As such, you would imagine that he will be eager, through 2021, to reiterate his historic standing in the story of our sport. Because what we must always remember, looking at these industrial stables, is that they remain driven and defined by the human strengths and foibles of one individual. And, having just endured his slowest year since 2002 (obviously the COVID-squeezed program/prizemoney had an awful lot to do with that), Pletcher will definitely be looking to roll back strong this time 'round.

You don't have the success he has made routine without harnessing phenomenal talent to equal ambition. And if his own career has itself been game-changing, Pletcher will know that one neglected paradox of the “super trainer” culture is that competition has been rendered tougher at the elite level, too. With no real limit on numbers, then the best material won't be shared too far even at the very top.

In terms of how long they have been on the scene, Pletcher has to be bracketed closer with Bob Baffert than Chad Brown or Brad Cox. In age, however, he is actually closer to those young guns. At 53, Pletcher remains in his prime–and yet he has seen it all. Few conditioners of his years can ever have compiled a more comprehensive playbook of familiar challenges.

Little wonder if Shadwell, on the retirement of Kiaran McLaughlin, named Pletcher as their man. Remember that even last year–when the dust had barely settled, after all, on his first win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic–his 22% strike-rate was as metronomic as ever. And while Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief) is sadly off the GI Kentucky Derby trail with a minor shin issue, his 45 Triple Crown nominees match the second- and third-highest entries (Baffert 23, Steve Asmussen 22) combined.

And you need only consider the fields assembling for both the races carrying Derby points Saturday to heighten a sense that here is a trainer ready to regroup and reassert.

Known Agenda (Curlin) contests the GIII Sam F. Davis S. with his reputation freshly gilded by the performance at Gulfstream last week of Greatest Honour (Tapit). Even in opening up by 21 lengths on the third, that colt hadn't been able to get past him in a stretch duel at Aqueduct in November. The St Elias Stable homebred has already demonstrated plenty of stamina, then, albeit his damsire Byron (GB) (Green Desert) was a brisk horse with a brisk page. (Plenty of fuel, you guess, coming through from Darshaan (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}) behind his second dam.)

We'll cheerfully put a line through Known Agenda's subsequent effort in the GII Remsen S., where so unhappy on the slop that his rider resorted to the whip a couple of times on the backstretch. His maiden success, after all, has meanwhile been boosted by the distant third, barnmate Overtook (Curlin), who now graduates to stakes company in the GIII Withers S.

Actually St Elias Stable, that reliable badge of class, also has a piece of this improver. His closing style will presumably contrast with Pletcher's other runner here, Donegal Bay (Uncle Mo), who shook off his pursuers nicely breaking his maiden. All these horses are bred for the job, too. Known Agenda is out of a Grade I winner; likewise Overtook, a $1 million yearling tracing to Numbered Account; and though Donegal Bay was picked up for $90,000, he belongs to a Juddmonte family of Classic accomplishment.

Let's be under no illusions, then. Even if Goliath nowadays finds himself in an armlock with opponents of equal brawn, it's still an awful lot harder being David. And there's no mistaking who fills that role here.

Capo Kane (Street Sense) was a $26,000 2-year-old purchase–his pinhooker no doubt caught in the COVID backdraft, after giving $75,000 the previous September–and gave trainer Harold Wyner the first stakes success of his life in the Jerome S.

Wyner is the ultimate journeyman. He first came over from Britain with Michael Dickinson, drifted around for a few years as an exercise rider, saddled six winners in two years when trying his luck as a trainer, and then spent four years installing satellite televisions. But he couldn't keep away, and this time last year must have thought that his perseverance was finally going to pay off. He had assisted in the purchase of a Cross Traffic colt, who had failed to make his reserve as a 2-year-old at $27,000. Wyner trained Ny Traffic through his first four starts, but the horse was then transferred to Saffie Joseph, Jr. and became a Grade I regular.

No need to dwell on that now. Capo Kane is another Timonium graduate and Wyner knows him inside out, as the most literally hands-on of trainers: he gallops as many of his charges as he can every day. So he knows there's more to come from Capo Kane, who drifted out even as he went clear in the Jerome. There's turf royalty in his family–second dam by Kingmambo out of Tuzla (Fr) (Panoramic {GB}), who missed the GI Breeders' Cup Mile by a neck–and that shows in the ease and athleticism of his movement; while on the other hand his sire beat his damsire in the 2007 Derby.

Third that day was Curlin, sire of Known Agenda and Overtook. Seems like that class still can't leave each other alone. Street Sense, of course, was saddled by a revered horseman in Carl Nafzger, who started a total of 17 animals that whole year. Context: Asmussen topped the 2020 prizemoney table with 630 starters, followed by Cox with “only” 328. But there's only ever one Derby winner out there–and there's no reason he can't be among Wyner's two dozen charges at Parx.

Meanwhile, we'll be keeping an eye on the two debut winners Baffert runs in the GII San Vicente S., having won the race last year with a horse of similar profile in Nadal (Blame). One of them, the Wests' homebred Concert Tour (Street Sense), shares his sire with Capo Kane; the other, Freedom Fighter, while he has a powerful ownership group, is a $120,000 son of Violence who was there to be found at Keeneland as Hip 1522.

Don't forget we've just seen what this guy can do with a $1,000 short yearling/$35,000 2-year-old by Protonico. With 118 starters in 2020, Baffert ranked 41st in the nation by numbers. No “super trainer,” then–but I guess he's doing okay.

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