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Thousand Words Re-Enters Kentucky Derby Picture, Beating Honor A.P. In Shared Belief

Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm's Thousand Words made every pole a winner Saturday in upsetting the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes by three-quarters of a length at Del Mar near San Diego, Calif. In the process, he may have bought himself a ticket to the 2020 Kentucky Derby, to be run on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.

The Pioneerof the Nile colt, ridden by Abel Cedillo and trained by Bob Baffert, took the lead right out of the gate and held off all challenges, including one from the 1-5 favorite Honor A.P. under Mike Smith. The latter was bumped from the outside coming out of the starting gate by Cezanne, a Baffert-trained stablemate of the winner who veered inwardly at the break under Flavien Prat.

The 1 1/16-mile feature went with only four runners when two of its 3-year-olds — Uncle Chuck and Anneau d'Or — were scratched Saturday morning.

“He (trainer Bob Baffert) just told me to warm him up real well, then get him out of there,” said Cedillo. “Then see what happens. He broke well and I saw I could take the lead, so I did. He was going along there steady, steady, steady. Then we got it done.”

“I told Abel (Cedillo) to jump him out of there and I thought he and Cezanne would be 1-2,” said Baffert. “Turning for home I could tell that Honor A.P. wasn't running like he usually does. Cezanne got really tired, but Thousand Words … I could tell when we got down here that he was a different horse from Los Alamitos and the real Thousand Words showed up today. His whole mind changed. His color has changed. He had soured out on me, but we got him going the right way. I think he earned his way to the Derby.”

With the victory, Thousand Words earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, and now ranks seventh on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard among potential runners, with 83 points.

Updated Kentucky Derby points leaderboard

Thousand Words covered the distance in 1:43.85 after setting fractions of :23.89, :47.93, 1:12.33 and 1:37.44. He returned $20.40 and $3.40. Honor A.P. returned $2.10 to place. There was no show betting.

John Sondereker's Kiss Today Goodbye finished third and Coolmore partners' Cezanne was fourth and last.

Thousand Words earned $60,000 for his tally and pushed his bankroll to $327,000, after winning his fourth race in his seventh start. Produced from the Pomeroy mare, Pomeroys Pistol, he was bred in Florida by Hardacre Farm and sold for $1 million by Brookdale Sales at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The stakes win is the third of the meet for rider Cedillo, but his first in the Shared Belief. He now has five stakes wins at Del Mar.

As for Honor A.P., Mike Smith said: “He ran well, but we're disappointed he didn't win. I haven't been able to get on him in the mornings and I think that's made a difference. He's just been going along there not doing much in the mornings. I need to be on him and get more out of him. But that's the way it is now; that's just the way it is. This distance (mile and one-sixteenth) is too short for him, too. Just not his day.”

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Learning With Experience: Hopeful Growth Wins Monmouth Oaks

Trainer Anthony Margotta, Jr. and jockey Antonio Gallardo know that much more went into Hopeful Growth's upset victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Monmouth Oaks at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., than just a perfect trip.

Two starts ago Margotta took the blinkers off the filly to get her to relax in a race at Tampa in which Gallardo rode her. Last time out the veteran conditioner sent her two turns for the first time. She finished fifth in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks.

Both learning experiences, they agreed, keyed a four-length victory at odds of 11-1 in the 96^th edition of the $200,000 Monmouth Oaks.

Hopeful Growth, able to sit chilly along the rail behind dueling leaders, mowed down the frontrunners in the lane for the first stakes score of her five-race career. She covered the mile and a sixteenth in 1:45.63.

Delaware Oaks winner Project Whiskey held for second, 2¼ lengths ahead of Eve of War.

“I had a really good trip,” said Gallardo. “I know this filly. I won with her in Tampa. Anthony told me that day `try to teach her. I don't want her to be a filly that just goes to the lead. I don't care if you lose, just teach her.'

“That's what happened in Tampa. She learned – and she still won. I was able to put her behind horses that day and she learned very fast. When I put her in the clear that race she took off. That lesson paid off today. She's a good horse and now she knows how to relax and sit behind horses. That's why she won this.”

Margotta said the filly's last two races were learning experiences for this one.

“Her last race was the first time she ran around two turns,” he said. “We were hoping to hit the board there, but typically a horse going two turns for the first time in our program may need a race around two turns the first time. This was our bull's eye target. I took the blinkers off her last two races so she would learn a little. I put them back on (today) so she would focus more after she learned a little bit.

“The Delaware Oaks was a race we needed to get in before this one for the two-turn experience and to learn. I loved the trip (today). She was patient on the rail. That's what we have been teaching her to do and it paid off.”

Owned by St. Elias Stable, Hopeful Growth returned $25.60 to win. The daughter of Tapiture–Maiden America by Rock Hard Ten now sports a 3-1-0 line from five career starts.

“She's bred to go long and she has trained that way the whole time so I knew she would go longer,” Margotta said. “She has always wanted to stretch out.

Gallardo kept Hopeful Growth along the rail as favored Lucrezia and Project Whiskey battled for command through early fractions of :23.94, :48.51, 1:13.52 and 1:139.10 for the mile.

Hopeful Growth found clearance in mid-stretch and proved to be much the best in the field of nine 3-year-old fillies.

“I had good position the whole way,” said Gallardo. “I was close to the leaders. I had the favorite (Lucrezia) in front of me with Project Whiskey with her and the two horse (Princess Cadey) was just outside us. I just waited to get clear. I was able to do that before the quarter pole. I knew she had a lot left and she responded.”

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Filly’s Death at Belmont Leads to Arrest

According to a Newsday story, a 2-year-old filly let out of her stall Thursday at Belmont Park by a former employee resulted in a fall that led to the filly’s death. The former employee, identified by the Nassau County Police Department as Ramzan Antooa, 38, of Elmont, had been spotted at approximately 7:45 p.m. by Belmont’s security personnel releasing the filly. He was arrested at the scene and charged with burglary and reckless endangerment of property.

Newsday quoted New York’s Gaming Commission’s database as stating the horse “…ran loose and fell. Injuries sustained in fall subsequently necessitated euthanasia.”

Arraigned Friday at First District Court, Antooa was freed without bail. The case is due back in court Sept. 21. Antooa’s burglary charge is a felony, while the endangerment charge is a misdemeanor.

Patrick McKenna, New York Racing Association’s director of communications and media relations, told Newsday the deceased horse was a filly named Pasta (Fr) (Frankel {GB}). There was an unraced filly by that name who last worked three furlongs at Belmont July 26. The owner and trainer’s names were not immediately available, but the filly had gone through the Tattersalls October yearling sale last year as an 150,000gns RNA. She was bred by Al Asayl Bloodstock Ltd.

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Speightstown Colt Scores Breakout Win in Jerkens

L & N Racing’s Echo Town (Speightstown) registered his first win at the highest level with a 7-1 upset in Saratoga’s GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial S. Saturday. The bay raced in mid-pack early as recent GI Woody Stephens S. hero No Parole (Violence) doled out a first quarter in :22.67 with MGSW Mischevious Alex (Into Mischief) pressing from second. Mischevious Alex turned up the heat on No Parole as the half went in :45.31 and Tap It to Win (Tapit) ranged up menacingly on their outside turning for home. Echo Town swung out four wide turning for home and swiftly inhaled the top three in mid-stretch, charging clear to a dominant 3 1/2-length victory. Tap It to Win held second and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Shoplifted (Into Mischief) completed the trifecta. Favored No Parole faded to ninth.

“He ran an excellent race,” winning trainer Steve Asmussen said. “It’s extremely significant winning the Allen Jerkens. Ricardo [Santana] did a great job with him today. I think the timing for him was better going into today than the Woody Stephens, and he showed it today. I thought 22 and 3 was soft for this group. I thought Echo Town ran the race of his life and Shoplifted, who was second in the [GI] Hopeful last year here obviously likes this track.”

The Hall of Famer continued, “It was great to see him put it all together when it matters so much on this stage. He ran solidly here. He ran really well into the Woody Stephens, but I thought the timing of this race was better.”

“He broke really sharp today and when the dirt started hitting him in the face, he was jumping a little bit but he was really comfortable,” Santana said. “I took him outside and he gave me a nice kick at the end. He was traveling really well. I knew there was plenty of speed today and I just wanted to sit behind the speed. I’m really happy with the horse.”

A debut winner at the Fair Grounds Jan. 18, Echo Town was third next out at Oaklawn Feb. 23 and returned to winning ways in the slop there Mar. 13. Missing by a head in the Bachelor S. in Hot Springs Apr. 25, he captured a Churchill Downs sprint May 25 prior to his effort in the Woody June 20 at Belmont.

Pedigree Notes:

Echo Town is the 18th Grade I victory for his sire Speightstown, as well as the 56th graded winner and 113th black-type scorer for the WinStar stallion. Out of GSW Letgomyecho, the winner is a half to Grade III victor J Boys Echo and GSP Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled’s Song). The 18-year-old mare is also responsible for the 2-year-old colt Burrow (Candy Ride {Arg}), a $200,000 OBSAPR buy; a yearling filly by Gun Runner; and an American Pharoah filly born May 8 of this year.

Saturday, Saratoga
H. ALLEN JERKENS S. PRESENTED BY RUNHAPPY-GI, $300,000, Saratoga, 8-1, 3yo, 7f, 1:22.53, ft.
1–ECHO TOWN, 120, c, 3, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Letgomyecho (GSW, $136,200), by Menifee
2nd Dam: Echo Echo Echo, by Eastern Echo
3rd Dam: Kashie West, by Sir Ivor
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. ‘TDN Rising Star’ ($100,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-L & N
Racing LLC; B-Betz, Betz, Burns, CHNNHK Thoroughbreds,
Magers, CoCo Equine & R (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen;
J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $165,000. Lifetime Record: 7-4-2-1,
$375,320. *1/2 to Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled’s Song), GSP,
$253,478; J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), GSW, $377,543. Werk Nick
Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Tap It to Win, 120, r, 3, Tapit–Onepointhreekarats, by
Medaglia d’Oro. O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL);
T-Mark E. Casse. $60,000.
3–Shoplifted, 120, c, 3, Into Mischief–Shopit, by Yes It’s True.
‘TDN Rising Star’ ($525,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP; $800,000 2yo ’19
FTFMAR). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stables, LLC & LNJ
Foxwoods; B-Machmer Hall, Carrie & Craig Brogden (KY);
T-Steven M. Asmussen. $36,000.
Margins: 3HF, HF, 1HF. Odds: 7.20, 3.65, 18.50.
Also Ran: Captain Bombastic, Sonneman, Mischevious Alex, Eight Rings, Hopeful Treasure, No Parole, Three Technique, Liam’s Pride.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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