Channel Maker Arrives at Old Friends

Fan-favorite Channel Maker (English Channel), the 2020 Eclipse Award-winning turf male who made a record six appearances at the Breeders' Cup, has taken up residence at Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. The 9-year-old was donated to the farm by Adam Wachtel and his fellow owners.

Bred in Ontario by Ivan Dalos's Tall Oaks Farm, Channel Maker was a stakes winner at two for trainer Danny Vella and took the 2017 Breeders' S. He was a Grade I winner each year from 2018 to 2020, scoring his first such victory in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic before adding the Man O'War S. in 2019 and the Sword Dancer and a second Joe Hirsch the following year. He was also a close third in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf en route to his championship.

A gallant second in the $1-million Neom Turf Cup in Saudi Arabia at the outset of his 7-year-old season, Channel Maker retained his zest for racing into the latter part of his career, winning the GII Elkhorn S. in the spring of 2022 and this year's GII Bowling Green S. at Saratoga in gate-to-wire fashion. He retired with a record of 10-6-5 from 56 starts for earnings of $3,915,983.

“I've idolized Channel Maker ever since I first laid eyes on him devouring the field in the 2020 Sword Dancer at Saratoga,” said Michael Blowen, president and founder of Old Friends. “He arrived at Old Friends covered in dapples and in spectacular condition. Our deepest thanks to Adam and his partners, and to trainer Bill Mott, for allowing us to show him off to his legion of fans. We are honored.”

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War Like Goddess Goes Back-To-Back in the Joe Hirsch

Her sire won the 2007 GI Breeders' Cup Turf in similarly soft underfoot conditions not far away at Monmouth Park, and George Krikorian's War Like Goddess (English Channel) found the ease in the ground very much to her liking, motoring down the center of the waterlogged course to successfully defend her title in Saturday's GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct.

With Junior Alvarado at the controls for the first time, the $30,000 OBS June bargain lingered towards the back of the pack through the early exchanges, racing in the company of third favorite Stone Age (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), as Naipaul Chatterpaul special So High (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) went pedal to the metal from the fence beneath Romero Maragh. The latter was in a race of his own down the backstretch, opening up by as many as 20 lengths before odds-on Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), prepping for a title defense of his own in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, was first to attempt to make any inroads. So High continued on that long lead into the final three-eighths of a mile and while Rebel's Romance peaked on his run in upper stretch, War Like Goddess was pulled out by Alvarado into the center of the boggy course after rallying inside on the turn and steamed home for the victory. Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) ran on to complete the exacta ahead of So High in third. Rebel's Romance could do no better than fourth.

War Like Goddess would go on to be a low-odds third, with Stone Age, second in last year's Turf at Keeneland and returned to action with a victory in Keeneland's sex-restricted GIII Bewitch S. back in April. Well-beaten at 75 cents on the dollar in a slow-paced renewal of the GI New York S. June 9 at Belmont Park, War Like Goddess was most recently a neck second in the GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga Aug. 3.

The Joe Hirsch was originally carded for last Saturday, Sept. 30, but the entire program was canceled due to pounding rains and was to run in the same order the following afternoon. The card went on as scheduled, but the Hirsch was re-routed to Saturday on what turned out to be another rain-swept afternoon on the south shore of Long Island. Because of the delay, trainer Bill Mott was non-committal about another crack at the Turf.

“It rushes us a little bit. It puts us a little closer, but we still have four weeks,” said the Hall of Famer, winning the race for the sixth time, the last four with the progeny of two-time Hirsch winner English Channel. “If she runs, she'll run against the boys. I won't run her a mile and a quarter. She's a mile-and-a-half filly.”

Of the beaten favorite, William Buick commented: “The ground was too soft. He had a beautiful run through. The leader stole the march, and the other two [War Like Goddess and Solider Rising] picked him off and I couldn't. I was struggling out there.”

Pedigree Notes:

Calumet Farm purchased Misty North for $30,000 in foal to 2011 Hirsch winner Cape Blanco (Ire) at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale and sold five foals out of the mare for a grand total of just over $10,000 before accepting $1,000 for the mare, pregnant to Bal a Bali (Brz), at KEENOV in 2019. Misty North has not produced a foal the last three season and was most recently covered by Burrow, a Candy Ride (Arg) half-brother to champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and fellow Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Town (Speightstown).

 

 

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
JOE HIRSCH TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-7, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:32.86, yl.
1–WAR LIKE GODDESS, 123, m, 6, by English Channel
                1st Dam: Misty North, by North Light (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Misty Gallop, by Victory Gallop
                3rd Dam: Romanette, by Alleged
($1,200 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $1,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $30,000
2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-George Krikorian; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $275,000. Lifetime
Record: 17-11-2-2, $2,495,184.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Soldier Rising (GB), 126, g, 5, Frankel (GB)–Sahrawi (Ger),
by Pivotal (GB). (240,000gns RNA Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Madaket
Stables LLC, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables and
Michael J. Caruso; B-Dayton Investments Ltd. (GB);
T-Christophe Clement. $100,000.
3–So High (GB), 126, g, 7, Nathaniel (Ire)–Fugitive Angel,
by Alphabet Soup. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE,
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/T-Naipaul Chatterpaul; B-George
Strawbridge (GB). $60,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1, NK. Odds: 3.80, 8.70, 90.00.
Also Ran: Rebel's Romance (Ire), Stone Age (Ire), Grand Sonata, Pioneering Spirit, Astronaut.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Moved to Next Saturday

Following New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) approval, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has moved the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic from Sunday to next Saturday, Oct. 7, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Friday's 11-race Aqueduct card was cancelled due to a powerful coastal storm causing widespread flooding and hazardous conditions throughout New York City and Long Island. In addition to Friday's cancellation, NYRA moved Saturday's 11-race card to Sunday and pushed Sunday's 10-race program to Wednesday.

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic will be re-drawn with entries to be taken on Wednesday, joining a stacked stakes card led by two Grade I “Win and You're In” qualifiers at one-mile for juveniles in the Champagne [GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile] and Frizette [GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies].

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Saturday’s Card at Aqueduct, Led by GI Turf Classic, Moved to Sunday Due to Torrential Rain

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has moved Saturday's 11-race card at Aqueduct, featuring a quartet of graded stakes races, to Sunday and pushed Sunday's 10-race program to Wednesday due to torrential rainfall causing widespread flooding and hazardous conditions in the New York metropolitan area.

Friday's 11-race card, featuring the GIII Noble Damsel and Ashley T. Cole, was canceled with more than five inches of rain expected and Ozone Park under a flash flood warning and flood watch on Friday. Heavy rainfall will continue throughout Friday and into Saturday.

Saturday's card, headlined by the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, will move in its entirety to Sunday with a first post time of 12:05 p.m. Eastern. The stacked 11-race program also features the GII Woodward S., the GII Gallant Bloom S. and the GII Vosburgh S., a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The 10-race card originally scheduled for Sunday will move in its entirety to Wednesday with a first post time of 1:05 p.m. Wednesday's action is co-headlined by a pair of Grade II “Win and You're In” qualifiers for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The Pilgrim S. awards a berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf while the Miss Grillo S. for fillies awards a berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.

The all-turf Monmouth-at-Meadowlands cards for Friday, Sept. 29 and Saturday, Sept. 30 have also been canceled due to the inclement weather.

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