Kelly Brinkerhoff | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fairytale Finale? Hard-Knocking Restrainedvengence To Be Entered In Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile

Restrainedvengence, the sometimes-irascible cash cow for trainer Val Brinkerhoff and his owners, Bobby Grayson Jr. and Val's wife, Kelly, will face the most daunting test of his long career when he runs in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov.6.

“The Mile (on turf) is too tough with the likes of Mo Forza, and the Dirt Mile is coming up light, so that's where we're going,” said Brinkerhoff, who has had Restrainedvengence since Day One, running the 6-year-old gelded son of Hold Me Back on turf, dirt, synthetic, in sprints and routes from coast to coast.

In 34 career starts, Restrainedvengence has 10 wins, four seconds and three thirds with earnings of $917,682. He worked four furlongs Friday in 50 seconds flat.

“It was an easy breeze,” said Brinkerhoff, who celebrates his 65th birthday next Tuesday, Oct. 19. “He'll have one more here before we go to Del Mar.”

Edwin Maldonado, who piloted Restrainedvengence to a courageous nose victory as the 13-10 favorite in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque Handicap on Sept. 18, will be back aboard in the Dirt Mile. Restrainedvengence won the same race last year by a head under Ruben Fuentes.

Restrainedvengence may be a cut below racing's A-List Thoroughbreds, but on the track he's all race horse. Anyone who doubts that should watch a replay of his victory in New Mexico.

Winning the Breeders' Cup would be a fitting fairytale finale.

“The Breeders' Cup is a big step,” Brinkerhoff allowed, “but we might not get another chance.”

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Restrainedvengence Gets First Graded Stakes Victory In American Stakes

Owner/trainer Val Brinkerhoff's consistent 6-year-old gelding Restrainedvengence kept to his task and overhauled favored Neptune's Storm late to notch his first-ever graded stakes victory, as he took Sunday's $100,000 Grade 3 American Stakes by a half-length at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden by Tyler Baze, Restrainedvengence got one mile on turf in 1:33.87.

With longshot Sash gunning from his outside post, Neptune's Storm tracked him while second by 1 ½ lengths as Restrainedvengence sat third by a similar margin around the Club House turn. Heading to the quarter pole, it appeared Neptune's Storm, ridden by Flavien Prat, had matters in hand as he reeled in Sash and took charge turning for home.

But Restrainedvengence had plenty left to say, as he wheeled three-deep at the top of the lane while about two lengths off the lead and gradually gained the ascendency inside the sixteenth pole to win going away.

“First of all, I'm most thankful to have Tyler stick with the horse because I haven't been able to get anyone to stick with my horse,” said Brinkerhoff, who purchased the horse for $65,000 as a Keeneland September Yearling. “He likes him and he's come to know him, to win a graded stakes at Santa Anita for me, is just the best thing that ever happened for a long time.

“When I first got him and broke him, I mean he's been a handful, but you love him because he's so good. He's just hard to deal with, when he wants to do something, I just give up and let him do it, and then we go back and start over. I think his attitude has made him be a champion because he wants to do what he wants to do and he loves to run.”

A Kentucky-bred by the Giant's Causeway stallion Hold Me Back, Restrainedvengence, who was most recently third in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile here on May 31, was off at 3-1 in a field of six 3-year-olds and up and paid $8.80, $3.60 and $2.60.

“He always tries,” said Baze. “We kind of figured out a couple of things with him a couple of races ago and he was real primed to run a huge race today. I won on him before in New Mexico and I had the chance to get back on him this year. He's done nothing but try hard and just been a great horse for Val.”

Owned by Val Brinkerhoff's wife Kelly and Bob Grayson, Jr., Restrainedvengence, who is out of the Red Ransom mare Cupids Revenge, now has a total of seven stakes wins and an overall mark of 31-9-4-3. With the winner's share of $60,000, he increased his earnings to $768,182.

Idle since Sept. 7 and in his first start for Peter Miller, Neptune's Storm appeared to have a perfect trip but couldn't go with the winner late. Off at 4-5, he paid $2.60 and $2.20 while finishing a half-length in front of an on-rushing Tiz Plus.

Ridden by Trevor McCarthy and a first-time gelding today, Tiz Plus was off at 17-1 and rallied well for third money as he returned $3.20 to show.

Fractions for the American Stakes were :22.91, :45.88, 1:09.34, and 1:21.64.

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Restrainedvengence Seeks Another Stakes Win At Santa Anita

Restrainedvengence has been with the Brinkerhoffs so long he's part of the family.

Although not worthy of Hall of Fame consideration, the old warhorse has more than earned his keep, with a bankroll of $708,182 in this his fifth year of racing, never running where he could be claimed and holding his own in graded stakes company.

He has eight wins, four seconds, and three thirds in 30 starts but no graded victories. He has won on turf, dirt, and synthetic, sprinting at 6½ furlongs and routing at a mile and an eighth, but his niche is going a mile on turf.

Perhaps his best performance was a second by a head in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. on Oct. 5, 2019, although his third in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile last out at Santa Anita on May 31 wasn't too shabby.

Tomorrow, closing day at Santa Anita, the venerable cash cow for trainer Val Brinkerhoff, and his wife and valued assistant, Kelly, who owns the six-year-old gelding along with Bobby Grayson Jr., seems ideally spotted to win the Grade 3 American Stakes for three-year-olds and up at a mile on turf.

“He came out of the Shoemaker really well, ate everything up, breezed four furlongs in :48 flat last Friday, and galloped out nice,” said Brinkerhoff, himself a former jockey who turns 65 on Oct. 19. “He's ready to fire one of his better races, hopefully.

“I thought he ran well in the Shoemaker, but it was a tough spot. He had an accident at the barn that caused me to scratch him a race before the Shoemaker, and that set him back, but I think we've got him as good as we can get him right now.

“This is his best shot to win a graded race, but he's been right there in other graded stakes. Whatever you ask him to do, he tries to do it for you.”

Brinkerhoff, an angular version of John Wayne, cowboy hat and all, but without the swagger, is a hands-on horseman from dawn 'til dusk. He is the patriarch of a cohesive Mormon family that grew even closer 16 years ago after his two younger brothers, Brad, 45, and Todd, 42, died from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, a progressive neurological disease that controls voluntary muscle movement, informally known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

At 5′ 10″ and 118 pounds when he rode at bush tracks in Montana and his home state of Utah at outposts with far-flung names like Beaver, Richfield, Marysvale, Kanab, Parowan, Ferron, Payson, and Panguitch, Val started riding when he was 14 in Fillmore, Utah, population circa 2,500.

Restrainedvengence, a Kentucky-bred son of the Giant's Causeway stallion Hold Me Back out of Cupids Revenge, thus his name, has been with Brinkerhoff since he was a yearling.

“I bought him at the Keeneland September sale, had him from day one, broke him and everything,” Brinkerhoff said.

“He was a nice-looking colt when I saw him at the sale, although not fashionably bred, but they kept bidding on him and I think we gave $65,000 for him. The bloodstock agent came running over all excited and said, 'Congratulations! You just bought the most expensive Hold Me Back ever sold!'

“It was pretty funny, but it turned out to be true. I've never had much trouble with the horse, although he's a little bit below the best horses in the country.

“But he's paid his way and I'm sure thankful to have him.”

The American Stakes is race seven: Tiz Plus, Trevor McCarthy, 15-1; Restrainedvengence, Tyler Baze, 5-2; Neptune's Storm, Flavien Prat, 4-5; Border Town, Mike Smith, 5-1; Majestic Eagle, Mario Gutierrez, 5-1; and Sash, Juan Hernandez, 12-1.

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Brinkerhoff’s ‘Best Horse’ Restrainedvengence Chasing Graded Win In City Of Hope Mile

Restrainedvengence, the “best horse” Val Brinkerhoff has ever trained, comes back in Saturday's Grade II City of Hope Mile on Santa Anita's turf in just over two weeks from his last race, a game head victory as the 4-5 favorite in the $200,000 Downs at Albuquerque, New Mexico over a mile and an eighth on dirt Sept. 19. It was the richest race of the meet.

“The City of Hope is a short field and he came out of his race super-good, never lost any weight and never missed a meal,” said Brinkerhoff, a former jockey who rode at the bush tracks in the northwest before becoming one of the hardest-working horsemen in the game just over a dozen years ago.

Brinkerhoff, who turns 64 on Oct. 19, still gallops his own horses.

“I think getting the horse there took more out of him than the race itself,” said Val, whose wife and dedicated assistant, Kelly, and Bobby Grayson Jr. own the five-year-old gelded son of Hold Me Back, who has an 8-3-1 record from 25 starts with earnings of $625,222. He was second by a head in the City of Hope last year.

“I missed some training on him here but he ran good enough to win despite being bumped through the stretch. He should be fit now because I missed a bunch of time after I ran him at Golden Gate (in the Grade III San Francisco Mile June 14) because of a foot issue, then I missed time because of the smoke from the fires here, but he's fine now.

“He's won stakes on three different surfaces: Tapeta, dirt and turf, so he's very versatile.” While he's never won a graded stakes, the Kentucky-bred has competed in 12 straight added money races and earned Beyer speed figures of 100 or more in three of them.

The City of Hope, race eight of 10 with a 12:30 p.m. first post time: Sharp Samurai, Juan Hernandez, 5-2; Restrainedvengence, Ruben Fuentes, 8-1; Majestic Eagle, Ricardo Gonzalez, 20-1; Royal Ship, Mike Smith, 4-1; Bob and Jackie, Heriberto Figueroa, 12-1; Blitzkrieg, Abel Cedillo, 4-1; and Mo Forza, Flavien Prat, 8-5.

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