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Essential Quality Exits Jim Dandy In Good Order, Targets Travers Next

Essential Quality, the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old and Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets winner, was a determined victor of Saturday's $600,000 Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and will now target the meet's signature event, the $1.25 million Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 28.

The Godolphin-owned son of Tapit, trained by Brad Cox, overcame a five-wide trip on both turns, rating at the rear of the compact field down the backstretch and fended off an inside rally from Keepmeinmind to finish off the nine furlongs in 1:49.92 over the fast main track.

“The more I looked at it, the more I wondered how much pace was in the race and then I thought we'd be forwardly placed just because he was fresh,” Cox said. “The horse to the inside of us [Keepmeinmind] was also fresh. I think it played out kind of the way we expected. Obviously, I didn't think we would be caught quite as wide, but I thought it would be a well-grouped bunch of horses going into the first turn. He's able to dig in and fight and continue on.”

The Jim Dandy marked a sixth graded stakes victory from the gray sophomore colt, who earned championship honors last season with victories in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.

After a triumphant 3-year-old debut over a sloppy track in the Grade 3 Southwest at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., he returned to the Lexington oval in the Grade 2 Blue Grass where he bested Highly Motivated to secure victory by a neck.

Essential Quality suffered his only defeat as the favorite in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby when fourth beaten a length after a wide trip in upper stretch, but returned to action with a determined victory in the Belmont Stakes when outdueling Hot Rod Charlie down the lane to win by 1 ¼ lengths.

“We always thought he was a good horse, but you just always hope all of them show that talent to reach a Grade 1 level,” Cox said. “Obviously, he was able to do that in only his second start, so he answered a lot of our questions early on as to how good he was.”

Cox expressed appreciation in being able to train horses for a world-class racing and breeding operation like Godolphin.

“Obviously, this is a dream come true, but it's a lot of hard work, good horses, great staff, and great clientele that has given us the opportunity and put us in the position to succeed,” Cox said.

Essential Quality would look to become the first horse since Alpha to capture the Jim Dandy-Runhappy Travers double.

Cox could hold a strong hand for the Runhappy Travers as Juddmonte Farm's Mandaloun, winner of the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, is also a possible contender. Cox said a breeze next weekend will likely determine which direction Mandaloun goes.

Jimmy Bell, president of Godolphin's North American operations, expressed satisfaction in running Essential Quality before the Travers and said both he and Cox were on the same page in terms of running in the Jim Dandy.

“Things are looking well, we have some nice things to look forward to,” Bell said following the Jim Dandy. “He got a lot out of this race. I would not take this for granted and Brad said very quickly he was glad he ran him. I think this will move him forward to his training for the Travers. We're obviously very pleased with the effort, the outcome and he keeps on showing up.”

Essential Quality is out of the multiple stakes-placed Elusive Quality mare Delightful Quality, who has a 2-year-old filly by Uncle Mo named Famed in training at Keeneland.

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Prat Gets Seven-Day Suspension For Haskell Ride; Begins After Del Mar Meet Closes

Jockey Flavien Prat has been handed a seven-day suspension by the Monmouth Park board of stewards for his ride in the July 17 TVG.com Haskell Stakes that resulted in the disqualification of first-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie after Midnight Bourbon clipped heels in mid-stretch, unseating jockey Paco Lopez.

The suspension begins on Sept. 7, the day after the close of the Del Mar meet in California, where Prat is the runaway leader in the jockey standings. The suspension runs through Sept. 13.

Hot Rod Charlie, ridden by Prat, made a four-wide move into the stretch of the 1 1/8-mile Haskell. overtaking Midnight Bourbon to his immediate inside nearing the furlong pole. Hot Rod Charlie then drifted in to engage Mandaloun on the rail, but did so without sufficiently clearing Midnight Bourbon, who stumbled badly after Lopez appeared to attempt to swing his mount to the outside. Midnight Bourbon managed to stay on his feet, but Lopez was unseated as Hot Rod Charlie and Mandaloun raced as a team to the wire. Hot Rod Charlie won by a nose but was disqualified and placed last, giving Mandaloun the victory in the Grade 1 race and the winner's share of the $1,005,000 purse.

Neither Midnight Bourbon nor Lopez suffered serious injury and Lopez rode the following day.

The stewards conducted a hearing with Prat July 29 and issued the ruling on Sunday morning.

“Jockey Flavien Prat failed to make a reasonable effort to keep his horse from drifting in past the eighth-mile pole, allowing his horse to cross in front of Midnight Bourbon, which resulted in Midnight Bourbon clipping heels with Hot Rod Charlie, causing Midnight Bourbon to stumble badly, unseating his rider,” the ruling states.

“Mr. Prat's actions were in violation of NJAC 13:70-11.1 (crossing and weaving), which states: 'When clear a horse may be taken to any part of the course but no horse shall cross or weave in front of other horses in such a way as to impede them or constitute or cause interference or intimidation.'”

There was no immediate word on whether Prat would appeal the suspension.

Prat's suspension comes during the Los Angeles County Fair meet at Los Alamitos.

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Awaiting Monmouth Park Stewards’ Decision, Jockey Montalvo Claims Crop Use Was For Safety Purposes

Jockey Carlos Montalvo is awaiting word from stewards at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., on whether he will be sanctioned for using his riding crop in a July 11 race en route to a three-length victory aboard M I Six in a maiden claiming event.

The New Jersey Racing Commission adopted strict rules that went into effect this year stating that the riding crop “shall only be used when necessary to control the horse to avoid injury to the horse or rider.” The crop is not allowed for encouragement.

Montalvo used the crop at least three times with his right hand on July 11, according to the Equibase chart footnotes, which read: “M I Six dueled two wide for the lead, drifted out entering the turn, had the rider go to a right-handed whip three times, then dueled with Military Drill in upper stretch, put a head in front and drew clear in the final sixteenth, ridden out.”

Montalvo told the Paulick Report he sensed M I Six was preparing to bolt to the outside fence, something he was told to expect by the gelding's exercise rider. Montalvo said he used the crop as a preventive device to protect himself, his fellow riders and the other horses in the race.

The jockey said he was called in to a July 16 hearing before having the benefit of a film review of the race with stewards. He was represented at the hearing by attorney Drew Mollica, who said Montalvo “should be congratulated for his actions, not sanctioned.” Montalvo faces a five-day suspension, $500 fine and M I Six could be disqualified from purse money.

This is the first known case in New Jersey where stewards have to determine whether the use of the riding crop was a legitimate safety issue.

Mollica said M I Six, a 4-year-old Mission Impazible gelding owned and trained by Riquelvis Grullon, was fractious throughout the saddling process and in the walking ring before the July 11 race. The aforementioned exercise rider testified at the hearing, Mollica added.

M I Six was subsequently entered in a July 21 race at Parx Racing in Pennsylvania but was a vet scratch.

The racing commission's presiding steward, Steven Pagano, declined to answer questions about the new regulation, referring all media inquiries to the office of the New Jersey attorney general. A spokesman from that office stated that “the new rule does not specify what kind of safety concerns would result in approved use of the riding crop by a jockey. The NJRC's presiding steward has been conducting meetings with the jockeys and exercise riders to explain the new riding crop rule and answer questions.”

Meanwhile, no hearing date has been set for Flavien Prat, the rider of Hot Rod Charlie, who was disqualified from a victory in the Grade 1, $1-million tvg.com Haskell Stakes on July 17. Hot Rod Charlie drifted in after moving to the lead in mid-stretch, causing Midnight Bourbon to clip heels and unseating jockey Paco Lopez. Mandaloun, beaten a nose by Hot Rod Charlie, was declared the winner.

Prat has been quoted as saying he felt as though he could have prevented Hot Rod Charlie from drifting in if he was permitted to use the riding crop.

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Doug O’Neill Talks ‘Questionable’ Haskell DQ, Whip Rules On Writers’ Room

Trainer Doug O'Neill experienced the agony and ecstasy of racing early Saturday evening at Monmouth Park, all in the span of less than 10 minutes. First, his star 3-year-old Hot Rod Charlie (Oxbow) won a hard-fought stretch battle in the GI TVG.com Haskell S., which would have been the colt's first Grade I victory after a handful of near-misses.

But quickly after the race, in which Hot Rod Charlie came in on Midnight Bourbon (Tiznow) and the latter soon stumbled and lost rider Paco Lopez, the red inquiry sign lit up on the toteboard. The stewards eventually disqualified 'Charlie', demoting him to last, a decision O'Neill expressed some issue with while sitting down with the crew from the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland for a wide-ranging discussion Wednesday morning. The podcast can be viewed here; the audio-only version can be found here or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

“Obviously, I'm so biased, but I thought the disqualification was a little questionable,” he said. “But that's part of the sport, right? It's part of all sports. Sometimes, you think you're safe at home and you're not. It's just a very unfortunate thing, but we're extremely fortunate that both Paco and Midnight Bourbon are OK.”

Debate has raged in the hours and days since the near-disaster in the Haskell about whether or not the whip ban instituted by the New Jersey Racing Commission at Monmouth took away a tool jockey Flavien Prat could have used to prevent the spill. O'Neill, the Green Group Guest of the Week, was cautious with his words, but made clear his disagreement with the new crop rules.

“It's interesting to me how a lot of people make rules who can't really relate to what's going on,” he said. “I wouldn't want to get too involved in the details because I've never been a jockey, but I know a lot of top riders [disagree with the ban]. The riding crop has evolved. It's so ridiculously subtle, and it really just serves as a reminder every now and then. These horses are big animals and the connection between horse and human is strong, but sometimes you need to encourage them to do something you want to do, which a lot of times is to separate from whoever they're running alongside. So yeah, I do wish they'd reconsider that.”

O'Neill, who got choked up on the NBC telecast of the Haskell, explained the roller coaster of emotions he felt from when the gates opened to the time the DQ was announced.

“I'm king of a big softie in that way,” he said. “I got a little emotional seeing Eddie, Hot Rod Charlie's groom, hand off Charlie to Lava Man leaving the paddock, because those two horses have been so amazing to me. I love them both. I watched the race on the apron and never saw anything happen. So I was just elated; I thought we won. All the hard work that Eddie and Johnny and the rest of the team had put in every day leading up to this, I was like, 'Wow, Charlie did it, man. Charlie did it.' Then when I got down there and they said a rider went down, I'm like, 'What?' So that added all kinds of craziness to it and it was a real unique experience. Again, I was just grateful when I heard Paco was going to be OK and that the horse was up running around. So that was all good.”

As for what's next for his current star as he continues to hunt that elusive Grade I, O'Neill was noncommittal, but indicated he was leaning towards either giving Hot Rod Charlie a slight break or running him against elders in the GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 21 at Del Mar.

“The beauty of Bill Strauss and Greg Helms and my nephew Patrick, who own him and are very connected with him, is they've been so patient along the way,” he said. “And I think that's why we're seeing a 3-year-old who ran in the Derby who seems like he's just getting better and better. A lot of that, I think, is due to spacing and patience. So under that mindset, I got a feeling that we might not run for a little bit. We'll just have to play it by ear. We're stabled here at beautiful Del Mar Racetrack and Del Mar management's been great. So the Pacific Classic is definitely circled on our calendar, but by no means will we force the issue if we feel we're not ready.”

Elsewhere on Wednesday's podcast, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers broke down a stellar opening week of racing at Saratoga and the injunctive relief Bob Baffert received last week to be able to race in New York.

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