Tag: Monmouth Cup

Godolphin Homebred Proxy Back to Winning Ways in Monmouth Cup

Sometimes Proxy (h, 5, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include), the GI Clark H. winner, shows up and sometimes Proxy, the last-place finisher in the GI Stephen Foster S., makes an appearance. Saturday in Monmouth's $400,000 GIII Monmouth Cup S., it was the former, as the gutsy bay and 2-5 choice called on his class to uncharacteristically set the pace and turn back stiff challenges from Whelen Springs (Street Sense)–the only horse in the field with a recent win over the surface–and last-out GII Brooklyn S. runner-up Calibrate (Distorted Humor).

“He really showed some guts,” said winning trainer Michael Stidham. “He's never been on the lead in his life. He's laid close early on in his career so we knew he could be close and still finish. But he was never on the lead so I didn't know what to think. I was hoping for the best, and then when they hooked him at the three-sixteenths pole, I thought, `Oh boy, here we go.' Then he dug in and class came through in the end.”

Proxy, who has been running with cheek pieces for his last couple of starts, took some bumping out of the gate, but shrugged them all off to emerge from the fray on top. After a first quarter in :23.80 and a half in :48.13, Calibrate tackled him from the outside while Wheelin Springs jumped in around the turn. With the trio heads apart coming into the stretch and well clear of the rest, Joel Rosario encouraged the winner with a couple of right-handed taps and he quickly put daylight on the interlopers to cross the wire 2 1/2 lengths the best. The final time for the nine furlongs was 1:49.99.

“I think it was just a case of too much class,” said Rosario. “He was the best horse in the race. He broke well and I just kind of let him go and do his thing. He's a little tricky sometimes to ride. You have to let him do the work. I know he always tries. He never gives up. He just does what he does. I was on the best horse and I rode him that way. They put some pressure on us but I was never worried. He has so much class. I just let him show the way.”

The Monmouth Cup was Proxy's third win at the distance. After knocking at the door with five graded placings from 2021-22, he finally broke through last November, getting his first graded score in a big way with a 101 Beyer Speed Figure and a visit to the winner's circle in the aforementioned Clark at Churchill Downs. He kicked off 2023 by missing the superfecta in the GI Pegasus World Cup, rebounded with a game second by just a neck to Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) in the GI Santa Anita H. prior to a GII Oaklawn H. win, then threw in the towel last out in the July 1 Stephen Foster.

Pedigree Notes:

Gainesway's remarkable Tapit, an annual fixture on the leading sires list, is the sire of Proxy and exactly 100 other graded winners bred in the Northern Hemisphere. His 159 black-type winners include the likes of Horse of Year Flightline, a number of champions including Godolphin's Essential Quality, and four GI Belmont S. winners. Both Proxy and MGSW Pink Sands are by Tapit and out of Include mares. Airdrie's late Include, a son of Broad Brush who passed away last summer due to complications from a heart condition, has 29 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Godolphin bred Proxy out of 2007 GI Juddmonte Spinster S. and GI American Oaks winner Panty Raid after John Ferguson purchased her for $2.5 million at the 2008 Fasig-Tipton November sale. The full-sister to GSW and 2011 GI Kentucky Oaks runner-up St. John's River has also produced GSW & GISP Micheline (Bernardini) and has an unraced 2-year-old gelding named Out in Force (Frosted). Her most recent offspring is a yearling filly by Into Mischief.

Saturday, Monmouth Park
MONMOUTH CUP S.-GIII, $400,000, Monmouth, 7-22,
3yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:49.99, ft.
1–PROXY, 124, h, 5, by Tapit
               1st Dam: Panty Raid (MGISW, $1,052,380), by Include
               2nd Dam: Adventurous Di, by Private Account
               3rd Dam: Tamaral, by Seattle Slew
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham; J-Joel Rosario.
$240,000. Lifetime Record: GISW, 18-6-6-2, $2,024,970. *1/2
to Micheline (Bernardini), GSW & GISP, $695,103. Werk Nick
Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report &
5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com
catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Whelen Springs, 118, c, 4, Street Sense–Holy Nova, by Pure
Prize. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Shortleaf Stable (AR);
T-Lindsay Schultz. $80,000.
3–Calibrate, 122, g, 5, Distorted Humor–Glamour and Style, by
Dynaformer. ($340,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Josh Engel, Rick
Engel, Greg Armatys and Chelsey Badura; B-Don Alberto
Corporation (KY); T-Jamie Ness. $40,000.
Margins: 2HF, 4 3/4, 2HF. Odds: 0.40, 6.90, 4.00.
Also Ran: Antigravity, Fowler Blue, Forewarned, Higher Quality.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs.
VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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Saffie Joseph, Jr. Points Mischevious Alex To Forego At Saratoga

Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. said Cash is King and LC Racing's Mischevious Alex had a good breeze back on Friday in his first timed work since an off-the-board finish in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 31 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 4-year-old Into Mischief bay worked a half-mile solo in :48.45 on the main track in preparation for a start in the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego at seven furlongs on the main track on Travers Day August 28.

“He's bounced out of the race good. We haven't seen anything to deter us running back in the Forego,” Joseph, Jr. said. “He got the thumps last time pretty bad. Hopefully, that was the reason for his performance.”

A multiple graded stakes winner, Mischevious Alex has won 3-of-5 starts this year, including scores in the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., in February and the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Joseph Jr. said Friday's breeze have him confidence that Mischevious Alex could return to form in the Forego.

“He went a good half by himself. Hopefully, the real Alex shows up and if he does, he'll have a good chance,” Joseph, Jr. said.

Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig's Drain the Clock, a sophomore son of Maclean's Music, also breezed Friday covering a half-mile in :48.83 on the main track.

Boasting a record of six wins and two seconds from nine starts, Drain the Clock bested Jackie's Warrior by a neck on June 5 at Belmont in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens.

Last out, in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 2 Amsterdam, Jackie's Warrior turned the tables with a romping 7 1/4-length score over a sloppy and sealed Saratoga main track.

Joseph Jr. said he is hopeful Drain the Clock will one-up his familiar foe in the $500,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Travers Day.

“No one was beating Jackie that day. He ran dynamite. Maybe our horse didn't run his best that day but all credit to Jackie,” Joseph, Jr. said. “We have no excuse. We had a good trip. The record is one and one. He's beat us once, we beat him once. We'll try again in the Allen Jerkens.”

John Fanelli, Cash is King, LC Racing, Paul Braverman, and Team Hanley's Ny Traffic, a 4-year-old New York-bred son of Cross Traffic, breezed a half-mile in :48 flat Sunday on the main track.

The talented colt finished second in a trio of graded events last year, including the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby in March at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., the Grade 3 Matt Winn in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., in July in which he finished just a nose back of Authentic.

Ny Traffic won his seasonal debut in May at Belmont by 6 3/4-lengths sprinting seven furlongs against fellow state-breds in an optional claimer and followed with a close second in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile in June at Monmouth.

Last out, Ny Traffic faded to fourth in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Monmouth Cup on July 17.

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“He went good this morning. It was his first breeze back since Monmouth, I had him in 47 and 4. It was a good work back,” Joseph Jr. said. “There's a possibility he could go in the Forego or the Charles Town Classic.”

Joseph Jr. said Ny Traffic will breeze again next weekend before he decides on cutting back to seven furlongs for the Forego or stretching out to nine furlongs for the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at Charles Town in Charles Town, W.Va. on August 27.

Overall, Joseph, Jr. said he has been pleased with Ny Traffic's performances this season.

“He won his debut at Belmont and in his second race at Monmouth he ran second but it was a good race,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Last time he disappointed a little bit if you just look at the running lines, but the reality is that he acted up pre-race back at the barn and I think he lost his race there. It wasn't a true run.”

Joseph, Jr. said e Five Racing Thoroughbreds' Gibberish will turn back to nine furlongs for the $120,000 Summer Colony on August 22 at the Spa.

Last out, the 4-year-old daughter of Lea was a game second to Miss Marissa in the 10-furlong Grade 2 Delaware Handicap on July 10.

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Global Campaign Ruled Out Of Pegasus, Retired To WinStar For 2021

Grade 1 winner Global Campaign, third in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Keeneland Nov. 7, with a career-best 106 Beyer, will not resume training and has been retired, WinStar Farm announced today. Campaigned by Sagamore Farm and WinStar Farm, Global Campaign will stand the 2021 breeding season at WinStar for a fee of $12,500 S&N.

“We considered bringing him back for a final start in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. (G1) because he ran so well in the Breeders' Cup,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. “He shed his frog in that race and the timing of getting him back into training is not going to work, unfortunately. He has been very popular when people see him, and we are excited about standing him next year.”

The 4-year-old son of Curlin emulated his sire by capturing the Woodward H. (G1) in his start prior to the Breeders' Cup Classic, earning a 104 Beyer in the front-running score for trainer Stanley Hough. The Woodward marked his second straight Graded win following a victory in the Monmouth Cup S. (G3) over the summer. Last year at three, he won the Peter Pan S. (G3), defeating next-out Belmont S. (G1) winner Sir Winston. All told, Global Campaign retires with a record of 10-6-0-2, having amassed earnings of $1,321,080.

A winner from seven furlongs to 1 ¼ miles, Global Campaign is out of the A.P. Indy mare Globe Trot, making him a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Bolt d'Oro and multiple stakes winner Sonic Mule.

For more information on Global Campaign, contact Liam O'Rourke, Chris Knehr, or Olivia Desch at (859) 873-1717, or visit WinStarFarm.com.

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Math Wizard Tops Overflow Field For Friday Night’s Charles Town Classic

An overflow field of ten runners, led by Grade 1 winner Math Wizard will take to the gate on Friday night at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races as the track hosts its premier event of the season – the rescheduled $600,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) for older horses going the three-turn distance of 1 1/8 miles. West Virginia's most lucrative race highlights a card that includes seven stakes with purses totalling $1.25 million and marks the first time the track has held two graded events on the same day. Post time for the first race on the card is 5:00pm EST.

After following up his signature win in the 2019 Pennsylvania Derby (G1) with a fifth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), the Saffie Joseph trained Math Wizard spent some time on the sidelines before a return to the races produced a subpar performance in the Razorback (G3) at Oaklawn Park in February. After the ongoing Covid pandemic threw Math Wizard's schedule up in the air, he spent another four months away from the races, resurfacing in a handicap at Gulfstream Park where he checked in fifth beaten 3 3/4 lengths.

However, in his last start on Haskell day in the Monmouth Cup, Math Wizard signaled a potential return to form when he closed well to finish second, beaten 1 1/2-lengths for the top spot by Global Campaign. Since his effort at Monmouth, the son of Algorithms has flourished in his training up at Saratoga and his conditioner thought the lucrative Classic was a race that suited his colt well.

“He ran one of the best races of his life last time out according to the numbers, and he's been training great coming out of it,” said the native of Barbados who will saddle his first ever starters at Charles Town on Friday. “I think he's going to continue to progress and take another step forward on Friday.”

While Joseph has enjoyed a couple of breakout years as a trainer with 2020 Kentucky Derby (G1) contender Ny Traffic, multiple stakes winner Chance it and multiple graded stakes winner and 2020 Charles Town Oaks starter Tonalist's Shape, it's still his lone Grade 1 winner to date that he credits for getting the ball rolling in his stable's quest to join the sport's upper echelon.

“I think when we look back in 15 or 20 or however many years, we'll say that Math Wizard will be the horse that put us on the map. He's just an incredibly special horse to us and always will be.”

This Friday evening, Math Wizard will have the services of jockey Christian Hiraldo as he breaks from Post 4 as the 3-to-1 favorite.

Back for another run in the Charles Town Classic is Imaginary Stables and Glenn K. Ellis' War Story, the eight-year-old gelding who was last seen finishing third in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park earlier this year. With his start in the Classic on Friday night, War Story will join two-time winner Imperative as the only horses to make four starts in Charles Town's marquee race and the son of Northern Afleet has come tantalizingly close to adding a Charles Town Classic score to his resume which already includes three graded stakes victories and earnings of more than $3.2 million.

Now trained by Elizabeth Dobles, War Story has checked in third in both the 2017 and 2019 runnings and second in 2018, a fact that led his connections to target this race after a trip to Dubai earlier in 2020 fell through.

The handicap division veteran has shown few signs of slowing down over the past two years taking graded stakes at both Monmouth Park in the 2019 Monmouth Cup (G3) and Gulfstream Park in the Harlan's Holiday (G3) prior to his run behind Mucho Gusto and Mr. Freeze in the Pegasus.

War Story will have his fourth different rider in the Charles Town Classic as J.D. Acosta jumps on board the 4-to-1 second choice.

Much like his fellow Charles Town Classic runner Math Wizard, Allied Racing Stable LLC and Spendthrift Farm LLC's Mr. Money is looking to recapture the 2019 form that eventually saw him sent off as the third choice in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) behind the likes of Omaha Beach and Improbable.

After stringing together a four race winning streak in a quartet of Grade 3 events as a three-year-old, including the West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer, the Bret Calhoun trainee came within a neck of becoming a Grade 1 winner when he was caught in the final strides of the Pennsylvania Derby by his rival on Friday night. When he emerged after five months on the sidelines, Mr. Money caught a wet track – as well as Tom's d'Etat and Improbable – in the Oaklawn Mile and followed that up with a wide trip that resulted in a fourth place finish in the Blame at Churchill before only mustering a sixth place effort in a cutback to 6 1/2 furlongs at Keeneland in his most recent outing.

In the Charles Town Classic, Mr. Money stretches back out to a distance that seems more to his liking but, either way, his trainer isn't concerned about what he's seen thus far in 2020.

“He had a great year last year and has had a rocky start to this year, but it's not really his doing,” said Calhoun. “He caught a sloppy track that he didn't like at Oaklawn. I thought he ran a pretty good race in the Blame at Churchill with a really wide trip. Then we got stuck without a spot with so many races getting canceled. So we ran him in that race at Keeneland and 61/2 furlongs is not his deal. So it really hasn't been his fault. He's trained forwardly all along and we're looking forward to getting him back on track this Friday.”

Gerald Almodovar rides Mr. Money who breaks from Post 6.

Winchell Thoroughbreds' Tenfold is himself out to recapture some past form and find the winners' circle for the first time since the 2019 Pimlico Special (G3) and provide trainer Steve Asmussen with a win in his first Charles Town Classic.

Third, beaten less than a length by Justify, in the 2018 Preakness (G1) and a winner of the Jim Dandy (G2) later in his three-year-old season, the Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred eclipsed the $1 million mark in career earnings earlier this year and is looking to rebound from a third place finish in the Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) in June.

While Tenfold marks Asmussen's first Charles Town Classic runner, he's developed a solid record over the years at Charles Town with 6 wins from 14 stakes outings, a run that started with Rock Slide back in the 1987 West Virginia Lottery Breeders' Classic.

Luis Batista rides Tenfold who stands at 5-to-1 on the morning line.

2019 Charles Town hero Runnin'toluvya is back to defend his crown and will seek to do what Duke of Mischief, Game on Dude, Imperative, Stanford and Something Awesome could not do – join Researcher as the only back-to-back winner of the Charles Town Classic.

In 2019, the West Virginia-bred son of Fiber Sonde entered the race red hot after stringing together eight consecutive wins over the Charles Town oval. 2020 will be a bit of a different story, however, as the popular gelding has dropped four of his last five decisions and comes into the race without a start since May 30.

However, neither his recent record nor the layoff is of great concern for Runnin'toluvya's trainer Tim Grams who also owns the six-year-old along with his wife, Judy.

“He's doing really good. I breezed him last week, and he did it handily. It's going to be a tough race, but we're going in without hesitation because of how well he's doing. It was an unfortunate trip last time out. You know, it's hard even for the really good ones to have to start and stop three or four times like he did. Obviously for my peace of mind I would like to be coming in off of a good race, but that was the hand we were dealt.”

As for the layoff, Friday will mark the fifth time Runnin'toluvya has started off a layoff of at least 90 days in his career, with the prior four outings resulting in three wins and a runner-up finish. Even without a race since the end of May, Grams has kept his stable star sharp and ready for his bid at a Classic repeat.

“I felt like last year, we had him in training without a race to point towards and he got a little dull. But this year he's been staying a lot sharper and he's fit. We'll just have to see how it goes. I just hope he breaks clean and gets a good position in the clear so that when it's time to run, he can run.”

Antonio Lopez has the call on Runnin'toluvya in the Charles Town Classic.

Another Charles Town Classic entrant looking to find the winner's circle once again is the well-traveled Multiplier, who came up just a neck short of posting an upset in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) earlier this year but has gone more than two years without a victory despite banking north of $500,000 in his career.

A winner of the Illinois Derby (G3) back in 2017, Multiplier was most recently seen knocking heads with divisional heavyweights Tom's d'Etat and By My Standards in the Stephen Foster (G2) – a race where the now six-year-old finished fourth, beaten eight lengths. Despite Multiplier only being trainer Peter Miller's second ever starter over the Charles Town oval, there was a familiarity with some of the track's leading connections that made the trip to West Virginia more appealing.

“We're excited and the horse is doing great,” said the California based Miller. “He's been training up at Monmouth and doing really well over there. We've got the top rider [Arnaldo Bocachica] which is good and he'll go to [Jeff] Runco's barn for the week. I have worked with Jeff for a while and he's great. So we'll just hope for a good trip. We're looking forward to it.”

As Miller alluded to, Multiplier will have the services of Charles Town's leading rider, Arnaldo Bocachica on Friday night and will break from Post 10.

Plus Que Parfait, winner of the 2019 UAE Derby (G2) in Dubai, Sleepy Eyes Todd, and Ohio-breds Forewarned and Mo Dont No complete the body of the Charles Town Classic field with Awesome D J on the also-eligible list.

Post time for the Charles Town Classic is set for 10:18 PM EST and the race can be seen on TVG as well as heard on the Horse Racing Radio Network. The Classic will be the penultimate race in the Charles Town 6-12 sequence – a Pick 6 with a low 12% takeout – that sports a mandatory of the carryover on Classic day with a total of $111,750 in the carryover going into the track's Thursday night card.

$600,000 CHARLES TOWN CLASSIC (G2)
August 28, 2020
Race 11 – Post time 10:18 PM EST
3&up, 1 1/8 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Forewarned, Sunday Diaz, Jr., 118, Uriah St. Lewis
2. Tenfold, Luis A. Batista, 118, Steven M. Asmussen
3. Mo Dont No, Wesley Ho, 118, Jeffrey A. Radosevich
4. Math Wizard, Christian Hiraldo, 118, Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.
5. Runnin'toluvya, Antonio Lopez, 118, Timothy C. Grams
6. Mr. Money, Gerald Almodovar, 118, W. Bret Calhoun
7. Sleepy Eyes Todd, Open, 118, Miguel Angel Silva
8. Plus Que Parfait, Reshawn Latchman, 118, Brendan P. Walsh
9. War Story, J.D. Acosta, 118, Elizabeth L. Dobles
10. Multiplier, Arnaldo Bocachica, 118, Peter Miller
Also Eligible
11. Awesome D J, Fredy Peltroche, 118, Jose Corrales

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