Blinkers, Added Distance Making The Difference For Withers Winner Risk Taking

Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking earned a career-best 89 Beyer Speed Figure for his triumphant stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Trained by Chad Brown, the son of Medaglia d'Oro broke well from post 5 and settled in sixth in between horses before inching his way closer to the front under little asking from Eric Cancel. Nearing the sixteenth pole, Risk Taking confronted and overtook pacesetter Capo Kane en route to a 3 ¾-length win as the post-time favorite. He earned 10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

“He came out of the race good. He doesn't look too tired so I'm very happy with how he came out of the race,” said Dan Stupp, Brown's Belmont Park-based assistant.

Risk Taking arrived at the Withers off a third-out nine-furlong maiden special weight score where he sported blinkers for the first time to defeat next-out winners The Reds and Unbridled Honor, both of whom also broke their maidens at two turns.

Stupp said blinkers and added distance have benefitted Risk Taking.

“He's always been a forward training horse in the morning, but the blinkers and the added distance were beneficial,” Stupp said. “The blinkers helped him focus a bit more. It really brought out what we saw in the morning. That combination has certainly worked well for him.”

Following the Withers, Brown said Risk Taking would likely target the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at the Big A. The nine-furlong Wood Memorial is the final local prep for the Grade 1, Kentucky Derby and awards the top-four finishers qualifying points according to a 100-40-20-10 scale.

Bred in Kentucky by G. Watts Humphrey, Jr., Risk Taking was purchased for $240,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the Distorted Humor mare Run a Risk, who was twice stakes-placed on grass. He comes from the same extended family as Grade 1-winner and champion producing sire Seeking the Gold.

Runner-up Overtook Handles Two Turns
The Todd Pletcher-trained Overtook rallied from last-of-9 to finish second in Saturday's Grade 3 Withers, earning a career-best 83 Beyer.

“He came out of the race in good shape and ate up last night. His energy level looks good walking around, so I was happy with his effort,” said Pletcher assistant Byron Hughes.

Owned by Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith, Overtook showed a strong closing kick under Manny Franco in the stretch run in pursuit of the victorious Risk Taking.

“That seems to be how he wants to run,” Hughes said. “Manny did a good job of getting him to settle down the backside and got a good run at him. He seems to be steadily improving and getting sharper. That was a big jump up from his maiden win. I don't know what the next step is but two turns looks like what he wants to do.”

Bred in Kentucky by Hill 'n' Dale Farm and Phillip J. Steinberg, Overtook is by dual Horse of the Year and champion producing sire Curlin and out of the Grade 1-winning A.P. Indy mare Got Lucky, making him a direct descendant of La Troienne. He was purchased for $1 million from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Capo Kane May Shorten Up Next Out In Gotham
Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane came out of his third-place effort in the Withers in good order, trainer Harold Wyner said Sunday morning. The veteran conditioner said the Street Sense colt could cut back in distance next out in the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham going a one-turn mile on March 6 at Aqueduct.

The Withers, offering 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, marked Capo Kane's first start at nine furlongs after posting two wins and a runner-up finish between seven furlongs and a mile and 70 yards through his first three starts.

Under jockey Dylan Davis, Capo Kane led the nine-horse Withers field through the first mile before tiring in the stretch. Capo Kane still pressed on, earning a pair of qualifying points after finishing behind Overtook and winner Risk Taking.

After earning an 81 Beyer for his first start at two turns, Capo Kane will likely be shortened up in the Gotham, which offers 50-20-10-5 qualifying points to the first Saturday in May.

“He came out of it good and ate up his dinner last night and seems fine this morning,” Wyner said. “The track wasn't speed-favoring, that's for sure and it caught up to him in the last sixteenth of a mile. We're going to point him towards the Gotham.”

Capo Kane ran second on debut in October at Parx going seven furlongs and capped his juvenile year with a maiden-breaking 4 1/2-length score on November 25 at the same track stretched out to a mile and 70 yards.

On New Year's Day, Capo Kane won his first stakes start – and sophomore bow – in gate-to-wire dominance, besting a five-horse Jerome field by 6 1/4 lengths at one mile. That win, which earned a personal-best 84 Beyer, coupled with Saturday gives Capo Kane 12 total qualifying points; tied for sixth-most on the leaderboard with Jackie's Warrior.

“I just think he's learning every race and has talent and natural speed,” Wyner said. “He's just training nicely and moving forward from each race.”

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Brown Eyes Wood Memorial After Withers Triumph By Risk Taking

Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking proved in his maiden score he could win going 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct Racetrack, and that success at two turns proved beneficial on Saturday when he overtook pacesetter Capo Kane in the final furlong and powered home a 3 3/4-length winner of the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers for 3-year-olds at the Big A in Ozone Park, N.Y.

Risk Taking, who finished off the board in splitting his first two starts between the main track and turf, again found a comfort zone going longer, capturing the 145th running of the Withers, a Grade 1 Kentucky Derby prep race awarding 10-4-2-1 points to the top-four finishers.

Jerome-winner Capo Kane broke well from post 3 and led the nine-horse field though the opening quarter-mile in 24.02 seconds, the half in 48.71 and three-quarters in 1:13.17 on the fast main track.

Risk Taking also broke alertly from post 5 under jockey Eric Cancel, settling in sixth position and content to let others do the heavy lifting. Out of the turn, Capo Kane, under jockey Dylan Davis, maintained the advantage with Eagle Orb putting in a bid from the rail. Capo Kane fended off that challenge, but Risk Taking showed the deep-closing skills that led to his win last out on December 14, easily taking command in the stretch with an outside charge, completing the course in 1:51.91.

Overtook rallied for second, with the Todd Pletcher trainee besting Capo Kane by 1 1/4 lengths for runner-up status and the four qualifying points.

Trainer Chad Brown added blinkers before Risk Taking's previous start, and the son of Medaglia d'Oro has improved to 2-for-2 with the equipment change.

“It really made a difference. He's a horse that always showed a lot in his morning drills as a 2-year-old and I was quite surprised that he didn't run better in his first two starts,” said Brown, who saw Counterparty Risk win the Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa Bay Downs just minutes later for Klaravich Stables.

Risk Taking, the 9-5 favorite, returned $5.80 on a $2 win wager. Brown said the $240,000 purchase at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale could target the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 3 at Aqueduct. That 1 1/8-mile contest is a 100-40-20-10 Derby qualifier.

“We'll nominate him to everything but my first reaction would be not to take him out of New York,” Brown said. “He's thriving there right now, so leave it be. I would not cut the horse back in distance from here to the Derby under any circumstances. The most logical spot would be to train him up to the Wood, but I won't make that decision until we observe the horse and I have a chance to over it with the owner, Seth Klarman.”

Cancel, aboard Risk Taking for the first time, netted his third career graded stakes victory and first at a NYRA track since piloting Smooth Daddy in the 2017 Grade 3 Fort Marcy.

“I thought they'd go a little quicker [up front] but the instructions were to sit patient on him and just give him a really confident ride,” Cancel said. “It worked out very well. Turning for home I knew I had a lot of horse it was just matter of having to ask him and once I did and he started going, I was very confident. I never had any doubt he was going to win the race as soon as we turned for home.”

Risk Taking ran seventh in his debut going six furlongs on October 10 over Belmont Park's Big Sandy. Following a sixth-place effort going 1 1/16 miles on the Aqueduct turf on November 14, Brown returned the Kentucky bred to the main track going two turns.

“In his debut, although the running line looks ugly, he did gallop out big,” Brown said. “It was my error to rush him onto the turf, I was looking for a distance race that didn't have much kick back, but it just didn't work out. So, we blinkered him up and he got his confidence under him and he really broke through in that maiden victory.”

The conditioner said his horse's maturity, along with Cancel's ride, was a key factor on Saturday.

“Eric Cancel really stepped up today and I'm really proud of him,” Brown said. “He's a rider who continues to improve and he's ridden some nice races for us in the past. Eric hasn't ridden many for us, but he's made them count. I couldn't be prouder of him for the trip he gave this horse from every pole. He used him a little for position early and staying out of trouble off the fence and showing some patience.”

Overtook, ridden by Manny Franco, earned black type in his first stakes start, moving to 1-1-1 in four career starts.

“I know he wants to be at the back, but I didn't want to be too far back and leave him with too much to do,” Franco said. “I thought the horse ran a good race. He's improving race by race, so he's done well. He's got a nice future. The distance is no problem for him. I think that more distance will be better for him.”

Capo Kane now has 12 Derby points following his New Year's Day victory in the Jerome.

Updated Kentucky Derby leaderboard

“I hustled him out of there. I had to because there was that sprinter [Mr. Doda] outside of me, but then I was able to gain some control,” Davis said. “My horse got his nice stride going. He was breathing great for me and I really thought I was tough turning for home. He gave his heart out. He gave a hundred percent and he was very tired coming back. Eric engaged me and he had so much momentum turning for home, I didn't have a chance to keep up with him. He ran great. I thought he ran a great race going a mile and an eighth.”

Royal Number earned a single point for his fourth-place effort, with Eagle Orb, Civil War, Donegal Bay, Shackqueenking and Mr. Doda completing the order of finish.

Live racing at Aqueduct will continue on Monday, as the entirety of Sunday's live racing program was pushed back one day due a winter storm slated to impact the New York metropolitan area throughout the day on Sunday.Monday's card will be highlighted by the $100,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

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David and Goliath Both Seeking That One Horse

During this era of globalisation, our own walk of life has also become ever more adapted to scale. In the old days, trainers and stallions alike would draw the line at a similar number: up to three dozen, say. Now all big brands seem to require big volume.

With stallion books, the traditional limits guaranteed undiluted quality. If you wanted to get a mare to Bold Ruler, boy, did she have to deserve the privilege. That's why I always look for those venerable influences, up-and-down, behind modern pedigrees: because you're getting the good stuff, whatever filters through.

Nowadays, however, science and avarice routinely conspire to corral 200-plus mares for many unproven young stallions, and I suspect we'll be reaping a dismal harvest even after we introduce a ceiling of “only” 140.

The advent of the “super trainer” has been viewed with equal concern by many of the old school. How, they ask, can even the most masterly horsemen monitor every nuance as fastidiously as did Charlie Whittingham, when they have 10 times as many animals on their books–and, moreover, have to commute between divisions by plane?

Yet many of the biggest investors seem happy to forfeit that kind of intimate surveillance and it's hard to argue with the results. Granted assistants of adequate caliber, the system is demonstrably equal to pressures of scale; and it schools elite trainers who themselves, in turn, start delegating responsibility to emerging talents.

The template for that process was Todd Pletcher, who learned his trade managing East Coast divisions for the mold-breaking Wayne Lukas. By prodigious focus, organization and dynamism, Pletcher has parlayed his talent into record-breaking yields since 1996. Only last weekend he became the first trainer to bank $400 million; he has seven Eclipse Awards as Outstanding Trainer (only the late Bobby Frankel even has five); and the many stallions he has made include Uncle Mo, Speightstown, More Than Ready, Quality Road, Munnings, English Channel and now Constitution.

This is the year Pletcher becomes eligible to take a place long reserved in the Hall of Fame. As such, you would imagine that he will be eager, through 2021, to reiterate his historic standing in the story of our sport. Because what we must always remember, looking at these industrial stables, is that they remain driven and defined by the human strengths and foibles of one individual. And, having just endured his slowest year since 2002 (obviously the COVID-squeezed program/prizemoney had an awful lot to do with that), Pletcher will definitely be looking to roll back strong this time 'round.

You don't have the success he has made routine without harnessing phenomenal talent to equal ambition. And if his own career has itself been game-changing, Pletcher will know that one neglected paradox of the “super trainer” culture is that competition has been rendered tougher at the elite level, too. With no real limit on numbers, then the best material won't be shared too far even at the very top.

In terms of how long they have been on the scene, Pletcher has to be bracketed closer with Bob Baffert than Chad Brown or Brad Cox. In age, however, he is actually closer to those young guns. At 53, Pletcher remains in his prime–and yet he has seen it all. Few conditioners of his years can ever have compiled a more comprehensive playbook of familiar challenges.

Little wonder if Shadwell, on the retirement of Kiaran McLaughlin, named Pletcher as their man. Remember that even last year–when the dust had barely settled, after all, on his first win in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic–his 22% strike-rate was as metronomic as ever. And while Mutasaabeq (Into Mischief) is sadly off the GI Kentucky Derby trail with a minor shin issue, his 45 Triple Crown nominees match the second- and third-highest entries (Baffert 23, Steve Asmussen 22) combined.

And you need only consider the fields assembling for both the races carrying Derby points Saturday to heighten a sense that here is a trainer ready to regroup and reassert.

Known Agenda (Curlin) contests the GIII Sam F. Davis S. with his reputation freshly gilded by the performance at Gulfstream last week of Greatest Honour (Tapit). Even in opening up by 21 lengths on the third, that colt hadn't been able to get past him in a stretch duel at Aqueduct in November. The St Elias Stable homebred has already demonstrated plenty of stamina, then, albeit his damsire Byron (GB) (Green Desert) was a brisk horse with a brisk page. (Plenty of fuel, you guess, coming through from Darshaan (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}) behind his second dam.)

We'll cheerfully put a line through Known Agenda's subsequent effort in the GII Remsen S., where so unhappy on the slop that his rider resorted to the whip a couple of times on the backstretch. His maiden success, after all, has meanwhile been boosted by the distant third, barnmate Overtook (Curlin), who now graduates to stakes company in the GIII Withers S.

Actually St Elias Stable, that reliable badge of class, also has a piece of this improver. His closing style will presumably contrast with Pletcher's other runner here, Donegal Bay (Uncle Mo), who shook off his pursuers nicely breaking his maiden. All these horses are bred for the job, too. Known Agenda is out of a Grade I winner; likewise Overtook, a $1 million yearling tracing to Numbered Account; and though Donegal Bay was picked up for $90,000, he belongs to a Juddmonte family of Classic accomplishment.

Let's be under no illusions, then. Even if Goliath nowadays finds himself in an armlock with opponents of equal brawn, it's still an awful lot harder being David. And there's no mistaking who fills that role here.

Capo Kane (Street Sense) was a $26,000 2-year-old purchase–his pinhooker no doubt caught in the COVID backdraft, after giving $75,000 the previous September–and gave trainer Harold Wyner the first stakes success of his life in the Jerome S.

Wyner is the ultimate journeyman. He first came over from Britain with Michael Dickinson, drifted around for a few years as an exercise rider, saddled six winners in two years when trying his luck as a trainer, and then spent four years installing satellite televisions. But he couldn't keep away, and this time last year must have thought that his perseverance was finally going to pay off. He had assisted in the purchase of a Cross Traffic colt, who had failed to make his reserve as a 2-year-old at $27,000. Wyner trained Ny Traffic through his first four starts, but the horse was then transferred to Saffie Joseph, Jr. and became a Grade I regular.

No need to dwell on that now. Capo Kane is another Timonium graduate and Wyner knows him inside out, as the most literally hands-on of trainers: he gallops as many of his charges as he can every day. So he knows there's more to come from Capo Kane, who drifted out even as he went clear in the Jerome. There's turf royalty in his family–second dam by Kingmambo out of Tuzla (Fr) (Panoramic {GB}), who missed the GI Breeders' Cup Mile by a neck–and that shows in the ease and athleticism of his movement; while on the other hand his sire beat his damsire in the 2007 Derby.

Third that day was Curlin, sire of Known Agenda and Overtook. Seems like that class still can't leave each other alone. Street Sense, of course, was saddled by a revered horseman in Carl Nafzger, who started a total of 17 animals that whole year. Context: Asmussen topped the 2020 prizemoney table with 630 starters, followed by Cox with “only” 328. But there's only ever one Derby winner out there–and there's no reason he can't be among Wyner's two dozen charges at Parx.

Meanwhile, we'll be keeping an eye on the two debut winners Baffert runs in the GII San Vicente S., having won the race last year with a horse of similar profile in Nadal (Blame). One of them, the Wests' homebred Concert Tour (Street Sense), shares his sire with Capo Kane; the other, Freedom Fighter, while he has a powerful ownership group, is a $120,000 son of Violence who was there to be found at Keeneland as Hip 1522.

Don't forget we've just seen what this guy can do with a $1,000 short yearling/$35,000 2-year-old by Protonico. With 118 starters in 2020, Baffert ranked 41st in the nation by numbers. No “super trainer,” then–but I guess he's doing okay.

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Derby Prep: Pletcher-Trained Pair Face Off With Capo Kane In Withers

The Road to the Kentucky Derby in the Empire State resumes on Saturday when a field of nine sophomores assemble for the 147th running of the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The nine-furlong event over the main track is the second local prep of the calendar year for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs, and awards the top-four finishers points according to a 10-4-2-1 scale.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will be packing a one-two punch in pursuit of a fourth Withers victory, sending out maiden-winners Overtook and Donegal Bay, both of which will be making their respective stakes debut.

Owned by Repole Stable, St. Elias Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith, Overtook graduated going a one-turn mile at Aqueduct on December 20. The son of multiple champion-producing sire Curlin was 10 lengths behind the pace before making a six-wide move around the far turn, making up considerable ground in the stretch to secure a two-length triumph while recording a 70 Beyer Speed Figure.

“There could be a good pace. Overtook wants to settle and make one run so we'll allow him to do that,” said Pletcher, who trained Withers winners Harlem Rocker (2008), Revolutionary (2013) and Far From Over (2015).

Overtook finished a distant third to stablemate and fellow Curlin offspring Known Agenda on Nov. 8 at the Big A in a nine-furlong maiden event. Known Agenda subsequently ran third in the Grade 2 Remsen and runner-up Greatest Honour was a next-out winner of the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.

Sporting blinkers in his first two career starts, Overtook raced without the hood in his maiden victory.

“I think he's learning. He's gained some confidence with the experience and we felt like the blinkers needed to come off,” Pletcher said. “He got a nice hot pace to run at which helped. He's an improving horse that is bred to get better with more distance and more time. We've seen him making progress throughout and fall and winter. This is a big step up, but hopefully he's up for it.”

The royally bred Overtook was purchased for $1 million from the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Jockey Manny Franco seeks his third Withers triumph when piloting Overtook from post 6.

Donegal Bay will be diving into deeper waters as he makes his two-turn debut.

Owned by Jerry Crawford's Donegal Racing, Donegal Bay finished sixth on debut going 6 ½ furlongs at Saratoga. He showed a different dimension in his subsequent start, notching a front-running victory by 4 ¼ lengths going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 12.

“I think it was the additional time, having a start under his belt as well as having some good works leading into that,” Pletcher said. “He also got a better start which a lot of horses do in their second race. He has a pretty high cruising speed. Pedigree-wise, he's bred to go that far. It's a big step up from a maiden race, but we're hoping for a big run.”

Donegal Bay has been training forwardly along with Pletcher's string at Palm Beach Downs and went a half-mile in 49.03 seconds on January 29 in his most recent work.

“It's a bit of a tricky race,” Crawford said. “This is the time of year where some horses get better and some don't, and he needs to get better on Saturday if he can turn himself into a contender. Obviously, there's a fair amount of front-end speed and they'll be asked to go a mile and an eighth at the same time. Donegal Racing has always been treated exceptionally well in New York and have had some good success up there.”

A son of 2010 Champion 2-Year-Old and Pletcher alumna Uncle Mo, Pletcher said that he sees a lot of similarities between Donegal Bay and his champion-producing sire.

“Donegal Bay is a little more on the narrow side, but you can see the same head and neck that Uncle Mo stamps his offspring with,” Pletcher said. “What I like is that from the past summer, the horse is starting to fill out. He seems to be doing really well.”

Meet-leading rider Kendrick Carmouche vies for a sixth stakes victory of the meet when taking the reins aboard Donegal Bay from post 7.

Bing Cherry Racing and Leonard Liberto's Capo Kane returns to Aqueduct in pursuit of more Kentucky Derby qualifying points after capturing the Jerome on New Year's Day.

Trained by Harold Wyner, Capo Kane earned 10 points toward a spot in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May when taking the one-turn mile in gate-to-wire fashion under jockey Dylan Davis. After commanding moderate fractions up front, Capo Kane came under a drive at the top of the stretch and extended his advantage to a 6 ¼-length triumph.

The son of Street Sense, who sired 2018 Withers winner Avery Island, broke his maiden going two turns at Parx Racing in identical front-running fashion, hitting the wire a 4 ½-length winner.

With 10 qualifying Derby points from the Jerome, Capo Kane is currently 13th on the leaderboard.

Davis, who rode last year's Withers winner Max Player, will return to the saddle from post 3.

E.V Racing Stable's Eagle Orb will be seeking to turn the tables on Capo Kane after finishing second in the Jerome.

The two-time winning New York-bred captured a stakes win in the Nov. 14 Notebook at the Big A before the runner-up finish on New Year's Day.

Tracking in third from the three path out of the gate, Eagle Orb came under a drive around the far turn and attempted to confront Capo Kane around the three-sixteenths, but was kept at bay at had to settle for second.

Trained by Rudy Rodriguez, the son of Orb is 24th on the leaderboard with four points.

Breaking from post 9, jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr. has the mount.

Klaravich Stables' Risk Taking looks to capitalize off a winning performance at the Withers distance for trainer Chad Brown.

The son of Medaglia d'Oro made amends for two well-beaten performances in his first pair of starts when stretching out to two turns in a Dec. 13 maiden special weight at the Big A. Risk Taking settled in fourth along the rail into the first turn and maintained position behind horses before making a three-wide move at the top of the stretch and taking command outside the sixteenth pole to run home a 2 ¼-length winner.

Purchased for $240,000 from the Lanes' End consignment at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Risk Taking is out of the stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare Run a Risk and comes from the same family as champion-producing sire Seeking the Gold.

Jockey Eric Cancel will be back aboard from post 5.

Rounding out the field are Maryland invaders Shackqueenking [post 1, Trevor McCarthy] and Royal Number [post 2, Pablo Morales], as well as Mr. Doda [post 4, Luis Rodriguez Castro] and Civil War [post 8, Benjamin Hernandez].

The Withers is slated as Race 8 on Aqueduct's nine-race program which has a first post of 1 p.m. Eastern.

The Withers, named in honor of prominent 1800's owner and breeder David Dunham Withers, predates the Kentucky Derby by one year with its inaugural running taking place in 1874. Coincidentally, the following year's Withers was won by Aristides who also captured the very first running of the Kentucky Derby in 1875. Four other horses have both the Withers and Kentucky Derby on their resume including Triple crown winners Sir Barton (1919) and Count Fleet (1943) as well as Zev (1923) and Johnstown (1939).

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