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Serpe Believes Emma-Jayne Wilson The Key To Safe Conduct Winning Breeders’ Stakes

Phil Serpe said jockey Irad Ortiz was the essential ingredient in Safe Conduct's victory in the Queen's Plate. Now the trainer is turning to Emma-Jayne Wilson for Sunday's (Oct. 3) $400,000 Breeders' Stakes on the E.P. Taylor Turf Course at Woodbine Racetrack because he feels she's the right rider to guide Safe Conduct to victory over 1 ½ miles.

“One thing I really learned was just how important a rider was for that particular (Queen's Plate),” Serpe said of the Aug. 22 race that Safe Conduct won by a head over Riptide Rock on the Tapeta track to claim the first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.

“Irad Ortiz was pivotal in getting that horse out of the one-hole… He's a big brute of a horse and if you watch the first 100 yards of that race, to me, that's where the race was won because he got that horse out of there and in position without having to use him.

“Taking that into consideration, we have a rider change to Emma-Jayne Wilson (for the Breeders' Stakes). She was going to ride him last year for us as a 2-year-old. The ball was actually in her court to ride him in the Queen's Plate. The horse had gotten sick and had a couple of bad starts… so I don't blame her for (choosing to ride Tidal Forces). In fact, she was one of the first people to text me after the horse won to congratulate me.

“We feel confident with her because the whole scenario changes. What we want now is just a nice, calm ride. She knows the turf course up there, it's her ballpark, so we're very happy to have her… I feel like he'll get the distance if he gets the right ride.”

Serpe's biggest concern is weather. Should it rain, it likely won't be Safe Conduct's game. The son of Bodemeister out of the Congrats mare Duchess Dancer wasn't a fan of soft going in his pre-Plate July 10 start in the Belmont Derby in which he finished 8th.

“The turf it had taken a lot of rain and he was just not getting through it,” Serpe said. “But we can't do anything about the weather… I actually think that grass is probably going to be his best surface, so I'm more confident about this surface than (the Tapeta).”

Serpe said Safe Conduct came out of the Queen's Plate in fine form and was back at his base in New York the next day.

“He is a big, strong horse and so he took that well. We just gave him a little breather, then brought him back down to Belmont. He had a terrific work the other day. We just blew him out a little bit (Tuesday, Sept. 28). We let him go about a half on the main track here in about :51. Really, just kind of let him go down the lane and gallop out strong. I think he went the last three-eighths in :38.2 and the last quarter in :24-and-change or something like that. He was stepping it up,” Serpe said.

The decision to skip the Prince of Wales — the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown — was a tactical one, Serpe said.

“We would love, love, love to win the Canadian Triple Crown, but we weighed it out and we thought that we would rather have a fresh horse to run a mile-and-a-half, than to take a chance running him on the dirt and then he goes backwards and we're not even coming,” Serpe said. “The Triple Crown in Canada is on three surfaces and, to me, that's a lot harder, or can be a lot harder, than running at three different distances — and, of course, you are at three different distances anyway.”

Serpe said it was an honour to win the Queen's Plate, even though neither he nor the owner — WellSpring Stables' Dr. Robert Vukovich of Colts Neck, NJ — made the trip to Woodbine due to COVID-19 restrictions and pandemic concerns.

“We didn't even know if we were going to make it or have personnel there, so we had three different plans intact as far as the horse was concerned. Fortunately, it all worked out well. I'm very sorry that I couldn't be there, because it's such a prestigious race, but we had to make sure we had people in the right spots in case something went backwards,” Serpe said, adding the fact Safe Conduct won without him there is the reason he won't be coming for the Breeders' Stakes.

“I'm going to stay here because I'm slightly superstitious,” he said, laughing. “If he runs a third time (at Woodbine), then I'll be there… My partner and assistant of 25 years, Lisa Bartowsky will be up again.”

However, this time, Vukovich is expected to be at Woodbine. It was Vukovich who picked out Safe Conduct — bred by Ontario's Mitchell Kursner — from the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and bought him for $45,000. Thanks to the $600,000 (Cdn – $467,952 U.S.) payday in the $1 million Queen's Plate, Safe Conduct now sports earnings of $603,202 (U.S.).

“I'm especially happy for (Vukovich) because he is a really, really good owner and a really good person,” Serpe said.

As for Serpe, the Plate proved to be a Godsend.

“We've had three or four pretty large outfits (in New York) where the trainer has retired,” Serpe said. “The pandemic put a lot of strain on people, including ourselves. Our purse earnings were down in 2020 about $800,000 from the year before. So, this money has helped immensely. For whatever reason, also, we've been going through a dry, dry, dry spell. Like, drier than the first year I was training horses… So, good things happened at the right time for us and we are grateful for that. The money went to good use, my employees.

“No new cars or boats or anything. The stable is our main focus.”

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Tapeta Era Dawns At Gulfstream Park On Opening Day Of Fall Meet

The ground-breaking Tapeta era dawned Thursday at Gulfstream Park, where four races were contested over the newly installed all-weather surface on opening day of the Fall Meet.

Kathleen O'Connell, the second winningest female trainer in history, notched Win No. 2279 after saddling Emoji Guy for a victory in Race 1 in the first Tapeta race run at Gulfstream, the very first racetrack with dirt, turf and all-weather surfaces.

“It means a lot,” O'Connell said. “I'm happy for the owners. They've waited for a long time. I just texted them, 'It's a new track record. Of course, it was the first race run on it.”

J S Stables LLC's Emoji Guy, the 9-5 favorite for the $12,500 claiming race for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, was timed in 1:48.08 in his all-weather debut under Edwin Gonzalez.

“He was good and comfortable. The horse really liked it,” said Gonzalez, who has ridden on all-weather tracks at Golden Gate, Presque Isle and Arlington. “You have to ride it like the turf. I wanted to make one move and I was pretty happy where he was.”

Gonzalez, who made a three-wide sweep to the lead on the far turn aboard Emoji Guy, expressed his satisfaction with the going on the Tapeta track and his belief that the surface will become tighter as time goes by.

“It's good. I have to tell you, they did a really good job. Right now, it's good, and when the tractors start working it more, it's going to be better.”

Emoji Guy won for the first time in eight starts, seven on turf, since breaking his maiden on turf.

“He's pretty much an all-terrain model, so I wasn't so much worried about him,” O'Connell said. “Some of the others I do worry about. I spent a couple of seasons at Presque Isle. Not all of them that like the turf like the synthetic. I've had some dirt horses that turned into synthetic specialists. You just have to be in tune with your horse.”

A $60,000 maiden special weight for juvenile fillies at 5 ½ furlongs on Tapeta was featured on Thursday's program. Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Strategy Queen, who had shown promised in two starts on dirt, broke through with a deep-closing triumph under Cristian Torres in the Race 5 feature.

“Her dad won three times on it. Her sister won on it and her other sister won on turf. We put a horse on it we thought would like it,” Joseph said. “Cristian said, at first, she was a little green, but there was no kick-back and she was able to maintain her position. One of the things about Tapeta is you don't get dirt in your face. I think that's why some turf horses run on it better than they do on dirt.”

The daughter of Fed Biz had finished second in her most recent start after dueling from the start of the six-furlong $50,000 maiden claimer.

Wow Tapit, a daughter of Cairo Prince who finished third in her second career start in a recent off-the-turf sprint, took to the Tapeta to graduate in Race 3, a 5 ½-furlong maiden race for juvenile fillies. The Amador Sanchez-trained filly led throughout to score by 3 ½ lengths under Hector Berrios.

Monarch Stables Inc.'s Light Fury transferred his winning form on turf to the Tapeta in Race 7, an about-a-mile-and-70-yard optional claiming allowance. The Ron Spatz-trained son of Wicked Strong, the 6-5 favorite ridden by Samy Camacho, chased Vow Me Now into the stretch before taking the lead and holding on to win by a half-length. Light Fury was winless in eight starts on dirt before winning five times and finishing in the money nine times in 10 races on turf.

Five races will be run on the Tapeta track on Friday's nine-race program that will get underway at 12:50 p.m. Races 5, 7 and 9 will be included in the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence that will span Races 4-9. The Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $350,000.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved Thursday for the 11th racing day since a Sept. 10 mandatory payout produced multiple payoffs of $313,299.84

The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

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My Sister Nat To Defend Her Title In Sunday’s Fasig-Tipton Waya

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out defending champ My Sister Nat along with Orglandes in Sunday's Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya, an 11-furlong inner turf test for fillies and mares, at Belmont Park.

The Fasig-Tipton Waya, slated as Race 8, is part of a lucrative 10-race card that includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette [Race 9], a one-turn mile for 2-year-old fillies offering a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; and the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim [Race 4], a 1 1/16-mile turf test for juveniles. First post on Sunday is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Brown will seek his fifth career Waya win and third straight following scores with Goldy Espony [2015], Guapaza [2016], Fools Gold [2019] and My Sister Nat, who captured the 2020 renewal traveling 12-furlongs on the inner turf last August at Saratoga to secure her first win in North America.

A Group 3 winner at Longchamp in her native France, the Peter Brant-owned 6-year-old Acclamation bay joined Brown in 2019 and made her first three starts against optional claiming company before finishing a late-closing second beaten a neck in the Grade 3 Long Island at Aqueduct.

Following her Waya score, My Sister Nat closed to finish second last year in both the Grade 2 Glens Falls at the Spa and the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational at Belmont, finishing a head short of Civil Union.

My Sister Nat enters from a closing third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl on September 4 at Saratoga where she encountered traffic trouble behind stablemate American Bridge while rallying from last-of-6 to finish 2 1/4-lengths back of War Like Goddess.

Brown said the talented bay, who has hit the board in 3-of-4 starts this year, is training well towards her title defense.

“I certainly love the way she's training and I don't think she got a good trip last time. I felt this filly could have been a lot closer at the finish,” Brown said. “She kind of ran into the other horse we ran [American Bridge], who was sort of in her way when she wanted to make her move on the inside and it really cost her a couple lengths of momentum. At least she could have been closer and made it a little bit more of a race at the end.”

Although My Sister Nat has yet to win on the Belmont turf [6-0-2-3], Brown said he expects a good showing.

“She really runs good here. She's had a couple unlucky trips,” Brown said. “She got beat a head in the Flower Bowl, arguably one of her best races. I love her on Belmont's course.”

Brown said a good effort Sunday could propel My Sister Nat to a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in November at Del Mar.

“If she can go over there and really put in a strong performance and her number comes back legitimate and it looks like she has a shot in there, I'd love to make her final start in the Breeders' Cup, if we can,” Brown said.

Bred in France by Ecurie de Monceaux, My Sister Nat is out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister, who produced 2018 Champion Turf Mare Sistercharlie as well as 2019 Group 1 French Derby winner Sottsass.

Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso's Orglandes, a 5-year-old Le Havre bay, will make her third start of the campaign following sixth-place finishes in both the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay in May at Belmont and the Grade 2 Glens Falls in August at the Spa.

Last year, the French-bred mare won 2-of-3 starts, including a score in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap in November at Del Mar.

Brown said Orglandes has demonstrated a return to form recently in her morning training.

“Orglandes is a horse that really didn't come back into form this year. I've been disappointed with her,” Brown said. “She's come back this last month and is rounding back into form in her works after I thought maybe we had lost the year with her. I gave her a little breather and I really like the way she's turned it around in her works.”

Brown said a good effort Sunday could see Orglandes target the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island, a 12-furlong turf test on November 27 at the Big A.

“She got to contend with a layoff now and going that far, but I'm just looking for a positive effort with her, something I can use to the end of the year to get me into the Long Island,” Brown said.

Jose Ortiz will pilot My Sister Nat from the outermost post 7, while Orglandes will emerge from post 4 under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Christophe Clement will saddle a pair of formidable contenders in R Unicorn Stable's Call Me Love and Moyglare Stud Farm's Beautiful Lover.

Call Me Love, a 5-year-old chestnut daughter of Sea the Stars, won the Group 3 Premio Verziere Memorial Aldo Cirla at San Siro and the Group 2 Premio Lydia Tesio at Capannelle in 2019 in Italy.

Transferred to Clement for her 4-year-old season, Call Me Love hit the board in both the Grade 3 Beaugay at Belmont and the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga last year, before securing her first North American stakes triumph in the 12-furlong River Memories on July 11 at Belmont.

Call Me Love enters from a distant seventh in the Grade 3 Glens Falls.

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Beautiful Lover, a 5-year-old Arch bay, captured the 2019 Boiling Springs at 1 1/16-miles on the Monmouth turf in the care for former conditioner Chad Brown. Transferred to Clement for her current campaign, the multiple graded-stakes placed dark bay finished fifth in the Distaff Turf in March at Tampa Bay Downs ahead of a neck win last out over next-out winner Miss Teheran in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming event June 27 on the Belmont turf.

Out of the Quiet American mare American Skipper, Beautiful Lover is a half-sister to New York-bred graded-stakes winning millionaire Zivo.

Manny Franco will pilot Call Me Love from post 5, while Joel Rosario will guide Beautiful Lover from post 6.

Repole Stable homebred Always Shopping, a 5-year-old Awesome Again mare trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, is a graded-stakes winner on dirt and turf.

The versatile bay captured the nine-furlong Grade 2 Gazelle in 2019 on the Big A main track and added a victory in the 11-furlong Grade 3 Orchid in March on the Gulfstream Park turf.

Always Shopping will stretch out from a two-month layoff out of a fifth-place finish in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Matchmaker on July 17 at Monmouth Park.

“We shortened her up in distance where she's not at her best and we're bringing her back at a mile and three eighths. Hopefully, she can regain her best form,” Pletcher said.

Ricardo Santana, Jr. has the call from post 2.

Rounding out the field are Lovely Lucky [post 1, Dylan Davis] and Sister Otoole [post 3, Luis Saez].

The Waya is named in honor of Peter Brant and George Strawbridge Jr.'s champion turf mare, who was a four-time Grade 1 winner in the United States. Waya was a multiple stakes winner in her native France before moving to the United States, where she won six of her nine starts, including against males in the Grade 1 Man o' War in 1978, and was named Champion Older Mare the following year.

America's Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the fall meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the fall meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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High-Class Annapolis Steps Into Stakes Company In Pilgrim

After passing his maiden test with aplomb, regally-bred Annapolis will take on his first stakes endeavor for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher in Saturday's 43rd running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim going 1 1/16 miles over the inner turf at Belmont Park.

The Pilgrim, which is named after Joseph Widener's winner of the 1919 Remsen, has seen three of its last five winners go on to capture the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, including Oscar Performance [2016], Structor [2019] and Fire At Will [2020].

Owned and bred by Bass Stables, Annapolis was a stylish winner on debut going 1 1/16 miles over the Saratoga inner turf on September 4. The bay son of prolific sire War Front, and first offspring out of graded stakes winner My Miss Sophia, was eighth down the backstretch and inched his way into contention approaching the far turn, drawing away in deep stretch to a 4 ½-length win. The first-out victory registered a 76 Beyer Speed Figure.

“He trained like he was going to run well in his debut, but it's hard sometimes to win going a mile and a sixteenth first out,” Pletcher said. “He did everything right, settled in well, put in a good run and kicked on. He moved up on a nice field of horses and I couldn't have asked for more on debut.”

Pletcher trained My Miss Sophia during her sophomore campaign, winning the Grade 2 Gazelle by open lengths before running second in the Grade 2 Kentucky Oaks in 2014. After being purchased for $2.15 million at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, My Miss Sophia was transferred to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott for a 4-year-old campaign, where she was twice graded stakes placed on grass.

“We never ran her on the turf, but she was a filly that always trained exceptionally well before her debut and seemed to get better and better,” Pletcher recalled. “She ran a great race in the Kentucky Oaks. She was a good mare and it appears that she's gone on to be a good producer.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. will return to the irons from post 3.

Pletcher also entered Repole Stable's Midnight Worker, who makes his turf debut following a stakes-placing.

The son of Outwork, a second-crop sire, was a narrow but game winner on debut in July going six furlongs at Saratoga. He stretched out to two turns for his following effort, garnering black type with a third-place finish in the one-mile Sapling on September 5 at Monmouth Park.

Midnight Worker has acclimated to the Belmont turf with a pair of breezes, including a half-mile on Sunday in 48.44 seconds – the fourth fastest of 20 recorded works at the distance.

Luis Saez will ride from post 2.

Chad Brown will seek his fourth Pilgrim triumph when saddling Portfolio Company, who seeks to build on a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 With Anticipation last out at Saratoga.

Owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables', Portfolio Company was a debut winner on July 17 over a good inner turf at Saratoga en route to the With Anticipation, where he garnered a field best 82 Beyer. Breaking from post 4 under Ortiz, Jr., Portfolio Company was rank heading into the first turn and was placed along the rail down the backstretch before being turned back when confronting pacesetter Coinage.

Brown said the Kitten's Joy colt has been training with a new bit in advance of the Grade 2 Pilgrim.

“We've been working with the horse,” Brown said. “After that debut, he got a little keen with us and Irad had some trouble with him in that race, especially after he didn't break that well and he was trying to catch up. It just was a big mess. We're doing our best to get him to settle and changed some equipment on him. The horse seems to be doing pretty well.”

Joel Rosario will pick up the mount aboard Portfolio Company from post 1.

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Limited Liability, third in the With Anticipation, will attempt to give owner Stuart Janney III and Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey their second collaborative Pilgrim victory after teaming up with Air Support in 2010.

The son of Kitten's Joy was a late rallying 2 ¾-length winner of his July 31 debut over the Mellon turf at Saratoga, before coming off a slow pace and finishing a closing third in the With Anticipation.

Limited Liability added blinkers for a half-mile work in 50.24 over the Belmont inner turf Sunday and will wear them for Sunday's race.

“He wasn't keen with them. I'm just hoping he'll engage a little earlier depending on the pace,” McGaughey said. “Last time, they went three quarters in 15 and we were four lengths off the pace, it's hard to catch up.”

Limited Liability is out of the Blame mare Hold Harmless, whose prolific third dam Meghan's Joy produced Grade 1-winning turf millionaire Ironicus, graded stakes-winning turf millionaire On Leave, dual graded turf stakes winner Quiet Harbor, and Norumbega, a graded stakes winner on dirt.

Jose Ortiz will ride from post 4.

Completing the field are Doctor Jeff [post 5, Jose Lezcano], who makes his turf debut for trainer Rudy Rodriguez; and maiden City At Night [post 6, Kendrick Carmouche], who will attempt to give his jockey, owner Three Diamonds Farm and trainer Mike Maker their collaborative second straight Pilgrim triumph following Fire At Will.

The Pilgrim is slated as Race 4 on Sunday's 10-race card. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

Sunday's program also includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette, a one-mile “Win And You're In” qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies; and the Grade 3, $300,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya for fillies and mares travelling 1 3/8 miles over the turf.

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