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Sport Model Finishes Strong In Cupecoy’s Joy Win

Reeves Thoroughbred Racing's Sport Model handled a class boost with aplomb, taking command at the top of the stretch and drawing off to a half-length victory in Saturday's $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Cupecoy's Joy division over the Widener turf course at Belmont Park in Elmont, Ny.

Trained by Christophe Clement, the daughter of Freud arrived at the seven-furlong test for eligible New York-sired sophomore fillies off a third-out maiden victory for a $40,000 tag going six furlongs over the Widener on May 7.

Expertly piloted by Luis Saez, Sport Model tracked to the outside, just behind last-out stakes winner Shaker Shack, who produced fractions of :23.22 and :46.15 over the firm turf.

Saez gave Sport Model her cue late in the turn and overtook Shaker Shack just inside the quarter-pole. Funwhileitlasted launched a menacing bid in the final furlong, but Sport Model prevailed in a final time of 1:21.16. It was another 1½ lengths back to Shaker Shack, who held on for third.

Completing the order of finish were Shesadirtydancer, Big Time Lady, Show Me the Honey, Lot of Honey, Adriatic Rose, Ava's Grace, and Proper Grammar.

“She's progressing. She was very good today,” said Saez, who also rode Lady Joan to victory in the 2017 Cupecoy's Joy. “I needed the pony going out because she's so strong. I knew I had a lot of horse, and, when we got to the top of the stretch, she just took off. She was battling. When she felt the pressure coming, she gave me another gear.”

Clement, who also saddled last-place finisher Proper Grammar, praised Saez for a picture-perfect ride.

“I liked both fillies going in, but obviously one was very disappointing and the other ran very well,” said Clement, who earned his third stakes triumph of the Belmont spring/summer meet. “Luis gave her a great ride. He was always very comfortable, and she was the best horse today, which is nice.”

Clement said the $150,000 NYSSS Statue of Liberty, a one-mile turf test for sophomore fillies on August 4 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, Ny. will likely be Sport Model's next task.

Sport Model, who returned $14.60 for a $2 win wager, was bred in the Empire State by Mr. and Mrs. James P. Curran and Dr. and Mrs. John McDermott. She is out of the black-type producing Rockport Harbor mare Just Say Hey and is a half-sibling to stakes-winner Twirling Devon. Sport Model was purchased for $100,000 from Thorndale Farm's consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Yearling Sale.

Live racing resumes on Sunday at Belmont with a 10-race program headlined by the Grade 3, $250,000 Poker going one mile over the Widener turf course for older horses. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.

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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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Third Time’s The Charm For Dream Of Dreams In Diamond Jubilee At Royal Ascot

After taking the silver medal in 2019 and 2020, Dream Of Dreams made it third time lucky in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes with a tenacious victory.

The G1 highlight over six furlongs is always an exciting contest and the latest edition was no exception, with seven-year-old Dream Of Dreams (3-1 favorite) fighting off the persistent challenge of Glen Shiel (7-1) to prevail by a length. Third home Art Power (7-2) was the one to catch for much of the race, before giving way to the front two.

It was an 82nd Royal Ascot success for Sir Michael Stoute – the meeting's most successful trainer. Moore was chalking up win number 65 and moved ominously into second place in the leading jockey standings for the week with three wins.

Stoute said: “I am delighted – the horse deserves it. The past two years, he has been beaten a head finishing fastest of all, so I am really thrilled for him.

“He has got more and more relaxed; he doesn't go to post like a sprinter, does he? I thought he was going to pull up halfway down. He is more relaxed, and a little better. He's fully developed and strong now. But it's his mind – he's really, really chilling.

“He loves a little cut in the ground, but I don't think he's run on ground quite as soft as this, so I was a little concerned. Ryan [Moore] had it all planned and it all worked out, and told me what he was doing, so I said, kick on.

“Any winner here is a great thrill, particularly a Group One. But additionally, this fellow has just been touched off twice, so I'm pleased for him – he deserves it.

“I thought I wasn't going to have a Royal Ascot winner this year – this is the last runner we've got. It's been tough – it's always been tough, but it's tougher.”

Moore said: “Sir Michael has been great to me throughout my whole career. He has got this horse, who is seven now, to perform here three times in a row and it's great that he's able to win today.

“Dream Of Dreams has been a great horse. He has got better every year. A stiff six [furlongs] with cut in the ground, it's perfect for him.

“Any winner here is important and the bigger the race… a race like this, a prestigious race like this…it's great.”

Archie Watson said of the runner-up: “I am delighted with Glen Shiel. He tries so hard. Hollie said that Ryan came to her late and whilst Glen Shiel kept on battling, she just wished they had come to him earlier as he just keeps on finding.

“He has backed up his Group One win with another solid run in a Group One and we'll just keep on rolling through these races during the summer.

“It's very simple with these sprinters. We'll go to the July Cup next and then he'll probably have a crack at the Prix Maurice De Gheest – I think the six and a half furlongs will really suit him there. Then you have the Sprint Cup and then back here in October for the Champions Sprint. I might throw something else in along the way. But that will be the gist of it.”

Hollie Doyle said: “It was an unreal run. It's a bit disappointing not to win, but we know that Glen Shiel is back to his best so early on in the year whereas he didn't hit top form till the end of last year. We have plenty to look forward to.”

Art Power's trainer Tim Easterby said: “He has run an absolute blinder. He ran to the line and just got a little tired in the last half-furlong. The other horses were just a bit stronger, and he was out on his own for a long time. He ran a great race and will come on again. The King George at Goodwood is a possible now.”

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Maxfield Headlines Stephen Foster on Churchill Downs’ Closing Day

With five days remaining in the 2021 Spring Meet at Churchill Downs, next Saturday's closing day stakes spectacular is beginning to take shape. The 11-race program is scheduled to be headlined by Godolphin's Grade I winner Maxfield in the featured $600,000 Grade 2 Stephen Foster Handicap, one of seven stakes events on the card.

Maxfield, trained by Brendan Walsh, recorded his final work prior to the 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster on Saturday at Churchill Downs with an easy half-mile move in :48.80 at 5:30 a.m. Maxfield enters the Stephen Foster following a convincing 3 ¼-length win in the $400,0000 Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes presented by Sentient Jet.

The talented son of Street Sense is slated to be joined in the gate by fellow graded stakes winners Chess Chief (trainer Dallas Stewart), Silver Dust (Bret Calhoun), and Warrior's Charge (Brad Cox). All three horses completed their major Stephen Foster preparation Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Virginia-bred Chess Chief, owned by the Estate of James Coleman Jr., worked a half-mile in :48.20. The four-time winner is scheduled to be ridden by John Velazquez in the Stephen Foster.

Owned by Tom Durant, Silver Dust breezed a half-mile in :49 under regular rider Adam Beschizza. The striking gray son of Tapit continued to gallop out past the wire and completed five furlongs in 1:01.20.

Ten Strike Racing and Madaket Stables' Warrior's Charge worked a half-mile in :48.20 at 7:30 a.m. Florent Geroux is scheduled to ride.

Other runners expected to take part in the Stephen Foster are Empty Tomb (Mike Maker) and possibly Visitant (Bill Morey), according to assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork.

The Stephen Foster is a “Win and You're In” race for the $6 million Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 6 at Del Mar. The winner receives an all entry fees paid berth to the season-ending championship event.

Here are the other probable runners for the six undercard races to the Stephen Foster, according to Bork:

$300,000 Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes, run at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares 4-year-olds and up, Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Distaff Division: Dreamalildreamofu (Brad Cox); Envoutante (Kenny McPeek); Point of Honor (Shug McGaughey); Singita Dreams (Phil Bauer); Spice Is Nice (Todd Pletcher); and Vault (Brad Cox).

$300,000 Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes, run at 1 1/16 miles on turf for 4-year-olds and up: Field Pass (Mike Maker); In Love (BRZ) (Paulo Lobo); Ride a Comet (Mark Casse); Set Piece (GB) (Brad Cox); and Somelikeithotbrown (Mike Maker). Possible: Spooky Channel (Jason Barkley)

$150,000 Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes, run at six furlongs for 2-year-olds: Double Thunder (Todd Pletcher); Glacial (Norm Casse); Kavod (Jimmy Chapman); Landsdowne (Dallas Stewart); Red Run (Steve Asmussen); Vodka N Water (Steve Asmussen); Whatstheconnection (John Ennis); and Whistlewhileyoumow (Jon Arnett).

$150,000 Debutante Stakes, run at six furlongs for 2-year-old fillies: Bandits Warrior (John Robb); Classiness (Jason Barkley); Mi Estrella (Genaro Garcia); Mollie Kate (John Ennis); Ontheonesandtwos (Norm Casse); She'sgotattitude (John Ennis); Sommer Velvet (Kevin Boniface); Take the Backroads (Tom Amoss); Tizplenty (Steve Asmussen); and Wicked Halo (Steve Asmussen).

$150,000 Tepin Stakes, run at one mile on turf for 3-year-old fillies: Adventuring (Brad Cox); Arm Candy (Steve Asmussen); Barista (Jimmy Baker); Bullseye Beauty (Andrew McKeever); Commanders Palace (Mark Casse); Fairchild (Mark Casse); Invincible Gal (GB) (Graham Motion); and New Boss (Bret Calhoun).

$150,000 War Chant Stakes, run at one mile on turf for 3-year-olds: Accredit (Pavel Matejka); Dyn O Mite (Keith Desormeaux); Helium (Mark Casse); and Royal Prince (Brad Cox).

Entries for Saturday's card take place Wednesday.

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