The Sword Dancer Stakes, a Grade 1 race contested over 1 ½ miles on the turf for horses age 4 and older, will be contested on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. Here are some facts to know about the race’s history: Long history: The Sword Dancer was contested for the first time in 1975.
Tag: Racing
Go Jo Jo Go Sitting On ‘Go’ For Florida Sire Stakes Susan’s Girl
Stonehedge LLC's Go Jo Jo Go took a little while to really get going, saving her very best for start of the 2020 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series at Gulfstream Park.
The Michael Yates-trained daughter of Khozan, who graduated with an upset victory in the $100,000 Desert Vixen Aug. 1 in her fourth career start, is sitting on 'go' for Saturday's $200,000 Susan's Girl.
The Susan's Girl, a seven-furlong event for 2-year-old fillies, will co-headline Saturday's Florida Sire Stakes program at Gulfstream Park with the $200,000 Affirmed, a seven-furlong open division of the series for juveniles sired by accredited Florida stallions. The $75,000 Proud Man, a mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds and the $75,000 Sharp Susan, a mile turf stakes for juvenile fillies, will be supporting stakes on a 12-race program with a noon first-race post time. The Susan's Girl will be included in the Rainbow 6 sequence Saturday, when a mandatory payout is scheduled.
Go Jo Jo Go, who gave Gilbert Campbell's Stonehedge Farm its 14th success in the tradition-rich Florida Sire Stakes series while scoring at 21-1 in the six-furlong Desert Vixen, had more than her share of misfortune in the first three starts of her career. After clipping heels and unseating her rider as the 8-5 favorite in her May 14th debut, Go Jo Jo Go experienced bumping at the start of her next two races in which she finished third May 20 and fifth July 11.
Although the Stonehedge homebred once again experienced bumping at the start of the Desert Vixen, she rallied five-wide on the turn and drew off to a 1 ¼-length victory over favorite Princess Secret.
“The [Sire] Stakes were kind of always in the plans. It didn't look like she was a contender going into the first leg, but the racing experience all helps with young horses. One or two races don't define their career, even if they're bad,” Yates said. “She showed a lot of positive things in her first couple of races that gave us enough encouragement to take a shot
Although Go Jo Jo Go took bettors by surprise in the Desert Vixen, her trainer was far from shocked by her breakthrough performance.
“She's a horse from Day 1, when I got her from Stonehedge, she's been very forward. She wants to do a lot every time she goes to the track, which makes her a little difficult to train, as well, because she wants to do so much all the time,” Yates said, “But we think we've figured her out. Time will tell.”
Yates doesn't expect the seven furlongs of the Susan's Girl to pose any problem for Go Jo Jo Go.
“She finished really well last time. Hopefully we can get away from the gate in good order and just kind of sit on her and let her make her one run down the lane,” Yates said. “That's the plan.”
Leonel Reyes, who rode five winners on Sunday's program at Gulfstream Park, has the return mount aboard Go Jo Jo Go.
Stonehedge, which has four contenders for the Affirmed, including $100,000 Dr. Fager winner Breeze On By, will also be represented in the Susan's Girl by Ralph Nicks-trained Oh Deborah.
The homebred daughter of Winslow Homer won at first asking July 19, stalking the pacesetter before drawing clear by 3 ½ lengths.
“She's an obvious closer off her first race. We're adding blinkers and we'll see how she does. There's a lot of time between races. She kicked the [stall] wall and hurt her hind foot or she would have run in the first leg. That's why she was scratched,” Nicks said. “She's training well. She acts like a horse that wants to run on down the racetrack.”
Samy Camacho has the return mount for the Susan's Girl.
Princess Secret, owned by trainer Daniel Pita, looms as the Stonehedge's most serious obstacle to capturing another Florida Sire Stakes victory. The daughter of Khozan was victorious in her May 7 debut with a front-running four-length victory. She met the boys in the first juvenile allowance of the Spring/Summer Meet July 5, finishing second, 1 ½ lengths behind highly regarded Papetu after getting bumped around at the start. Princess Secret set the pace in the Desert Vixen before being overtaken by Go Jo Jo Go inside the final 1/16th of a mile.
Pita has given the return call to Miguel Vasquez.
Arindel and trainer Juan Alvarado will be represented by two daughters of Brethren, Freak and Lyrical, in the Susan's Girl. Freak, who finished third in her July 11 debut, made a sweeping move to the lead before weakening late in the Desert Vixen, finishing third, a nose behind Princess Secret for second. Lyrical, who broke her maiden in her second start, was an early factor in the Desert Vixen before fading to sixth.
Hector Berrios will return aboard Freak, while Emisael Jaramillo has the call on Lyrical.
Alluramore, who is owned by trainer Steven Dwoskin, will return in the Susan's Girl after finishing an even fourth in her career debut in the Desert Vixen under Victor Lebron, who has the call Saturday.
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Nicks Hoping To ‘Breeze’ To Fourth FSS Affirmed Victory In A Row
A resilient winner of the $100,000 Dr. Fager Aug. 1, Breeze On By will seek his second straight FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes victory in the $200,000 Affirmed at Gulfstream Park Saturday while giving trainer Ralph Nicks a solid shot at his fourth consecutive success in the seven-furlong event for 2-year-olds sired by accredited Florida stallions.
The Affirmed will co-headline Saturday's Florida Sire Stakes program at Gulfstream with the $200,000 Susan's Girl, a seven-furlong event for juvenile fillies. The $75,000 Proud Man, a mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds and the $75,000 Sharp Susan, a mile turf stakes for juvenile fillies, will be supporting stakes on a 12-race program. The Affirmed will be included in the Rainbow 6 sequence Saturday, when a mandatory payout is scheduled.
Nicks has saddled the Affirmed winner the past three seasons, scoring with Soutache (2017), Garter and Tie (2018) and Liam's Lucky Charm (2019).
“Six, seven years, I've been here now. After the second year, I knew I had to competitive in the sire stakes,” said Nicks, who made a decision to base his stable year-round in South Florida when Gulfstream Park instituted a Spring/Summer Meet. “I've been fortunate enough to have clients to send me horses that are eligible for that and I've been fortunate enough to have some with the talent to get it done. The racing gods have allowed us to put it all together on those days.”
Breeze On By gave Nicks his seventh Florida Sire Stakes success since 2006, while providing Gilbert Campbell's Stonehedge Farm with a 13th victory in the prestigious tradition-rich series while winning the six-furlong Dr. Fager. (Michael Yates-trained Go Jo Jo Go upped that total to 14 for Stonehedge with a win in the Aug. 1 FSS Desert Vixen.)
The gelded son of Cajun Breeze, who made a rather auspicious debut while capturing a July 12 maiden special weight race at Gulfstream by six lengths, set the pace in the six-furlong Dr. Fager before meeting a strong challenge from Gatsby at the top of the stretch. After Gatsby put his nose in front in mid-stretch, Breeze On By fought back gamely to prevail by a length.
“He seemed to have handled the pressure of two races close together. It looks like he put some weight on and matured some more, so hopefully he'll move forward from here,” Nicks said. “He's a big rangy horse. I think he'll handle [seven furlongs] fine. It'll depend on pace scenarios and set-up, but time will tell on that.”
Emisael Jaramillo has the return call.
Nicks and Stonehedge will also be represented in the Affirmed by a pair of promising maiden winners, Seazan and Big Daddy Dave.
Seazan, a gelded son of Khozan who finished second in his June 10 debut in a $50,000 maiden claimer, stepped up to capture a seven-furlong maiden special weight race on the Dr. Fager undercard.
“He might be a bit of a sleeper in there. In his second start at seven-eighths of a mile, he really liked it. He's a horse that's definitely going to run on down the racetrack,” Nicks said.
Samy Camacho has the mount aboard Seazan.
Big Daddy Dave, also a gelded son of Khozan, captured his debut by 3 ¼ lengths May 30.
“We gave him time after his debut and we were pointing him to the first leg. When he came back he ended up getting sick,” Nicks said. “I think he'll run well.”
Edgard Zayas has the call aboard Big Daddy Dave.
Nicks is confident in the abilities of the three prominent South Florida jockeys to give their mounts their best chances for success.
“I like my hand going into it. Any of the three are capable. Hopefully, they'll stay out of each other's way,” Nicks said. “There are some different dimensions there. Big Daddy Dave and Breeze On By can control the early part of the race if wanted. They both could stalk and set off, and Seazan is an obvious closer. We'll try and let it play out. It'll be up to Jaramillo, Zayas and Camacho to see what happens.”
Top Boss, another gelded son of Khozan, will give Stonehedge a fourth chance to boost its gaudy FSS numbers. The Kathleen O'Connell-trained Top Boss captured a $50,000 maiden claiming race by 7 ½ lengths in his fourth career start.
Hall of Famer Edgar Prado has the call aboard the Stonehedge hombred.
Arindel's Gatsby, an impressive winner of his April 12 debut, rebounded from an off-the-board finish in the June 27 Bashford Manor (G3) at Churchill Downs with his gusty second-place finish in the Dr. Fager. The homebred son of Brethren pulled off an upset victory over heavily favored Golden Pal in his April 12 debut at 4 ½ furlongs at Gulfstream, chasing the Wesley Ward-trained odds-on favorite into the stretch before edging clear by three-quarters of a length. Golden Pal has gone on to impress on turf, finishing second in the Norfolk (G2) at Royal Ascot and winning last week's Skidmore Stakes at Saratoga handily by 3 ½ lengths.
Trilogy Stable and Laurie Plesa's Famous Gent made a middle move from back in the pack and raced evenly thereafter to finish fourth in the Dr. Fager.
Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained Famous Gent, who broke his maiden in the second career start, entered the Dr. Fager off a troubled third-place finish behind highly regarded Papetu in the first juvenile allowance race of the Spring/Summer Meet.
The son of First Dude will be ridden by Christian Torres.
Flying Finish Farm's Florala Al, Vicente Stella Stables LLC's Grey Dom and Just For Fun Inc.'s Advance Cash round out the field.
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Flatter Hymn Answers All The Questions In Governor’s Stakes
There were several question marks arriving along with Flatter Hymn into Indiana. The thee-year-old son of Flat Out had two career starts, both wins at Charles Town. He had never raced outside of his home base, much less around two turns, but the good-looking gelding silenced all question marks with an impressive victory in the 18th Running of the $100,000 Governor's Stakes Wed. Aug. 26 at Indiana Grand.
Starting from the outside post eight, Flatter Hymn was one of the first to contend for the lead with Indiana Grand's leading jockey DeShawn Parker aboard. The duo sat along the outside of Chipofftheoldblock and Alex Achard through the early stages of the one mile, 70-yard event. In the turn, it appeared that the late closers might be too tough to tackle as Mai Tai's Gem and Santo Sanjur along with race favorite Two Last Words and Fernando De La Cruz moved up into position.
In the stretch, Flatter Hymn came alive and got back into contention for the lead, getting the advantage in the last few strides to win by one and one-quarter length over Mai Tai's Gem. Two Last Words finished third.
“I had trouble getting him to settle,” said Parker. “I was trying to get him to relax at first. He actually backed off at one point, but he seemed to get a breather and then he came right back and hit another gear. He gave me everything he had. He didn't have a bit of trouble with two turns.”
Flatter Hymn was the third choice on the board, paying $8.60, $4.00, $3.00 across the board. Bred by Sugarland Thoroughbreds of Indiana, the sophomore gelding is owned by Everett Novak's New Farm, who purchased him as a yearling for $30,000 from the Fasig Tipton Mid Atlantic Eastern Fall Sale in Maryland. Jeff Runco trains.
Runco is the longtime leading trainer at Hollywood Casino Charles Town. He is once again leading the standings in 2020 and has amassed more than 4,300 career wins. The Graded Stakes winning trainer mainly focuses his stable in West Virginia, but when the stakes opportunity came up for Flatter Hymn, he decided to send him to Indiana and reconnected with Parker.
“I used to ride a lot for Jeff (Runco) when I was out at Mountaineer,” said Parker. “I even went over to Charles Town to ride for him some. I talked to him on the phone about this horse and he told me both times, he got in trouble in his last races. I watched his last race, and he was in trouble at the top of the stretch, and there, once you get in the stretch, it seems like only a few jumps and you are at the wire. For him to get out of trouble and go on and win in that start was really impressive.”
Flatter Hymn returns to West Virginia as a stakes winner and a near-$100,000 winner. He keeps his record perfect with three wins in three starts. Flatter Hymn was unraced at two.
“When Jeff (Runco) decided to nominate this horse to the stakes, he gave us a call,” said Ricky Giannini, who oversees Brad Cox's Stable at Indiana Grand. “He shipped in a few days ago with Jeff's assistant just for this race. We actually sent a West Virginia bred to Jeff a few weeks ago for a race, so we just traded horses for a little bit.”
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