Ron Moquett | Horse Racing Free Tips

Fourth Time’s A Charm: Whitmore Stages Bold Rally To Win Breeders’ Cup Sprint

In a career that's seen him do just about everything, Whitmore ticked one of the few boxes left to check on Saturday at Keeneland with a convincing score in his fourth attempt at the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

The 7-year-old Pleasantly Perfect gelding settled in the middle of the pack across the backstretch as Japanese longshot Jasper Prince shot to the lead from one of the outside posts, followed a couple lengths back by Empire of Gold and favorite Yaupon. Jasper Prince and jockey Jose Ortiz led the field through an opening quarter-mile in :21.64 seconds, and he continued to guide it to the half-mile mark in :44.66 seconds.

As the field turned for home, Empire of Gold drew up to the outside of Jasper Prince, while a crush of horses ran behind them trying to stage a stretch drive. Those potential challengers bottlenecked in the stretch, which opened up a seam for jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. to continue a rail rally he'd begun staging in the turn. As Jasper Prince faded, Irad Ortiz took his mount off the rail to pass the tiring pacesetter, and swung three-wide to take aim on upset candidate Empire of Gold.

Whitmore's momentum blew him past Empire of Gold as they passed the eighth pole, and he was well clear by the final sixteenth. He crossed the wire 3 1/4 lengths ahead of a steadily-gaining C Z Rocket, who was himself a neck ahead of Firenze Fire on the rail. Empire of Gold carried on for fourth, three-quarters of a length behind Firenze Fire.

Whitmore won the six-furlong Breeders' Cup Sprint in 1:08.61 over a fast main track at Keeneland. He paid $38.80 to win.

Ron Moquett trains the winner, and he co-owns the gelding with Robert LaPenta, and Head of Plains Partners. The Sprint was Moquett's first Breeders' Cup win in six attempts.

Four of those tries have come with Whitmore in the Sprint. He finished eighth in the 2017 edition, then finished second and third in the years that followed.

What Whitmore has become runs in stark contrast to the early years of his six-year career, when he was groomed to be a classic contender. After consistently performing well on the Oaklawn Park branch of the Triple Crown trail, he was entered in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, where he finished second-to-last. He was moved to the sprint ranks after the Derby, and established his place as one of the division's top runners for the years to come.

The 7-year-old Whitmore is a Kentucky-bred son of Pleasantly Perfect out of the Scat Daddy mare Melody's Spirit. The victory was worth $1,100,000 and boosted his earnings to $4,307,850 with a record of 38-15-11-3. It is his second Grade 1 victory to go with a score in the 2018 Forego at Saratoga.

To view the full chart, click here.

Race Quotes:

Winning trainer Ron Moquett (Whitmore) – “I said in the pre-race interview that whenever there are this many track records, it's almost impossible to think a closer is going to do well. For him to run against the bias the way he did and the patience of the rider, the willingness to listen, it all worked out. I'm so proud of the horse, proud for the connections. I'm proud for everyone out there that's thinking when you run last in the Kentucky Derby, kick them out, do right by the horse come back, and you have a shot to reach other dreams. You don't discard them. You just do right by the horse and it keeps working out.

“I'm just grateful. Grateful for the horse. Grateful to everyone that sends me well wishes and congratulations after the race. Just grateful.”

Winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. (Whitmore) – “He had a great trip. We wanted to break and have him relax and that's what we did. He relaxed so good. I was able to cut the corner on the turn and when I tipped him out he just exploded. He's a nice horse. He's been running for so many years. He's a warrior.”

Second-place trainer Peter Miller (C Z Rocket) –“He ran his eyeballs out. I think the draw really hurt us. If we drew where Whitmore drew, I think it's a different deal, but that's horse racing. We had to ride him away from there and that's not the way he really wants to run, but he had no choice on this speed-favoring racetrack. From the inside, you don't want to get shuffled back to last. He rode a super race. It was just circumstance. Speed favoring track and an inside draw on a horse who wants to sit and doesn't want to be ridden away from there, but I couldn't be prouder of the horse. He's shown up every time we ran him.”

Second-place jockey Luis Saez (C Z Rocket) – “He had a beautiful trip. I thought he was going to win but he just kind of stayed there. But he ran a nice race.”

Third-place jockey Jose Lezcano (Firenze Fire) – “We kind of lost a little bit of contact early. The pace was very fast early and he was a little bit more behind than I wanted to be. From the five-sixteenths to the three-sixteenths I didn't have any place to go. I was waiting and waiting and when I really asked him to go he gave me a good kick. He really came running. If we could have gotten a little clear earlier we would have been right there. He gave me a good race.”

Eighth-place jockey Joel Rosario (Yaupon, favorite) – “Coming out of the gate he kind of hesitated for a little bit. I think that cost the chances for us to probably win the race.”

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Fourth Time Lucky In the Sprint for Fan-Favorite Whitmore

Making his fourth consecutive appearance in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint, the 7-year-old gelding Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect) did what few have done over the course of the weekend–rally from far back on the main track to score an 18-1 upset in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint Saturday at Keeneland.

The $4.2-million earner lagged in the latter third of the field early as Japanese raider Jasper Prince (Violence) ensured a fast pace, chased along by fellow longshot Empire of Gold (Goldencents). Traveling nicely within himself on the turn, Whitmore crept into it while steadily gaining on the leaders, angled out into the three path entering the final furlong and outran C Z Rocket (City Zip) to the wire to take it by 3 1/4 lengths. Firenze Fire (Poseidon’s Warrior) rallied up the inside to just touch Empire of Gold out of third.

Heavily favored sophomore Yaupon (Uncle Mo), unbeaten in four prior attempts racing on the engine, including Saratoga’s GII Amsterdam S., tired to eighth after chasing the early leaders on the outside from third.

“I said in the pre-race interview that whenever there are this many track records, it’s almost impossible to think a closer is going to do well,” winning trainer and co-owner Ron Moquett said after saddling his first Breeders’ Cup winner. “For him to run against the bias the way he did and the patience of the rider [Irad Ortiz, Jr.], the willingness to listen, it all worked out. I’m so proud of the horse, proud for the connections. I’m proud for everyone out there that’s thinking when you run last in the Kentucky Derby, kick them out, do right by the horse come back, and you have a shot to reach other dreams. You don’t discard them. You just do right by the horse and it keeps working out.

Moquett continued, “I’m just grateful. Grateful for the horse. Grateful to everyone that sends me well wishes and congratulations after the race. Just grateful.”

Two years ago Moquett was diagnosed with autoimmune disease, which affects the lungs and can make breathing difficult. The disease forced him to avoid the racetrack for several months.

Whitmore, who gave Moquett his second career Grade I victory in the 2018 Forego at Saratoga, has helped the affable trainer get through his darkest days.

“Right after the race they come up and they want to do interviews, and for a little bit, for a guy that’s lung compromised, I’m sitting over here trying to go, ‘Okay, first you catch your breath and then you can talk and then when you put these, what I call life restrictors on me, then it makes it that much harder to get air through there,'” Moquett said.

“He’s everything. You get a horse like this, and all horses, I mean, we drive across the country all the time just to see horses. But a horse like this that tries and fights and gives you everything consistently, you want to be there. I’m not saying that even in one of these big barns that he wouldn’t have performed beautifully and done just as well, but I am saying that Whitmore in a big outfit may not have received the exact attention that he needed to get there. So, I use that as motivation. If I’m not there to do my job, who is going to do it?”

Whitmore, a Classics hopeful after finishing third in the GI Arkansas Derby in 2016, finished 19th in that year’s GI Kentucky Derby.

Re-invented as a sprinter since, Whitmore finished eighth in the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar, second to Roy H (More Than Ready) at Churchill two years ago and third to Mitole (Eskendereya) last year at Santa Anita.

Whitmore lined up six previous times this season, led by wins in Oaklawn’s Hot Springs S. (4x winner) and GIII Count Fleet Sprint H. (3x winner). This term’s GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. runner-up entered off a flat fourth in the local GII Phoenix S.

Whitmore is campaigned in partnership by Robert LaPenta, Moquett and Sol Kumin’s Head of Plains Partners LLC.

“It’s just an incredible win,” said Kumin, also a co-owner of Friday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Aunt Pearl (Ire) and Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine Monomoy Girl (Tapizar). “You own lots of horses, but very rarely do you find one that is a fighter like this guy, with so much heart. All the credit goes to Ron and his team and Whitmore because he’s just, you know, he’s a warrior and it was just amazing to see today.”

Will we see the popular gelding back again at age eight?

“I see no reason, as long as Whitmore wants to do it. I see no reason to do anything but what he wants to do,” Moquett concluded.

Pedigree Notes:

The veteran Whitmore, who would undoubtedly win any popularity contests of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup, is the most accomplished horse sired by 2003 GI Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect–although the latter also sired 2010 GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Shared Account, who in turn foaled 2019 GI Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Sharing (Speightstown)–from his 20 black-type winners and seven graded winners. Pleasantly Perfect died in June in Turkey, where he had stood from 2015-2019. Whitmore is out of the Scat Daddy mare Melody’s Spirit, who was unraced and produced Whitmore as her first foal. Her 2-year-old colt Skip Intro (Liam’s Map) is a barnmate of Whitmore’s in Ron Moquett’s shedrow and was second in a Churchill maiden special weight Nov. 1. Melody’s Spirit’s yearling colt by Arrogate–named Arrogates Spirit–was a $170,000 RNA at Keeneland September. The mare has been bred back to Constitution. The late Scat Daddy’s record as a sire has been well documented, but he also has nine black-type winners out of his daughters, led by Whitmore.

Saturday, Keeneland
BREEDERS’ CUP SPRINT-GI, $1,840,000, Keeneland, 11-7, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.61, ft.
1–WHITMORE, 126, g, 7, by Pleasantly Perfect
                1st Dam: Melody’s Spirit, by Scat Daddy
                2nd Dam: Capture the Cat, by Tale of the Cat
                3rd Dam: Ten Flags, by Seattle Slew
O-Robert V. LaPenta, Ron Moquett & Head of Plains Partners
LLC; B-John Liviakis (KY); T-Ron Moquett; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr.
$1,040,000. Lifetime Record: MGISW, 38-15-11-3, $4,247,850.
Werk Nick Rating: A++.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–C Z Rocket, 126, g, 6, City Zip–Successful Sarah, by Successful
Appeal. ($800,000 2yo ’16 OBSOPN). O-Madaket Stables LLC,
Gary Barber & Tom Kagele; B-Farm III Enterprises LLC (FL);
T-Peter Miller. $340,000.
3–Firenze Fire, 126, h, 5, Poseidon’s Warrior–My Every Wish, by
Langfuhr. O/B-Mr Amore Stables (FL); T-Kelly J. Breen.
$180,000.
Margins: 3 1/4, NK, 3/4. Odds: 18.40, 5.90, 8.80.
Also Ran: Empire of Gold, Manny Wah, Diamond Oops, Hog Creek Hustle, Yaupon, Lasting Legacy, Bon Raison, Frank’s Rockette, Collusion Illusion, Echo Town, Jasper Prince. Scratched: Vekoma. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Sprint: Weaver Not Worried About Outside Post With Vekoma, Whitmore ‘As Good As He’s Ever Been’

Vekoma – R. A. Hill Stable and Gatsas Stables' Vekoma arrived from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. by van early Tuesday morning before getting acquainted with the Keeneland racetrack during a 1 3/8-mile gallop.

“Everything's gone smoothly so far,” trainer George Weaver said.

Vekoma, who was installed as the 3-1 morning line favorite for Saturday's Breeders' Cup Sprint, drew post position 14.

“I like it. I'd rather draw outside than inside,” Weaver said. “You run the risk of being parked real wide on the turn, but I think he has enough tactical speed to clear horses and get in a favorable spot before he gets to that turn.”

Vekoma is 3-for-3 this year but hasn't run since capturing the July 4 Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park.

“He's been training really well. We're looking forward to getting him back to the races. I don't know how he's going to run off a four-month layoff, but it's not a six-month layoff or a year layoff,” Weaver said. “It's four months. Once we got him into a breeze pattern he jumped back into fitness very easily.”

The 4yo son of Candy Ride popped a foot abscess about a month after the Met Mile.

“I would have obviously liked to see our horse run. He's such a star,” Weaver said. “I wanted to run him in the Forego at Saratoga – that didn't happen. We were hoping to make the Vosburgh, not so much needing a race but to see a star run.”

Vekoma, who won the Nashua at Aqueduct at 2 and the Blue Grass at Keeneland at 3, finished 13th in the 2019 Kentucky Derby before going to the sidelines for more than 10 months. He returned to win the March 28 Sir Shackleton at Gulfstream Park by 3 ¾ lengths before scoring by 7 ¼ lengths in the Carter at Belmont Park June 6.

“At the time I was worried that Gulfstream might get shut down [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. Luckily, they got to keep going and we got the race in. From that point on we were looking at the Carter and the Met Mile,” Weaver said. “He's a good horse. I can't stress that enough. To win off a layoff like that, if you have a good one, all those things don't matter that much. I'm not saying he's going to win, but it won't be the fitness, it won't be the layoff (that would get him beat).”

Whitmore – The veteran Whitmore got reacquainted with the Keeneland track Tuesday morning after arriving Monday afternoon from his Churchill base and jogged 1 1/2 miles under regular rider Laura Moquett, wife and assistant to her husband trainer Ron Moquett, as he prepares for his fourth start in the Sprint. Whitmore, who was second in the Sprint in 2018 and third last year, has prepped for each of his Breeders' Cup starts in the Phoenix at Keeneland and has a record of 1-2-0 in four tries. He was fourth in the race this year.

“He's doing great,” said Moquett, who also co-owns the gelding with Robert LaPenta and Sol Kumin's Head of Plains Partners. “He's doing very good right now, we're excited. I think he's coming in to this race as good as he's ever been.”

When asked about the accomplishment of getting a horse to the Breeders' Cup four times, Moquett said, “First off you have to have a horse that likes his job. They have to want to do this. And, we've been able find a routine that suits him.

“What I think is really awesome about Whitmore is how he's been able to connect with people over these last four years. I don't think a day goes by that someone doesn't reach out through social media to comment about how much they enjoy following him. A lot of people have been following him since he ran in the (Kentucky) Derby (in 2016). The connection he's made with fans is really cool.”

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The Week in Review: The Old Man and the Sprint

The final chapters have yet to be penned in Whitmore (Pleasantly Perfect)’s book, but it’s safe to say the 7-year-old sprinter is in the autumn of his career. He’s a closer who has excelled in a division where out-and-out front-end speed often dominates, he’s run in three consecutive GI Breeders’ Cup Sprints that have each drawn as “loaded” affairs won by the eventual Eclipse Award champ, and he’ll seek his first Breeders’ Cup win in start number four over a host track (Keeneland) whose main-track profile has been tilted toward forwardly placed runners during both of its 2020 meets.

Nevertheless, trainer Ron Moquett wouldn’t trade horses or places with anyone leading up to the Nov. 7 Sprint. On Sunday morning at Churchill Downs, Whitmore bulleted a half mile in :46.80 (1/76) in his final serious breeze before the Breeders’ Cup.

“He’s just a cool dude. He’s very consistent, and I’m expecting good things out of him,” Moquett said in a post-workout video interview posted by the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. “We’ve always got a lot of pressure when Whitmore runs because a lot of people love him and follow him, and we’re kind of into that. So we want to put on a good show, and we want it more for Whitmore than we do for anything.”

Whitmore carries the colors of a partnership between Robert LaPenta, Head of Plains Partners, LLC, and Moquett. But he also shoulders the appreciative interest of admirers who like a good “throwback” campaigner–a reliable, road-tripping stalwart good for six to eight starts annually who hits the board more often than not (14-11-3 from 37 lifetime starts) while bankrolling $3.2 million in purse earnings.

If Whitmore finally breaks through and wins the Sprint (he’s been third, second, and eighth in his previous attempts), the victory would come five years and one day after he broke his maiden at first asking at Churchill, winning by a gaudy 7 1/4 lengths at 15-1 odds.

Whitmore doesn’t often crack double digits on the tote board these days. The only other times he’s gone off at that high a price were in the 2015 GI Kentucky Derby (30-1) and in his 2017 and 2019 Breeders’ Cup Sprints (20-1 and 19-1). And outside of his beginning-career route attempts on the Triple Crown trail and the one-turn 2019 GI Cigar Mile, Moquett has kept Whitmore at his sweet spot between six and seven furlongs.

Moquett believes part of Whitmore’s staying power is attributable to his running style. Closing sprinters, he said, “come from off the pace, and they’re not as fatigued at the end of a race where a lot of injuries can occur.”

Whitmore began his 7-year-old season with a second and two wins at Oaklawn Park. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to a layoff until July 25 at Saratoga, where he ran into an absolute buzz saw of a winner named Volatile (Violence), who has since been retired with a hairline fracture. In that six-furlong GI Vanderbilt H., Volatile was allowed to get away with an unpressured first opening quarter mile in :23.46, but then ripped home through a final quarter in :22.94, the fastest in the race’s history. In a four-horse field while conceding two pounds to the winner, Whitmore was disadvantaged by the way the race unfolded, yet he still closed well enough to earn second, 1 1/4 lengths behind Volatile.

“That’s the slowest first quarter for a Grade I [sprint] I’ve ever seen, and he still made up ground and ran a really good race,” Moquett said.

Next up was a seventh-place try in the Saratoga slop over seven furlongs in the Aug. 29 GI Forego S. That race was run in a pelting rainstorm that made it a throwout for a number of competitors. Whitmore then took aim at the GII Phoenix Oct. 2 at Keeneland, in which he uncorked a six-wide bid off the turn against the grain of a speed-conducive track and lost a head bob for show, checking in fourth.

“It’s hard to win at Keeneland [with a closing sprinter],” Moquett said. “I was a little disappointed with the race. I wasn’t disappointed with him. I thought a lot of his races this year have been where if the pace was good enough, he could come get ’em. But being a closing sprinter, we are always concerned [with] pace scenarios.

“I thought that that was how the track was playing, that weekend especially,” Moquett continued. “It was just kind of an odd deal, but my horse came back happy and I know that if the right [pace] scenario comes up, he can beat those kind of horses with ease. If the wrong scenario comes up, he can be a victim of the pace.”

Whitmore’s fourth Sprint bid isn’t a Breeders’ Cup record. Another venerable gelding, Kona Gold, ran in five of them between 1998 and 2002, winning the 2000 edition. Four other horses (Perfect Drift, Better Talk Now, California Flag, and Obviously) also competed in five Breeders’ Cup events each.

“There is no correct recipe for a Sprint winner. I’ve seen 3-year-olds win it. I’ve seen 8-year-olds win it,” Moquett said, adding that for Whitmore, “it’s always about who he’s run against. He’s pretty much the same.

“When we ran against Roy H [{More Than Ready}, in 2017 and ’18] we were running against a two-time [Sprint] winner and the world’s fastest horse at the time. And [Whitmore] ran his eyeballs out,” Moquett continued. “Then we came back and ran against Mitole [{Eskendereya}, in 2019], and in my mind, he definitely was one of the best we’ve seen in awhile. So it’s almost like, ‘What are the caliber of the horses we’re going to be chasing on [Breeders’ Cup] day, and are there a couple of the good ones who can go fast enough for us to come get them?'”

If not, there’s always the prospect of another campaign for Whitmore at age eight.

“With him, he gets to write his own book,” Moquett said. “If he comes [out of the Sprint] and says he wants to go out and run and play and have fun, then I’m going to let him. If he ever acts like he’s not interested or shows a sign of wear and tear, then he’ll get to go and live happily ever after. He owes us nothing, so we only want what he wants.”

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