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Chance It Retired To Journeyman Stud In Florida

Florida-bred Chance It, a winner of two of the three legs of the prestigious FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes in 2019 at Gulfstream Park, has been retired and will stand the 2022 breeding season at Brent and Crystal Fernung's Journeyman Stud in Ocala, Fla.

“We're excited to stand Chance It here at Journeyman next year,” said Journeyman's Brent Fernung. “He is a beloved Florida-bred racehorse that displayed tons of talent. Had he not got injured, I'm sure he would have annexed at least one Grade 1 stake before he was finished. Chance It won from six furlongs to a mile and a sixteenth and showed indications that he would have won going further. It'll be a pleasure to work with Mary and her entire team.”

Chance It was trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. for Shooting Star Thoroughbreds, a syndicate managed by Mary Lightner of Ocala, Fla.

Chance It won the $100,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Dr. Fager over six furlongs by 3 1/4 lengths on Aug. 3 of 2019 before dominating the $400,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes In Reality two starts later in September, winning the 1 1/16-mile test by 7 1/4 lengths. He was also second, missing by just a head to Liam's Lucky Charm, in the $200,000 FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes Affirmed going seven furlongs on Aug. 31.

By Currency Swap out of Vagabon Diva, by Pleasantly Perfect, Chance It started his sophomore campaign with victory in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 4, 2020 at Gulfstream Park, achieving a Beyer Speed Figure of 99 while defeating stakes-winner As Seen On Tv and future graded stakes-winner Sole Volante.

In four starts this year, Chance It was second twice including a runner-up performance in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint over six furlongs at Gulfstream Park on July 3 and third in the G1 Forego going seven furlongs at Saratoga on Aug. 28 while earning a 97 Beyer. He was retired after his final start in the G2 Kelso at Belmont Park on Sept. 25 when he suffered a minor injury to his left front leg.

Chance It, who was bred in the Sunshine State by Bett Usher, finished his career with four wins, four seconds and a third in 11 lifetime races while earning $583,330.

The handsome bay colt will join a stellar stallion roster at Journeyman Stud that includes Khozan, the leading sire in Florida in 2020 and 2021; St Patrick's Day, who is a full-brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah; and Mr. Money, a winner of four graded stakes as a 3-year-old.

Chance It's fee for the 2022 breeding season has not been announced.

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MSW & GISP Chance It Retired to Journeyman

Florida champion Chance It (Currency Swap–Vagabon Diva, by Pleasantly Perfect) sustained a soft tissue injury in Saturday's GII Kelso H. and has been retired to stand at Journeyman Stud in Ocala. His fee has not been announced for 2022.

“We're excited to stand Chance It here at Journeyman next year. He is a beloved Florida-bred racehorse that displayed tons of talent. Had he not got injured, I'm sure he would have annexed at least one Grade I stake before he was finished,” Journeyman's Brent Fernung said. “Chance It won from six furlongs to a mile-and-a-sixteenth and showed indications that he would have won going further. It'll be a pleasure to work with Mary and her entire team!”

The Shooting Star Thoroughbreds, LLC runner was a three-time black-type winner at Gulfstream Park for trainer Saffie A. Joseph, Jr., including in the 2019 $400,000 FTBOA Florida Sire In Reality S. His 2-year-old campaign netted him 2-year-old Florida championship honors.

As a 3-year-old, Chance It added the Mucho Macho Man S. but eventually went to the sidelines for 14 months before returning in 2021 for placings in the GI Forego S. and the GIII Smile Sprint Invitational S. The 4-year-old, who was bred in Florida by Bett Usher, retires with a record of 11-4-4-1 and earnings of $583,330.

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Drain the Clock Prepares For H. Allen Jerkens, Mischevious Alex For Forego On Travers Card

Drain the Clock, the winner of the Grade 1 Woody Stephens and the last-out runner-up in the Grade 2 Amsterdam, recorded his final work on Saturday ahead of the $600,000 Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens on Runhappy Travers Day on August 28 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Maclean's Music colt registered a four-furlong breeze in :47:47 in company with 2020 Grade 1 Haskell runner-up Ny Traffic over the Saratoga main for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr.

Owned by Slam Dunk Racing, Madaket Stables, Wonder Stables, and Michael Nentwig, Drain the Clock finished second behind top divisional contender Jackie's Warrior in the 6 1/2-furlong Amsterdam on a sloppy and sealed track August 1.

The ultra-consistent Drain the Clock enters the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens with momentum, posting four wins and a pair of second-place finishes through the first six starts of his 3-year-old campaign. He won the Grade 3 Swale, contested at the Jerkens distance, by 6 1/4 lengths in January at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., and tallied consecutive wins on the NYRA circuit with a 1 3/4-length victory in the Grade 3 Bay Shore in April at Aqueduct Racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y., before edging Jackie's Warrior by a neck in the seven-furlong Woody Stephens on Belmont Stakes Day June 5.

“He had a good work going in company with Ny Traffic and galloped out pretty strong,” Joseph, Jr. said. “Obviously, last time he was well-beaten fair and square by Jackie's Warrior. Now, you have Life Is Good in this race, so, hopefully, we can get outside this time. I think the draw will have a lot to do with it. But we're willing to give it another chance.”

Joseph, Jr. also saw two contenders for the $600,000 Grade 1 Forego work Saturday at Saratoga, with Chance It and Mischevious Alex logging four furlongs in :48.12 and :48.48, respectively, on the main track.

The Forego, for 4-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs, will give four-time graded stakes-winner Mischevious Alex a chance to add to that total, with the Into Mischief colt posting wins in last year's Grade 3 Swale and Grade 3 Gotham as a sophomore before continuing to improve as a 4-year-old, winning the Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint in February and romping by 5 1/2 lengths in the Grade 1 Carter in April at the Big A.

After running third in the Grade 1 Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan Handicap on Belmont Stakes Day, Mischevious Alex [owned by Cash is King and LC Racing] ran eighth in the six-furlong Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 31 at Saratoga. Joseph, Jr. said his charge has continued to work well as he readies to stretch back out to seven furlongs next week.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds' Chance It, second last out in the Grade 3 Smile Sprint going six furlongs on July 3 at Gulfstream, has compiled a 4-4-0 record in nine starts entering his Saratoga debut. The 4-year-old son of Currency Swap is looking for his first graded stakes victory.

“They worked by themselves and they seem to be coming into the race in good order,” Joseph, Jr. said.

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Connections ‘Taking Things Slow,’ But Top Florida-Bred Chance It On Comeback Trail

As the annual FTBOA Florida Sire Stakes series gets under way at Gulfstream Park Saturday with the running of the $100,000 Dr. Fager and $100,000 Desert Vixen, last year's hero, Chance It, will continue making progress along the comeback trail in Ocala, FL.

Shooting Star Thoroughbreds LLC's stable star, who was victorious in two of the three legs of the 2019 Florida Sire Stakes, was sent to the sidelines with a foot injury sustained during the running of the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) March 7.

“He's doing really well. He's gotten bigger and stronger. He's happy. He came out of the Tampa Bay Derby with a foot injury, and it takes a while to grow a foot,” said Mary Lightner, syndicate manager of Shooting Star Thoroughbreds LLC. “We just started putting him under tack two weeks ago.”

Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained Chance It, who won his 2020 debut in the Jan. 4 Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream to take a step onto the Derby Trail, is being patiently handled on the comeback trail from an injury that resulted in the first off-the-board finish of his career.

“At the training center, it's up and down hill, so he's getting a lot from walking up and back from the track. Probably, in a week and a half, he'll start jogging,” Lightner said. “We're going real slow with him. We hope to get him back running in the fall.

“It's about three-quarters of a mile to the track and back. It's up and down hill on the horse path,” she added. “We're having our groom walk him up to the track and back. He's doing good and doing everything right.”

Chance It bounced back from a second-place finish in his career debut last June to turn in a brilliant 9 ¼-length maiden-breaking triumph at Gulfstream. The overachieving son of Currency Swap came right back to capture the $100,000 Dr. Fager before finishing second in the $200,000 Affirmed and winning the $400,000 In Reality by 7 ¼ lengths to close out a highly productive 2-year-old campaign.

“It was an unbelievable year – hard to duplicate, that's for sure. I think he became the workingman's horse and had a huge following because of his pedigree that no one thinks about. I think they kind of saw him as overcoming a lot to win those kind of races and be that kind of horse,” Lightner said. “Everybody got behind him. We had a great time.”

Coming off a three-month layoff, Chance It made a sweeping move to the lead in the mile Mucho Macho Man only to be headed by multiple-stakes winner As Seen On Tv in mid-stretch. Chance It found a late reserve of energy to fight back and win by a head.

“He really laid his body down to win that race. I can't take anything away from As Seen On TV. They both ran a great race,” Lightner said. “You thought he was beat and he came back. He has a huge heart. It makes you so proud of him.”

Lightner is looking forward to a long future for Chance It.

“There are a lot of races for him. Nobody thinks of him as a stallion and as long as he stays healthy and we try to do the right thing by him, he can run until he's 5 or 6 years old. That's why we're taking things slow with him and that everything's right before we send him back,” she said. “Saffie is looking forward to getting him back, but he's on the same page. He doesn't want to rush anything.”

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