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Smooth Like Strait Gets His Grade I In Shoemaker Mile

Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute), narrowly beaten in three previous attempts at the top level, earned an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile with a wire-to-wire victory in the GI Shoemaker Mile S. Monday at Santa Anita. Sent off at 3-5, the bay colt broke alertly and took the early lead under his own steam. He hugged the rail while pressed by Restrainedvengeance (Hold Me Back) and Whisper Not (GB) (Poet's Voice {GB}) and the top trio separated themselves from the rest of the field through fractions of :23.46 and :46.43. The favorite began inching clear approaching the quarter pole and quickly put the matter to rest with a powerful kick in upper stretch that saw him burst away from his rivals before sailing under the wire a geared-down 1 1/2-length winner. Say the Word (More Than Ready) closed late to be second.

“Today feels very gratifying because the horse shows up and runs hard every time,” said winning trainer Michael McCarthy. “I don't think he was getting the respect he deserved earlier in the year, but he showed up and put together a nice campaign. I've had an immense amount of faith in this horse all along, and I really believe that there are big things coming for him later in the year.” “I was just waiting for a Grade I for this horse,” said winning rider Umberto Rispoli, who was capturing his third race on the holiday card at Santa Anita. “He deserves it so much. So does the owner, Michael Cannon. We have some feedback after the races, he's always positive. He always says, 'Don't worry, we're going to go to the Breeders' Cup'. He was positive from the first day. I was hoping to see him today but, I'll probably see him in Del Mar. I'm so glad for Michael and the groom, who treats him like a son, also the work rider, they do an amazing job with this horse. He's so clever, so smart, he deserves a Grade I.”

Smooth Like Strait's berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile will come over the same Del Mar course and distance at which he won the 2019 GIII Cecil de Mille S. as a 2-year-old. The bay colt captured last year's GIII La Jolla H. and GII Twilight Derby and missed by just a head when second in the GI Hollywood Derby before concluding the year with a win in the Dec. 26 GII Mathis Brothers Mile.

Smooth Like Strait opened 2021 with a neck runner-up finish in the Mar. 6 GI Frank Kilroe Mile and was a neck back in third behind the dead-heating Colonel Liam (Liam's Map) and Domestic Spending (GB) (Kingman {GB}) after setting the pace in the nine-furlong GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic last time out May 1.

Pedigree Notes:

Smooth Like Strait is the th Grade I winner for Midnight Lute, who is also the sire of champion Midnight Bisou and 2013 GI Malibu S. winner Shakin It Up and 2020 GI Gamely S. winner Keeper of the Stars, and 2013 GI Acorn S. and 2014 GI Humana Distaff S. winner Midnight Lucky.

Smooth As Usual has an unraced 2-year-old filly by Temple City named Unusually Smooth. She produced a colt by Midnight Lute in 2020 and was bred back to GI Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist. Smooth Like Strait's third dam, Sky Meadows (Conquistador Ciel), produced the dam of ill-fated Grade I winner Siphonic (Siphon {Brz}). This is also the family of multiple Grade I placed Summer Front (War Front) and Grade I winner Laragh (Tapit).

Breeder Mike Cannon purchased Smooth As Usual for $35,000 while in foal to Hat Trick (Jpn) at the 2013 Keeneland November sale.

Monday, Santa Anita
SHOEMAKER MILE S.-GI, $300,500, Santa Anita, 5-31, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:34.19, fm.
1–SMOOTH LIKE STRAIT, 124, c, 4, by Midnight Lute
1st Dam: Smooth as Usual, by Flower Alley
2nd Dam: Beautiful Lil, by Aptitude
3rd Dam: Sky Meadows, by Conquistador Cielo
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-Cannon Thoroughbreds, LLC (KY);
T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Umberto Rispoli. $180,000. Lifetime
Record: 15-7-3-2, $933,823.
Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Say the Word, 124, g, 6, More Than Ready–
Danceforthecause, by Giant's Causeway. O-Agave Racing
Stable & Sam-Son Farm; B-Sam-Son Farm (ON); T-Philip
D'Amato. $60,000.
3–Restrainedvengence, 122, g, 6, Hold Me Back–Cupids
Revenge, by Red Ransom. ($67,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP).
O-Kelly Brinkerhoff & Bob Grayson, Jr.; B-Westwind Farms
(KY); T-Val Brinkerhoff. $36,000.
Margins: 1HF, 1 3/4, NK. Odds: 0.70, 2.90, 19.30.
Also Ran: Next Shares, Whisper Not (GB), Crossfirehurricane. Scratched: Raymundos Secret. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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First Winner for Trainer Faith Wilson

Trainer Faith Wilson earned the first win of her career when La Luisa (Suns Out Guns Out) captured the ninth race at Monmouth Park Monday.

“I'm beyond ecstatic, especially because this was a project horse that my husband and I own,” the 33-year-old said. “She was a bad bleeder when we got her. We gave her six months off and since then she has been very consistent [with a win, second and third in four starts for Wilson]. I literally can't wait to get home and have cake with my kids and tell them about this.”

Wilson, an assistant for nine years for a variety of trainers, intended to launch her career at Monmouth Park a year ago “but we got here too late to get started.”

“So we decided to go to Tampa Downs and start there this winter,” she said. “We had a good winter at Tampa [with four seconds and a third from 13 starters], but I guess it was meant to be that I would get my first winner at my home track.”

Wilson's parents, Bill and Donna Wilson, both dabbled as trainers, with her mother spending her career (1989 through 1994) on the New Jersey circuit, which then included Garden State Park, the Meadowlands and Atlantic City Racecourse.

Wilson, who has a string of seven horses at Monmouth, won't have too much time to celebrate the first victory.

“We have four running next weekend that I have to get ready,” she said.

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Sam Boulmetis, Sr Dies at 94

Hall-of-Fame jockey Sam Boulmetis Sr. died May 30 in Red Bank, New Jersey, following a lengthy illness. He was 94.

DRF.com first reported his death on Monday, citing confirmation from his daughter, Kim Boulmetis, who said her father died peacefully at River View Hospital shortly after being transported there earlier in the day. He had suffered from dementia in recent years.

Earlier in the week, Kim Boulmetis had posted online that her father was the oldest living Hall-of-Fame jockey. He had served as president of The Jockeys' Guild from 1962 until his retirement five years later.

A Mar. 4, 1959, New York Times column about Boulmetis titled “The Golden Greek” noted that in the minds of railbirds, “Next to [Eddie] Arcaro, Boulmetis is the man with the most character and class in racing.”

According to his National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame biography, the Baltimore native made his debut in the saddle at Tropical Park in 1948 and rode his first winner, Stepinthedark, the following year at Garden State Park. His best riding years in the early- and mid-1950s included seasonal titles at Monmouth Park and Hialeah Park.

During a career in which he won 2,783 races, Boulmetis said his best mount was multiple champion and Hall-of-Fame distaffer Tosmah. He partnered with her to win the Astarita, Frizette, Miss Woodford, Matron, Maskette, and Beldame S., and also beat males in the Arlington Classic and John B. Campbell S.

Boulmetis won the Washington, D.C., International on Mahan, the United Nations H. on champion Career Boy, the Widener on Oligarchy, the Suburban on Helioscope, and the Flamingo S. twice with Charlie McAdam and Bally Ache. He won the Oceanport S. four times and the Monmouth H. three times.

Other standouts ridden by Boulmetis included Don Poggio, Vertex, Blue Sparkler, Errand King, Palestinian, and Dedicate.

When he announced his retirement early in 1967, Boulmetis had earnings of $15,425,953, which ranked him in the top 10 up to that time. Boulmetis later became a racing official and served many years as the state steward for New Jersey.

DRF reported that Boulmetis is survived by his wife, Lillian “Bebe” Boulmetis, to whom he was married for 69 years. The couple had five children: sons Sam Jr. and Jimmy, both lifelong racetrackers, along with daughters Jane, Susan, and Kim. Boulmetis is also survived by three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are pending.

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Observations From a Whip-Free Weekend at Monmouth

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

We will need a bigger sample size before being able to fully evaluate how Monmouth's experiment with whip-free racing has fared. But this much is certain: Three days in and after hysterical fomenting from the pro-whip side of the argument, the whip-less races amounted to a big nothingburger. That is to say there were no incidents, no major form reversals, no mass boycotts from the horseplayers, etc. Perhaps this was just round one in what figures to be a long, drawn-out battle that will eventually extend beyond Monmouth Park, but the anti-whippers have broken sharply from the gate and assumed a clear lead down the backstretch, all under hand urging.

Other thoughts:

(*) Handle-wise, Monmouth did not get off to a good start, but that was to be expected because of the rain, the slop, scratches and the lack of grass racing. On Sunday, the handle was $2,645,700 over 11 races, off considerably from the $3,924,465 they bet on the same day in 2019 when there were 12 races. On Saturday, they bet $2,941,677 over 12 races. On the same day in 2019, the handle was $5,891,308 for 13 races. (There were no races held over the Memorial Day weekend because of the COVID-19 shut down.)

That could mean that some bettors were reluctant to play races where no whipping was allowed, but it's more likely that the horrendous weather cost Monmouth any chance of having a good handle. If the sun shines next weekend, that would provide a clearer pictures vis a vis the handle and the whip ban's impact.

(*) Some had predicted that some owners and trainers would refuse to run at Monmouth because of the whip ban. That simply wasn't the case. You don't attract 107 entries for a 12-race card, like they did Saturday, if people are staying away. When asked if the whipping rules were having any impact on field size, racing secretary John Heims said of the Saturday card: “It's not a factor and it wasn't a factor for Friday's card either.”

(*) If whipping isn't OK in Thoroughbred racing in New Jersey, why is it OK in harness racing? After all, the whip ban was meant to address perceptions that horse racing is cruel to the animal. Harness drivers are very limited so far as what they can do with the whip and can no longer raise their arms above their shoulders and whack the horse. Still, if whips can't be tolerated at Monmouth then they shouldn't be tolerated at the Meadowlands.

(*) There's no doubt that other state racing commissions are watching the Monmouth races intently. If the entire meet goes as well as the first weekend did, expect other states to fall in line with whip bans of their own. Next up will almost certainly be California. In a 2020 interview with the TDN, here's what the California Horse Racing Board Executive Director had to say: “I don't think jockeys should carry crops. It's not necessary. To me, it's not a safety issue. Ten years from now, if jockeys are still carrying riding crops, we've taken a wrong turn somewhere. This is a national issue and I think eventually everybody will be on board.”

(*) Some predicted that the whip ban would favor frontrunners because closers couldn't be urged on by their riders with their whips. That didn't happen. With races being run over a very sloppy surface Sunday, speed horse did seem to have an advantage. But on Friday, when the surface was fast for the first race, the track was kind to off-the-pace horses. The winner of the first race closed from last and the winner of the second race was fifth out of six early. Both were running in the middle of the track in the stretch.

(*) The races were very formful. Over the three days, 15 of the 28 races were won by the favorite, for a strike rate of 53.6%. The entire time, only one horse paid more than $20. While that obviously had something to do with the small fields, it was also pretty strong evidence that a whip ban does not lead to strange results.

(*) Will the whip ban cause a reshuffling of the deck when it comes to the jockeys? Riders who rely more on their finesse and smarts rather than brute strength should do better. It's worth noting that Dylan Davis (3-for-8, 38%) got off to a big start. Riding for many of the top New York outfits, like Chad Brown, Davis could have a huge meet. These were Davis's first mounts since a Mar. 20 spill.

(*) While there were no serious incidents on the racetrack, there was at least one example where the lack of a whip could have caused a difference. In Saturday's sixth race, Charge Account (Take Charge Indy) clearly pulled herself up before the wire. But she was so far in front that it didn't matter. She won by 7 1/4 lengths. But what if she had done the same while battling another to the wire and lost? If he was able to use a whip, could jockey Nik Juarez have gotten the filly to get her mind back on business?

(*) It was interesting to see that so many riders declined to carry the whip, which is still allowed for safety purposes. Those jockeys clearly didn't want to take any chance that they'd revert to old habits and hit the horse, not when doing so would result in a $500 fine and a five-day suspension. It changed over the weekend and by Sunday, the majority of riders were carrying the whip. But, from a perception standpoint, the damage had already been done. If whips are so necessary for safety reasons, how can it be that so many riders chose not to use one when one was available to them?

(*) After all their fussing and saber-rattling, the Monmouth jockeys showed that they're not a unified group. Only two jockeys–Joe Bravo and Antonio Gallardo–declined to ride. It will be interesting to see if either Bravo or Gallardo have a change of heart and return.

(*) Yes, this was a difficult, volatile situation, but Monmouth's threats of suing jockeys and banning anyone who refused to ride, were, to say the least, over the top.

(*) Jockey Christian Navarro won with his first two mounts on Friday. It marked the first time he had ridden since July 26, 2019, when he rode at Camarero in Puerto Rico.

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