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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: Young Trainer O’Connor Has ‘Clear Vision’ Of His Future

On Jan. 8, 2022, less than two years since he sent out his first starter as an independent Thoroughbred trainer, Matthew Brice O'Connor found himself in the Gulfstream Park winner's circle with Clear Vision. The 6-year-old Artie Schiller gelding had bested his competition going one mile on the grass in the Tropical Turf Stakes (G3T), marking the first graded win for the horse and for O'Connor.

“That win felt so good—it was a tough spot,” said O'Connor. “We thought we could be third or fourth but (my mentor), Nick Zito has always told me that if you think you can run even fourth in a stakes race, you take the shot. That is how you find the big horses. It all panned out and I'm glad we took that shot. I've only run 50 or so horses so to get a win like that on the tail end of my second year training is a big accomplishment for me and my team.”

In terms of a career metaphor, there could be no more aptly-named stakes winner for O'Connor than Clear Vision. Born in Manhassett, New York, in 1998, just a stone's throw from Belmont Park, O'Connor's exposure to racing came early. Some of his first memories are of his early morning outings with his father to Saratoga's Oklahoma training track and the barn of Dennis Brida, who trained a handful of horses for his family.

“I spent every summer of my life at Saratoga,” said O'Connor. “When I was 5 or 6 years old, I would wake up early and my dad and I would go out to the barn every day. Horses were just always there, so my interest just grew as time went on. I can't say that racing consumed my life, but it's always been a major part of my life.”

In the early 2000s his uncle, Anthony Bonomo, began buying into more horses as an owner racing under the banner MeB Racing Stables. It was under Bonomo's trainer, Dominick Schettino, that O'Connor began learning his first horsemanship skills. In 2014, he received his hotwalker license and began working in earnest for Schettino. There he had the opportunity to interact closely with Grade 1 winner Greenpointcrusader, as well as eventual 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Always Dreaming, who made his first few starts with Schettino before being transferred to Todd Pletcher.

After entering college, O'Connor assisted trainer Robert Falcone, Jr. before finally landing a job with Hall of Famer Nick Zito, who became—and remains—his closet mentor.

“Nick does it right, that's for sure,” said O'Connor. “I talk to Nick at least once or twice a week. We've always kept in touch ever since the moment I started working for him.”

Concurrent to working with Zito, O'Connor graduate from the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona and decided it was time to break out on his own.

“I took out my license in late 2019 and I got my first horse in February of 2020,” said O'Connor. “It was a really tough time, trying to start out in the middle of a pandemic, but by the time it really started going we were too far in it to turn around so we had to keep going.”

O'Connor's first winner came in April of 2020 when he saddled Duellist to a maiden victory at Gulfstream Park. Since that time, O'Connor has continued to grow his stable, running his horses in New York in the summer and Florida in the winter.

“We now have four horses in Florida,” said O'Connor, who runs his barn with the help of a tight three-person crew. “At the highest point I had 18 horses this past summer in Saratoga. That being said, they weren't all the highest quality horses so we decided to trim down and just bring a handful that we thought could be competitive to Florida. Hopefully we will start growing more again.

“We did some shopping in Saratoga and bought a Gormley colt and a Tiznow filly who are both New York-breds. Wherever the good horses are, we try and find them and get them in the barn. I will have to see how many owners I have and how many are looking to get something, but I would expect we should get two or three out of the sales this year. Hopefully it'll be more, but I think that is a good place to start.”

With plenty of races ahead of him in the new year, O'Connor looks forward to every new start and credits his continued luck on the track to the dedication of his team and their combined passion for the sport. And as for Clear Vision, O'Connor is targeting a run for the gelding in the Feb. 5 Tampa Bay Stakes (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs.

“Without my team, and my horses and owners, I'm just another guy on the backside,” said O'Connor. “To have a first start of this year be the first winner of the year … it's a great way to start. Now we just have to try and top that.”

Matthew O'Connor leads his first graded stakes winner, Clear Vision, into the winner's circle after Saturday's G3 Tropical Turf at Gulfstream Park

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Clear Vision Gives 23-Year-Old Trainer First Graded Stakes Win In Tropical Turf

Not quite two years ago, Matthew Brice O'Connor registered his first career win as a trainer at Gulfstream Park. The 23-year-old did himself one better Saturday, sending out MeB Stables' Clear Vision to a front-running upset victory in the $100,000 Tropical Turf (G3).

The 44th running of the one-mile Tropical Turf for 4-year-olds and up on the grass served as the headliner on an 11-race program that was capped by a mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow 6.

Clear Vision ($23.40) completed the distance in 1:35.36 over a firm course under jockey Julien Leparoux to give O'Connor, a native of New Hyde Park, N.Y., his first graded-stakes victory with his first starter of 2022.

It was also the first graded triumph for MeB Stables, the nom de course for Mary Ellen and Anthony Bonomo, fellow native New Yorkers who got into racing in 2006. Though not related by blood, O'Connor has considered the Bonomos family since a young age as his father and Anthony are best friends.

“It means the world to me. I've been working since I've been 8, 9 years old just to follow the path to here,” O'Connor said. “To do it for my Uncle Anthony and Aunt Mary Ellen, it means a lot.”

Clear Vision is one of four horses O'Connor has stabled at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream's satellite training facility in Palm Beach County. O'Connor claimed the gelded 6-year-old son of Grade 1 winner Artie Schiller for $25,000 out of an Oct. 16 win at Belmont Park, and ran him for the first time in the Claiming Crown Emerald Dec. 4 at Gulfstream, finishing second.

Leparoux had Clear Vision on the lead quickly from Post 2 in the field of seven, where he ran an opening quarter-mile in 23.62 seconds pressed by Belgrano on the outside and Flying Scotsman between horses. Belgrano forged a short advantage over Clear Vision, racing on the inside, as Flying Scotsman checked back to third after a half in 46.97.

“I told Julien to just play the break. We thought Flying Scotsman would go and it looked like he broke a little slow. We wound up on the lead and Julien went on with it,” O'Connor said. “That's the way he runs his best races. Those two wins he had in New York back-to-back he got loose on the lead. He just got brave out there and kept going.”

Clear Vision ran six furlongs in 1:10.94 to take the lead back and straightened for home in front as Value Proposition and 3-5 favorite Largent rolled into contention. Leparoux kept Clear Vision to task through the lane and he was able to edge clear to win by two lengths, while Value Proposition rallied up the rail to take second over Belgrano.

Largent, a Grade 2 winner making his first start since being beaten a neck in last January's Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) by stablemate Colonel Liam, wound up fourth followed by Call Curt, Flying Scotsman and Phat Man.

“When they came to the quarter pole I saw Largent making his run,” O'Connor said. “[Clear Vision] is a gritty horse. He knows his job, he loves what he does and he dug in and turned away the competition.”

O'Connor credited his former boss, Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito, with giving him the confidence to run Clear Vision. O'Connor worked two years for Zito before going out on his own in 2020, and he won his first race with Duellist April 4 of that year at Gulfstream.

“I have to thank Nick Zito. He's known for winning big races with long shots and he always told me, 'If you think you can run fourth in a stake, take the shot,'” he said. “We followed that method here today, and it worked.”

O'Connor grew up five miles from Belmont Park, where his father owned horses with trainer Dennis Brida, and knew early on that he wanted to make a career with horses. He now has four wins from 57 lifetime starters.

“From the time I was an infant even before I could walk I was in the barn area. My Uncle Anthony got into racing in 2006 and at that point I was more into it,” O'Connor said. “Crazy as it sounds, at that young an age I knew I wanted to train or do something like that. I started working for Dominic Schettino, where my uncle had his horses, and went from there.

“I worked for Robert Falcone Jr. for a year before going to Nick Zito,” he added. “While I was working with Nick I went to the University Racetrack Program at the University of Arizona and kind of plotted the course to get to where we wanted to be, and here we are.”

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Weekend Lineup Presented By Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association: Say It Ain’t Snow

While most of the Northeast has been blanketed by snow and endured sub-freezing temperatures during the week, the horse racing action will help heat things up a bit this weekend with graded stakes action from coast to coast.

Saturday offers up a Grade 3 on the turf at Gulfstream Park, while older fillies and mares battle in the Pippin at Oaklawn and sophomore fillies go head-to-head in the G2 Santa Ynez at Santa Anita. Sunday's offerings include the G3 Las Cienegas at Santa Anita, an exciting down-the-hill turf race with a wide-open field of eight fillies and mares.

Here's a brief look at the graded stakes action (all times Eastern).

Saturday

3:37 PM – G3 Tropical Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park

Grade 2 winner Largent, unraced since being beaten a neck in last year's Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), returns to Gulfstream Park to launch his long-awaited comeback. The Tropical Turf would be Largent's first race in 351 days, but comes over a course where he has raced six times with four wins and two seconds. He broke his maiden in debut at Gulfstream in March 2019, won a pair of allowance races during the 2019-2020 Championship Meet as well as the Fort Lauderdale.

Value Proposition is a British-bred ridgling that won three of his first four career starts and has matched that total over his last nine, including victories in the one-mile Red Bank and seven-furlong Oyster Bay last fall. The 5-year-old was second in the 2021 Forbidden Apple (G3) and third in the 2020 Poker (G3), and enters the Tropical Turf having finished fifth in the six-furlong Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Nov. 27.

Another graded winner in the field is Phat Man, who captured the 2020 Fred W. Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream. The 7-year-old gelding has two seconds in five lifetime tries on grass, but was last on the surface in the October 2017 Hawthorne Derby for previous connections.

Flying Scotsman will be making his second start off a layoff in the Tropical Turf. He ran fifth in a one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance Dec. 19 that was moved off the Gulfstream turf to its Tapeta surface. Promoted winner of the 2019 Woodchopper at Fair Grounds, it was his first race since setting the pace before finishing sixth by 2 ¼ lengths in the Dinner Party (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

7:06 PM – G2 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita Park

An impressive maiden winner in her most recent start, Bob Baffert-trained Under the Stars heads a field of six sophomore fillies going seven furlongs in this $200,000 contest. A respectable third, beaten three quarters of a length by the well regarded Tonito's in the 6 ½ furlong Desi Arnaz Stakes two starts back on Nov. 13, Under the Stars came back earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 80 when registering an impressive three-length maiden win at Los Alamitos going six furlongs on Dec. 11.

Reddam Racing's Awake At Midnyte, a close second in a one mile turf stakes on Nov. 27, also rates a big look, as do California-bred stakes winner Big Switch and recent turf maiden winner Miss Mattie B.

A $320,000 March 2-year-old in training sale purchase, Awake At Midnyte pressed the pace and came away a game neck first-out maiden winner going six furlongs on Oct. 31 here at Santa Anita and then stretched out to a mile on turf in the G3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 27. A close second early, she wrested control a sixteenth of a mile out but lost a desperate photo by a nose in a huge effort.

A California-bred by hot sire Mr. Big, John Sadler's Big Switch, a first-out maiden winner going six furlongs at Del Mar Aug. 20, followed that up with a 2 ¾ length win going seven furlongs in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Nov. 5, earning an 80 Beyer Speed Figure. In what will be her first try in open company, she'll get the services of John Velazquez.

Trained by Bob Hess, Jr., Miss Mattie B rallied from far back to break her maiden going one mile on turf Nov. 27 and will hope to have a similar late kick as she switched back to dirt and shortens up a furlong. Miss Mattie B will be ridden back by Mike Smith.

Sunday

6:30 PM – G3 Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita Park

A stakes winner over the course, Zero Tolerance heads a field of eight older fillies and mares going 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita's hillside turf this Sunday. Zero Tolerance stalked the pace and rallied impressively to take the ungraded Unzip Me Stakes over the course three starts back on Oct. 3 and was subsequently a close fourth going one mile on turf in the G3 Autumn Miss Stakes on Oct. 30. She sped to a 1 ¼ length win at 3-5 in a second condition allowance on Nov. 20 at Del Mar. Originally trained by Peter Miller, she'll be saddled by Ruben Alvarado on Sunday as she seeks her first graded win and her fourth overall from six starts.

Vladimir Cerin's Hear My Prayer and Bob Baffert's Ginja, a pair of distaffers in good recent form, also rate big chances in what will be their initial tries down Santa Anita's unique hillside layout. Throw in Baffert's classy comebacker Beautiful Gift and John Sadler's newcomer, Gold for Kitten, as well as his veteran stakes winner Constantia, and the Las Cienegas has the look of a wide open affair.

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Tough Tropical Turf Field Awaits Largent In Gulfstream Park Comeback

Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Twin Creeks Racing Stable's Grade 2 winner Largent, unraced since being beaten a neck in last year's Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), returns to Gulfstream Park to launch his long-awaited comeback in Saturday's $100,000 Tropical Turf (G3) at the Hallandale Beach, Fla., racetrack.

The 44^th running of the one-mile Tropical Turf for 4-year-olds and up serves as the headliner on an 11-race program that begins at noon.

Largent, a newly turned 5-year-old son of Into Mischief, owns six wins and four seconds in 10 career starts, with Virginia-bred stakes victories in the Edward P. Evans and Bert Allen prior to a two-length upset of the 1 1/8-mile Fort Lauderdale (G2) in 2020, the latter at 16-1 odds in his graded debut.

“He's a really cool horse that we're thrilled to have coming back with Twin Creeks,” said Eclipse managing partner Aron Wellman. “You don't see too many records like his, where he's never been worse than second in any of his lifetime races. Multiple stakes winner. Graded-stakes winner. Second by a neck in last year's Pegasus Turf. He's an awesome horse who's a model of consistency at a very high level, and those are very hard to come by.”

Largent, named for the Seattle Seahawks' Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent, forged a short lead entering the stretch of the Pegasus Turf last January, only to be passed late by stablemate Colonel Liam. Colonel Liam would go on to win two more graded-stakes, including the May 1 Turf Classic (G1).

Following two subsequent works at Palm Beach Downs for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, Largent went to the sidelines and did not have another timed breeze until mid-November over the all-weather surface at WinStar Farm's training center. He returned to South Florida in late November and has worked steadily since, including a bullet five-furlong move in 1:02.01 Dec. 31.

“We've given him a lot of time since last year's Pegasus. Twin Creeks had him out at their farm and treated him like a king, then he went over to WinStar to get legged up. They always do a phenomenal job,” Wellman said. “Todd's been very pleased with him since he came back to Palm Beach Downs.”

The Tropical Turf would be Largent's first race in 351 days, but comes over a course where he has raced six times with four wins and two seconds. He broke his maiden in debut at Gulfstream in March 2019, won a pair of allowance races during the 2019-2020 Championship Meet as well as the Fort Lauderdale.

“He's been sensational at Gulfstream since Day 1,” Wellman said. “It's definitely a very appealing scenario that, if he's going to come back, to do it here on what has been his most successful sort of home turf, so to speak.”

Wellman said the connections are approaching the Tropical Turf with both optimistic and realistic expectations ahead of the $1 million Pegasus Turf on Jan. 29.

“I'd be lying to you if I said we thought we had him 100 percent cranked up off such a long layoff,” Wellman said. “But, this race is coming up in such a way that the timing is right and the distance is probably right to get him going. While we're certainly not, by any means, trying to get too far ahead of ourselves, it's not out of the question that if he were to run very well and emerge from this race well, that in three weeks' time the Pegasus could come back into play.

“We're not going to call our shot by any stretch of the imagination,” he added. “The main thing is that this is probably the most logical launching point for him, even though he's probably not entirely tight for this outing.”

Championship Meet-leading rider Luis Saez has the call on Largent from the rail in a field of seven.

“We felt like we're cutting it a little close in terms of how cranked up he is, but with this race being three weeks before the Pegasus Turf it could put us in a position to have some options, so we decided to give it a go,” said Pletcher. “He's been training well like he always does and he's always shown an affinity for the Gulfstream course. He's always seemed to do well over it. I think it's a good starting point. He's shown he's pretty versatile and can handle multiple distances.”

Klaravich Stables' Value Proposition is a British-bred ridgling that won three of his first four career starts and has matched that total over his last nine, including victories in the one-mile Red Bank and seven-furlong Oyster Bay last fall. The 5-year-old was second in the 2021 Forbidden Apple (G3) and third in the 2020 Poker (G3), and enters the Tropical Turf having finished fifth in the six-furlong Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship Nov. 27.

Irad Ortiz Jr. is named to ride from Post 4 at co-topweight of 122 pounds.

Another graded winner in the field is Marianne Stribling, Force Five Racing and Two Rivers Racing Stable's Phat Man, who captured the 2020 Fred W. Hooper (G3) at Gulfstream. The 7-year-old gelding has two seconds in five lifetime tries on grass, but was last on the surface in the October 2017 Hawthorne Derby for previous connections.

Shaun Bridgmohan gets the assignment from Post 3 at 120 pounds.

Calumet Farm homebred Flying Scotsman will be making his second start off a layoff in the Tropical Turf. He ran fifth in a one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance Dec. 19 that was moved off the Gulfstream turf to its Tapeta surface. Promoted winner of the 2019 Woodchopper at Fair Grounds, it was his first race since setting the pace before finishing sixth by 2 ¼ lengths in the Dinner Party (G2) at Pimlico Race Course.

“He's doing well. His last run was off the turf and on the Tapeta. It was his first run in probably six or seven months so he needed that run,” trainer Jack Sisterson said. “He's run well second off a layoff at Gulfstream. He won a nice allowance race last year in a quick time, so we expect sort of a performance like that this weekend.”

Flying Scotsman was fifth in last year's Tropical Turf after being unable to get to the early lead. It was his first race in nearly seven months, and he came back with a front-running optional claiming allowance triumph in mid-February.

“That's typically how we train. We don't win first time out or off a layoff. We like to let them improve with races. He did that last year and we expect him to do the same this weekend,” Sisterson said. “He definitely has the talent to win a race like this, it's just whether the race will set up for him. I think his best races are when he's on the front end.”

Corey Lanerie will ride Flying Scotsman from Post 5.

Peace Sign Stables' stakes winner Belgrano, most recently seventh in the Claiming Crown Canterbury Dec. 4 at Gulfstream; MEB Stables' Clear Vision, runner-up in the 1 1/16-mile Claiming Crown Emerald; and Vicente Stella Stables' Call Curt, eight-for-10 in the money lifetime, complete the field.

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