Be Your Best captures the P. G. Johnson Sep. 1, 2022, at Saratoga (Chelsea Durand)
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y.— Trainer Horacio De Paz said Michael J. Ryan’s Irish homebred Be Your Best will enjoy a little downtime in Florida after picking up her second Grade 1-placing with a runner-up effort in Tuesday’s American Oaks at Santa Anita Park.
The sophomore daughter of Muhaarar, who was a closing second to Anisette in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks in August, tried a frontrunning approach in the 10-furlong American Oaks but could not stave off her familiar foe Anisette, who won by 1 3/4-lengths.
Be Your Best stayed in California after a troubled eighth-place finish in the Grade 2 Twilight Derby against males on Breeders’ Cup Saturday at Santa Anita.
“We kept her out there since we were targeting that race and figured it would be easier for her instead of traveling back and forth,” De Paz said.
De Paz said Tuesday’s pacesetting tactics came about due to the lack of speed in the compact field of five.
“It was just the way the race shaped up. There was no pace in the race, so we figured wherever she broke that’s where we would have to let her be,” De Paz. “The other thing is Santa Anita closes the racetrack for training when it rains out there. So, she had been jogging and tack walking which is not her usual and she was obviously fresh for her race.”
Be Your Best won the P.G. Johnson last September at Saratoga Race Course and has competed exclusively in graded company in nine starts since topped by her Grade 1 placings and a close runner-up effort in the Grade 2 Wonder Again in June at Belmont Park.
“You have to respect her. She tries and has been running against nice fillies,” De Paz said. “The way the race shaped up was not necessarily her style, but those were the circumstances dealt out to us.”
De Paz said Be Your Best, who has banked $344,250 through a 11-2-3-1 record, should improve as a 4-year-old.
“She’ll have to face older now, but the other thing is she’s still eligible for the ‘2X’ so she’s got great starting spots to get started and then we can target stakes races,” De Paz said. “We learned a lot from her this year- she obviously prefers firmer ground and she doesn’t like to run too close between races, so hopefully she can continue to progress forwardly and mature to next year.”
De Paz is hopeful that Barry Schwartz’s New York-homebred Awesome Czech can reach the levels attained by Be Your Best this year.
The 2-year-old Mendelssohn filly graduated at third asking in September here while making her turf debut against fellow state-breds. She made her next two outings in open-company stakes at the Big A, finishing fifth in the Chelsey Flower in October and a pacesetting second in the Tepin on November 17 when defeated a neck by Memorialize.
“I’m not sure if she’ll be as good as Be Your Best, but her last race was impressive. The race before that was [impressive] too considering she had a troubled trip,” De Paz said. “I think she’ll develop and be OK. She just got better and better every start.”
De Paz will look to close out his 2023 campaign on a high note when he saddles the 9-year-old Greeley and Ben in Saturday’s Listed $150,000 Gravesend, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up.
The 25-time winner, owned by Darryl E. Abramowitz, won the Dave’s Friend on December 23 at Laurel Park to score for the second time in just his third start of the campaign.
“The owner was thrilled. He spent a lot of time getting him ready to come back for this race,” De Paz said of the hard-knocking gelding that joined his barn just this year. “I’ve dealt with a lot of young horses but a 9-year-old was a first for me. So, trying to get him back to the races was good but I didn’t know if we would make it and the schedule and the form he would be able to come back to, but he’s taught me a lot since we had him.”
Although Greeley and Ben will not be able to compete on the NYRA circuit as a 10-year-old, De Paz said the Greeley’s Conquest gelding will continue to race in 2024.
“He’s in good form right now and we’ll continue to run him,” De Paz said.
Greeley and Ben, who will exit post 3 in rein to Dylan Davis, has banked $981,138 through a 42-25-7-2 record.
