Heeere’s Johnny in time to take the Saranac, NYRA Photo
Mary Eddy
Magic Carpet Racing, Catherine W. Coyle and Blue Bison Stable’s Heeere’s Johnny was a maiden no more after a stylish last-to-first graduation in Friday’s restricted Listed Saranac, a 1 1/16-mile Mellon turf route for sophomores who have not won a stakes, on Opening Day at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Ray Handal and piloted by Jaime Rodriguez, who picked up the mount after Dylan Davis took off his mounts as a precaution following a spill earlier on the card in the Listed Wild Applause, Heeere’s Johnny earned the victory in his eighth lifetime start and third this season. As a juvenile, he finished second in the Grade 3 With Anticipation here and the Grade 2 Pilgrim at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a respectable fifth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in October at Del Mar.
In his seasonal bow in April at Keeneland, Heeere’s Johnny finished second to the Will Walden-trained West End Kid, who went on to win his next two starts topped by the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge on June 4 here. Heeere’s Johnny added blinkers last out for an even fifth in a 1 3/8-mile maiden over good footing on May 23 at Belmont at the Big A.
Handal said the Keeneland effort off a nearly six-month layoff helped give him even more confidence in the dual graded stakes-placed son of Oscar Performance.
“He was running some solid races. Obviously, he was a very established 2-year-old, graded stakes-placed, gave him the winter off, came back in a really tough maiden at Keeneland,” he said. “He ran a bang up second, I thought, that day, off the bench. He did everything right and got beat by a horse that’s gone on to do really great things. And Will Walden told me after the race that he thought West End Kid at that point was his best 3-year-old, so it made me feel a lot better.
“We ran the mile and three-eighths last time, he hated the surface,” Handal continued. “Scrap that race out. I’m looking at the condition book and I’m saying that we’ve got to run against 3-and-up, talked with the owners, they said, ‘let’s just run in the stake, it’s restricted to 3-year-olds, non-winners of stakes.’ What’s the difference between that and the 3-and-up maiden special at Saratoga? If you have to go out and run an 85 Beyer, why don’t we run in a stakes race instead of running in a maiden special?”
In the Saranac, Heeere’s Johnny emerged from post 2-of-11, was unhurried and settled in last as Siyouincanada rocketed up the rail to his inside to take command with Go Grey keeping close watch through the opening quarter-mile in 22.93 seconds over the firm footing.
The top pair put daylight between them and Teddy’s Rocket in third heading into the backstretch, but the gap tightened through the half-mile in 46.73 while Heeere’s Johnny could still see them all. Siyouincanada held his advantage into the turn and Go Grey came under urging as the topflight inched closer, while Heeere’s Johnny began his bid after three-quarters in 1:10.75.
“[The pace] was pretty quick; that’s why I never got in a rush,” Rodriguez said. “I just let him be comfortable. I was pretty confident. They went quick in the beginning, and once I asked him a little, he responded.”
The race was wide open at the top of the stretch as a cavalry charge of horses were all in with a shout, with Go Grey spinning his wheels and Siyouincanada battling on bravely before the favored Glavine charged up the inside to stick his head in front. Blinging It Back rallied to the outside of the pacesetter and took over from Glavine inside the final sixteenth, but Heeere’s Johnny had angled out widest of all around Arizona Territory at the top of the stretch and made a sustained run to sweep past in the final strides and land the neck victory in a final time of 1:40.45.
Blinging It Back held second by a half-length over Glavine with Arizona Territory rounding out the superfecta. Print, Siyouincanada, Tiz Trouble, Go Grey, Teddy’s Rocket, Zeppelin and My Favorite Bird completed the order of finish. A stewards’ inquiry involving third-place finisher Glavine and ninth-place Teddy’s Rocket resulted in no change to the order of finish.
Rodriguez said a key to success was following the run of Arizona Territory.
“He warmed up good, and once he broke I let him get comfortable,” Rodriguez said. “Once we were at the three-sixteenths, he started making a move. I was following [Arizona Territory], and once he got out, I got out with him. He was just moving, even on the gallop out.”
Edgard Zayas, aboard the dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse-trained Blinging It Back, said his mount would likely have appreciated less ground today.
“Ran great. Beautiful trip,” he said. “I split horses and he really kicked on, but I think the extra sixteenth really cost him. Very happy with him and the trip I had.”
Handal said he believes Heeere’s Johnny can still be effective with added ground, and could target the Grade 1, $750,000 Saratoga Derby presented by Qatar Racing at 1 3/16-miles on August 8 here.
“I’m still not sure that the horse doesn’t want to go further,” Handal said. “I think the horse wants to go a little longer. We’ll regroup, we’ll look at and put everything on the table, but I thought if he won this race, I would want to go to the Saratoga Derby, but we’ll put all the options on the table and see where we go.”
A $100,000 purchase at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Heeere’s Johnny was bred in Kentucky by Dr. John A. Chandler and is out of the winning Blame mare Dabinett, making him a full-brother to World Beater, winner of last year’s Saratoga Derby. He banked $82,500 in victory while returning $32.20 on a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Saturday at Saratoga for an 11-race Independence Day program that features a pair of Grade 1s in the Belmont Oaks in Race 7 and the Belmont Derby in Race 9, along with the Grade 2 Suburban presented by Subourbon Life in Race 8 and the Grade 3 Sanford in Race 5. First post is 12:35 p.m. Eastern.
Saratoga Live presents daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule/.
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