Howard Wolowitz victorious in the Franklin-Simpson (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
By Jen Hoyt – Kentucky Downs
FRANKLIN, Ky.— Gold Square LLC.’s Howard Wolowitz proved why he was made the 3-1 favorite when he fought back late and survived an objection to win Saturday’s $2 million Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G1) by a length over Yellow Card.
Howard Wolowitz, who broke from post 10, was well positioned early along the outside as Joe Shiesty led the field through early fractions of :21 4/5 and :44 1/5 for the first half mile. The winner briefly put his head in front at the top of the stretch, but was overtaken by Yellow Card before determinedly fighting back for the victory in the final time of 1:14.20 over the firm course, which was 1/100 second off the track record set by Ag Bullet on 8-31-24 (1:14.19). Mansa Musa (IRE) was third, followed by Evade (FR) in fourth.
“They were very high on the horse,” winning rider Irad Ortiz Jr said. “The horse got a good post, broke good, put me in position to bide my time. When I asked him, I was full of horse. I was close to the leaders. I was a little wide, but I was close. Before the quarter pole I was like third, outside of Tyler (Gaffalione) (on Apollo Ten). From there, I felt like I had some horse. I let him do his thing. He made the lead kind of a little early. He kind of looked around. So I corrected, got a hold of him. The horse was coming outside and I wanted him to feel him a little bit, because he put his ears up like he felt a little weird when he made the lead. He felt that one, like he wants to fight. So I hit him a couple of times and responded really well and drew away.”
The victory was the first career Grade 1 win for trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo.
“I am so happy; this is my first Grade 1,” D’Angelo said. “I really was very confident in him, he is a nice horse. He is hard to train; he has his own personality, like his name! So, I was pretty sure that the more ground for him and the long stretch was going to help him. And when Irad asked him, turning for home he responded very well.”
#10 Howard Wolowitz is your newest G1 winner!
— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) September 7, 2024
He wins the G1 Franklin-Simpson at Kentucky Downs under @iradortiz for trainer Jose Francisco D'Angelo!
#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/BrMkoi1NVT
The trainer said he was a little nervous when he saw the objection posted.
“I was a little worried, but I didn’t see nothing live,” D’Angelo said. “When I don’t see something, I am usually right. This is Kentucky Downs. You have ups and downs out there; you don’t know for sure.”
Jockey John Velazquez on Yellow Card said he filed the objection because he felt the contact compromised his mount.
“There was enough contact where he got my horse off balance and the other one took off again,” Velazquez said. “My horse ran well. I am disappointed, but he ran good.”
Howard Wolowitz, who was most recently fourth in the listed Mahoney Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 11, was making just his fourth career start. The 3-year-old Munnings colt has now won half of those starts and earned $1,215,600. The winner returned $8.12, $5.20 and $3.64.
Please Advise, Bear River, Hedwig, Smokey Smokey, General Ledger, Appollo Ten, Vote No, Joe Shiesty completed the order of finish. The also-eligibles Barksdale, Where Ya At Vince, Save the Trees and How’s Ur Attitude were scratched.
