John the Beer Man hangs tough to take the Troy, NYRA Photo
Christian Abdo
Michael Caruso and Michael Dubb’s John the Beer Man prevailed in a close finish over Doncho and Waralo, fending off those foes and surviving a stewards’ inquiry plus a jockey’s claim of foul to win Sunday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Troy, for 3-year-olds and up sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon turf, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Rob Atras, John the Beer Man exited post 6 alertly under Kendrick Carmouche and took command from the sharp-starting Doncho, carving out fractions of 21.28 seconds and 43.50 over the firm turf while tracked closely by Waralo and Doncho.
At the top of the lane, the Jose Lezcano-piloted Waralo drew on even terms to the outside of John the Beer Man as Ricardo Santana, Jr. tipped Doncho off the rail to present his challenge between those rivals. It was anyone’s race in the final furlong, with the trio in tight quarters and exchanging bumps before hitting the wire together. The rail-skimming John the Beer Man put his head in front of the outermost dueling Waralo, with Doncho another head back in between in a final time of 1:00.97.
The stewards launched an inquiry into the stretch run involving the top three finishers, while Santana, Jr. lodged a jockey’s objection against the top two. After a lengthy review, the stewards left John the Beer Man up and disqualified Waralo to third behind Doncho.
“I left everything up to Kendrick and he broke running,” said Atras. “It didn’t look like Doncho was really intent on the lead and Kendrick said, ‘I took it.’ I was happy. He looked like he was comfortable and then down the lane it’s almost like he waited on them and then he reengaged. It was a tough inquiry and a little scary there, but I think we were good. I’m really thrilled with this horse. What a godsend.”
It was 1 1/4 lengths to the favored Twenty Six Black in fourth, who does his best running late but could only cut into the margin of his more forwardly placed rivals. Coppola, Dancing Buck, Works for Me and Rezasrolex completed the order of finish. Determined Kingdom, cross-entered in a $100,000 handicap on August 15 at Colonial Downs, was scratched.
“It was a little bumpy,” Carmouche said. “I thought I kept a straight path because I was in front and they came to me and bumped me. As you can see, once I pulled my horse off of them, he accelerated again, so right then and there, you know it wasn’t my fault, it was just race riding a little. It happens. This is why we come to Saratoga – we’re very competitive, we all want to win. It happens, it’s part of the sport.”
John the Beer Man entered from a three-quarter-length third under Carmouche in his stakes debut in the Grade 1 Jaipur on June 6 over course and distance. There, he led through a half-mile in 43.13 before taking an awkward step in the stretch, costing him momentum.
“He done it last time, when he spooked at the hedge, he rebroke again. As soon as he felt them and I reengaged him and pointed where I wanted to go, he went right back at it again,” Carmouche said. “Some horses are like that, some horses will go backwards instead of forward, but we’re glad John the Beer Man wanted to go forward. That will to win, just like me.”
The 5-year-old More Than Ready gelding entered the Jaipur off a pair of allowance-level turf sprint wins in his first two starts for Atras. He previously made a trio of starts for trainer Chad Brown in 2024, adding blinkers to graduate at third asking in a 1 1/16-mile turf route that May at Belmont at the Big A.
“Kendrick looked like he was comfortable and that was the main thing,” Atras said of the redemptive first graded win. “Down the lane, I had a few anxious moments where it looked like maybe he was getting tired, but Kendrick said he was waiting on them.”
John the Beer Man is named for winning co-owners Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso’s longtime friend John Soler, who serves as the chairman of the board for Micro Matic, a company that provides beverage dispensing equipment and solutions.
“I met Mike [Dubb] when I was 13-years-old at wrestling camp. This guy [Michael Caruso] is a three-time national champion and we’ve been friends ever since,” said Soler. “It’s such an honor to be part of this and the fact that they named the horse after me.”
Michelle Lovell, trainer of North American record holder at the distance Doncho, said her charge was pinched late.
“The inside came out, the outside came in hard. Santana [Jr.] said he thought he was a winner for sure,” Lovell said. “He was just waiting for that spot to come through. He had many, many steps getting bounced around hard – not just little bitty bumps, we’re talking significant. He’s still my champ.”
Lezcano said there wasn’t enough room for Doncho between the Chris Englehart-trained New York-bred Waralo and John the Beer Man.
“My horse got bumped by the number three [Doncho] the whole stretch. He [Santana, Jr.] was trying to make his own hole,” said Lezcano.
John the Beer Man, a $160,000 purchase from the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is out of the winning Giant’s Causeway mare Trophy Wife. His second dam is Pleasant Home, winner of the 2005 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Belmont Park. He earned $165,000 in victory while improving his record to 7-4-1-1 and returning $8.92 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes on Wednesday at Saratoga with a nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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