Pair score 1½-length victory in Grade 3, Iselin Stakes. (EQUI-PHOTO)
Smithwick’s Spice Snubs Field in Select, Gives Nunn First Stakes Win
Tom Luicci/Monmouth Park
OCEANPORT, N.J. – It didn’t take long for jockey Mike Smith’s game plan in Saturday’s $250,000, Grade 3, Philip H. Iselin Stakes at Monmouth Park to go awry.
But there’s a reason “Big-money Mike” is a Hall of Fame rider.
Unable to make the lead early, as he intended, Smith instead had favorite Subsanador (ARG) sitting third off dueling leaders in the mile and a sixteenth race, turning a poor start into an ideal trip and 1½-length victory over Il Miracolo.
Trained by Richard Mandella, Subsanador won for the first time in four starts in the United States after winning three graded stakes in Argentina last year.
“Honestly, the game plan was to see if I could make the lead. It turned into Plan B immediately,” said Smith. “He slipped coming out of the gate and kind of kept slipping. It took him a while to get his footing on the backside.
“Once he dropped in, he grabbed hold of me and I said to myself `oh, the light bulb just went on.’ I knew then, with those two horses hooking each other in front of me, that when I hit the second turn, I was going to gun him.”
The winning time was 1:42.63.
Subsanador, second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap two starts back, was making just his second start for Mandella, also a Hall of Famer.
The 5-year-old son of Fortify, owned by Wathman Racing, earned $15,000 toward entry fees to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile with the victory.
Smith had Subsanador sitting third behind the Brad Cox-trained Everso Mischievous and Il Miracolo through early fractions of :23.87, :47.63 and 1:12 for six furlongs before making his move.
“We thought it would be best to let him run out of there. But I told Mike `once you break do what you think is best,’” said Mandella. “He was able to work out a perfect trip.”
The victory was the eighth in 16 career starts for Subsanador, but the early move by Smith to take command in the six-horse field of 3-year-olds and up led to some anxious moments with Il Miracolo still fighting on the outside late in the stretch. It was another 15¼ lengths back in third to Antigravity.
“He has been running a mile and a quarter. He’s had three 1¼-mile races, so I know he’s fit,” said Smith. “I was able to be a little brave with him because of that. I might have moved him just a little too soon, but I didn’t want to give (Il Miracolo) a chance to get into the bridle and then have my horse hang. He’s been training lights out. He has been training just like he ran today.”
Mandella said Subsanador, who came in off a three-month layoff, will now head back to California.
“It was a good race, the timing was good, he was ready to run so we shipped him here for this,” he said. “He has been working very well so I knew he was ready. I’m liking him better and better. We’re starting to see some of that Argentina form.
“We’ll take him home and think about what to do next. There’s a race at Santa Anita on Sept. 28 (the Grade 1 California Crown) that we’ll take a look at.”
Subsanador paid $5.00 to win.
Smithwick’s Spice Snubs Field in Select
In the supporting feature, Smithwick’s Spice held off horses to his inside and outside late, sticking his nose in front at the wire to win the $124,000 Select Stakes at odds of 25-1 for trainer Doug Nunn and jockey Jorge Gonzalez.
Smithwick’s Spice gave Nunn his first stakes win since the gelded son of Frost Giant won the Turf Dash at Tampa Downs on Feb. 24, returning $53.60 to win.
“I knew he would have to move up a little to win this and he did. The race he won at Delaware in the start before this the fractions were :25 and :49.2 to the half, so the race didn’t take much out of him,” Nunn commented.
“That was 7½ furlongs and I thought he would be even better at 5½ furlongs as fit as he is now. I really thought going in that we were the speed, but he didn’t break sharply and kind of had to rush up to get the lead. But he had just enough left. He’s as good as he has ever been right now and that’s saying something for an 8-year-old.”
Odds-on favorite Nothing Better was second after flying up the rail. It was another head back to Senbei in third.
The victory was Smithwick’s Spice’s 12th overall and fourth in seven starts at Monmouth Park.
The winning time for the 5½ furlongs over a turf course labeled firm despite steady rain was 1:04.18.
“The idea was to go right to the lead, but my horse did not break well. But then he really picked it up and went right after (Xy Speed),” said Gonzalez.
“It just took him longer to make the lead than I thought. He was at his best today. But I was a little worried late. I saw horses on both sides of me right as we hit the finish line but I knew he poked his nose in front. I have ridden him before, so I know him. This is the best he has been for me.”
