One in Vermillion (Walter Wlodarczyk)
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Jonathan Kalman’s One in Vermillion, winner of Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs at Saratoga Race Course, left before sunrise Sunday morning for the 20-hour van ride back to Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn.
Trainer Esteban ‘Steve’ Martinez said he pulled the van carrying his first graded-stakes winner out of Saratoga, where they had been stabled in Barn 70 on the Oklahoma training track since August 23, at 4:45 a.m. Sunday.
“We wanted to leave early, before the track opened for training. We didn’t want to bother anybody,” Martinez said. “It’s been a smooth trip. The weather is good. We really enjoyed Saratoga. The people are very nice, and everyone was very good to us.”
One in Vermillion, a gate-to-wire winner of stakes at Turfway Park and Sunland Park over the winter, was outrun in the early stages of the H. Allen Jerkens but was able to make a wide run late to win following the catastrophic injury to leader New York Thunder in mid-stretch.
“We tried to stay close, but it didn’t happen. He didn’t break the way we wanted, and we know there was a lot of speed in that race. [Jockey] Irad [Ortiz Jr.] did a great job on him. He just waited right there. We were happy with the way he ran,” Martinez said. “We are happy for the horse. I can’t believe what happened. That horse was a great horse.”
Martinez said the short-term plan is to remain at Canterbury, where he has a 20-horse stable, until that track closes September 16 and then head to Remington Park, which will host eight stakes September 24 including the Grade 3 Oklahoma Derby for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles and David M. Vance for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs.
“So far, that’s the plan,” Martinez said. “Maybe they’ll let us stay a few more days after Canterbury and it’s on to Remington.”
