Mary Eddy/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Pin Oak Stud’s Parchment Party asserted his dominance in the marathon division with a rallying victory in Wednesday’s Listed $150,000 Birdstone, a 1 3/4-mile test for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the 4-year-old son of Constitution entered from an 8 1/2-length romp in an off-the-turf edition of the Grade 3 Belmont Gold Cup over sloppy and sealed conditions at this distance on June 6 with Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the irons. The bay colt has relished added ground this year after notching his two previous wins in a pair of 1 1/16-mile tilts at Churchill Downs as a juvenile.
“I thought it was good,” Mott said. “It was not a runaway [victory] like the last one, but very workmanlike and he just keeps coming. I guess that’s what you need for these long races, just one that is not stopping.”
Upon winning the Belmont Gold Cup, Parchment Party was awarded a ‘Golden Ticket’ automatic berth into the Group 1 Lexus Melbourne Cup worth more than AUD $8 million, continuing the partnership between NYRA and the Victoria Racing Club. “The race that stops a nation” will be held on November 4 at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, Australia, and Dana Bernhard – who operates Pin Oak Stud with her husband Jim – said Parchment Party is headed Down Under.
“It’s our plan – go to the Melbourne Cup, quarantine in England then go on to Australia for quarantine and see how he does,” Bernhard said.
Pin Oak Stud could be represented by two prospects in Australia this fall as their sophomore colt World Beater, trained by Bill Mott’s son Riley, won the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 2 and earned an automatic berth into the prestigious Group 1, AUD $6 million Ladbrokes Cox Plate, set to take place on October 25 at Moonee Valley Racing Club.
“They asked us with World Beater if we can race [compete] against the other horses, which he did in the last one when he won a Grade 1 and my son said, ‘we didn’t call him World Beater for nothing,’” said Jim Bernhard, with a laugh.
With Velazquez in the saddle again for the Birdstone, Parchment Party emerged from post 2-of-6 and was off a step slow, settling in fifth as Digital Ops skipped to the front under Irad Ortiz, Jr. to mark splits of 24.53 seconds, 49.47 and 1:15.67 over the fast footing.
The field bunched up behind Digital Ops down the backstretch with Game Warden and Strapped sitting closest before Jose Ortiz made a move aboard Lambeth and made up ground widest of all after 10 furlongs in 2:07.67. Parchment Party followed his run and was poised to make a five-wide bid for the front as Digital Ops marched on at the helm, but Parchment Party angled down to the inside for the stretch run.
“In the middle of the last turn, I thought he should be reeling them in,” Mott said. “And then I could see all of a sudden, he started going. I thought he [Velazquez] went to him a little earlier in his last race, which was a little different track surface, but he ran well. He keeps coming.”
Velazquez said he let Parchment Party run where he was comfortable.
“The first part of the race he was perfect behind the horses. At the three-eighths pole, I said, ‘let me get him going.’ He was kind of one-paced, and I tried to pull him out and he didn’t go on, so back to behind the horses and he was going very well behind the horses,” Velazquez said. “He actually responded much better that way. The last time I went around, and he kept coming. Today, when I pointed out, he let go and I said, ‘uh oh, back inside again,’ and he responded.”
Game Warden and Lambeth lined up to the outside of Digital Ops at the head of the lane, but the stubborn pacesetter kept those foes at bay and was left to deal with the looming Parchment Party along the rail. Parchment Party edged clear of Digital Ops inside the eighth pole and kept on under strong urging inside the final sixteenth to notch the one-length win in a final time of 3:00.03.
Digital Ops gamely held onto place honors by 1 1/4 lengths over Game Warden with Lambeth, Strapped and Time for Trouble, who was never involved, completing the order of finish.
Velazquez added Parchment Party needed some encouragement into the lane.
“The hole was there [at the quarter-pole], it was just a matter of me getting there, he got it though. I had to get after him,” Velazquez said. “He was kind of flat – the same pace the whole way around. He doesn’t quicken very quickly that’s why at the three-eighths pole I wanted to get him in the clear so I can get him going – he didn’t go, back inside again [laughs]. Let’s cut the corner then – it worked out.”
Bred in Kentucky by B. Flay Thoroughbreds, Parchment Party was a $450,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Tiznow mare Life Well Lived, making him a half-brother to Grade 1-winner American Patriot and dual graded stakes-placed Muqtaser, as well as Well Humored, dam of this year’s Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun-winner Patch Adams. He banked $82,500 in victory while returning $3.80 on a $2 win ticket as the 4-5 post-time favorite.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, featuring the Listed $150,000 Galway in Race 7. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
