One of the greatest things about The Sport of Kings is we never have a dull moment. We have great competitive racing all year, with the best of human and equine athletes joining together as one in a display of grace and athleticism second to none. Large amounts of money change hands in a matter of seconds as a result of the outcome of our races, and millionaires become billionaires, as well as billionaires becoming millionaires. Lives are changed forever, at times for the better and at times for the worse. Struggling can become easy street, and comfortable can become week to week or day today in a flash. Anyone can play, as often as they like or situation permits, what fantasy sport can compare to The Sport of Kings? None.
We just wrapped up two of our best and most exciting and competitive meets, Saratoga and Del Mar. Both were outstanding. The racing was great, and we saw records made and broken, drama on and off the racetrack, and we are going to recap it all for you right here at Past the Wire this week. If you’ve been stranded on an island off the radar with no Wi-Fi, internet, or cell service, fear not, you won’t miss a thing. Sit back and enjoy the reading.
Let’s start with Saratoga. Jonathan Sheppard, the Hall of Fame trainer, who is 75 years old, must feel at least a twinge of relief. His amazing streak of winning a race at Saratoga for 47, yes 47 straight years came to an end. While I have no doubt he would have preferred to keep it going, there has got to be a little “the pressure is off” feeling in there. I’d think so anyway. In fitting fashion for such an amazing achievement, which rivals any streak in any sport, it came down to the last race on closing day. Sheppard saddled War Baby a live long shot in the final race of the meet. He finished eighth. Congratulations Mr. Sheppard. Your streak is safe enough for the time being.
If that streak is ever to be broken, one of the early list candidates would have to be Chad Brown. Chad had a spectacular meet, winning the training title. He set the mark for wins at a Saratoga meet with 40. He also won the 1000th race of his young but stellar career. There is little question for Chad the best is yet to come. Perhaps the greatest achievement of Chad during Saratoga was not in winning a race but in losing one. Chad, through the love, devotion, dedication and expertise of his team and staff, got the special grass filly Lady Eli back to the races. Considering she had to battle through a case of laminitis in both front feet, survival was a question. Racing an afterthought. Racing at the high stakes level even less likely but knowing Chad, if she were not at peak performance condition, I doubt he would have brought her back. She returned towards the end of the meet in The Ballston Spa, and moved into a very fast pace set by her stable mate Symphony. I believe had Symphony not gone so fast, or had Lady Eli and Irad Ortiz waited a second or two longer before moving, she returns a winner. That really doesn’t matter though. The fact she came back and ran a huge race at that level is historic in our game. She was dead game coming to the wire, and never stopped trying. Talent and heart are all that are inside that filly. She’s special and so is her entire team. Congratulations to all involved.
Songbird erased any question the best of the west in the three-year-old filly division was also the best in the east or anywhere else. She also showed she had heart to go along with that class. She was collared by Carina Mia, a Grade 1 winner, turning for home in The Coaching Club American Oaks, and turned her back effortlessly. She drew off to win handily again. She came back in The Alabama, arguably as important a race as The Kentucky Oaks, certainly a fan and breeders’ favorite, and made mincemeat of the field. Could she have won The Travers many thought? Not so fast.
Arrogate shipped in for Bob Baffert along with Defrong. In our Past the Wire webinar, yours truly, in a shameless act of self-promotion, proclaimed by day’s end we’d be calling Travers Day this year, “Baffert’s Revenge.” I called Defrong the best bet on the card, and Arrogate as very live. Well both were more than live and annihilated their respective fields. While Defrong was stellar in the Grade 1 Kings Bishop, Arrogate was super horse like in The Travers. I do not believe there would have been much Songbird nor anyone else could have done about that. He broke the historic Travers Stakes record and track record for a mile and a quarter at Saratoga. I don’t think any of us need to be reminded of some of the horses who have run a mile and a quarter over the legendary Saratoga dirt. Arrogate did it in 1:59.36 and by an astounding 13 and ½ lengths. Yes, it was indeed “Baffert’s Revenge” as called right here. The tell was the way he took different paths with both horses going through their conditions before thrusting them into stakes as he usually does. He wanted to show everyone what some of us already knew, Bob can win at Saratoga or anywhere else. Congratulations Bob, well done, well played!
Although Jose Ortiz deservedly stole all the Saratoga riding glory, which we will come back to momentarily, Mike Smith deserves one heck of a mention. Although riding regularly in California nowadays, Mike was a top and world class rider for many years in New York. An unfortunate accident and injury cost Mike what was sure a riding title in Saratoga back in 1998. Mike rode Saratoga this year as good as anyone. This is no surprise, as he knows where all the bodies are buried around that strip, and every nuance and crevice of it. He knows that at most tracks, as he is not a Hall of Famer and one of the best ever for nothing. He came in and won The Coaching Club American Oaks, The Alabama, The Kings Bishop, and The Travers. The Travers ride was exceptional, and Mike mastered a rail trip and capitalized on how the race played out as good as you will ever see. A Del Mar rider has never had a better Saratoga and likely never will. Quite a summer and congratulations Mike on a great display of riding talent and show of professionalism. I’m calling if I ever need to borrow some frequent flyer miles.
As for Jose Ortiz and his agent Jimmy Riccio, just Wow! Jose literally put on a riding clinic at The Spa. There is no tougher place to do it either. Jose delivered the goods time and time again, and Jimmy did his job to perfection getting and keeping Jose on the right horses, and increasing his book of business deeper into the top barns around. In our article “Top of The World”, we talked to the brothers Irad and Jose, and mentioned how they have both developed into dominating forces with Jose starting a bit later but bridging the gap where they are pretty much sharing top dog honors. Irad and his agent Steve Rushing enjoyed a fine meet as well, and I don’t even recall a dream team like this involving two brothers dominating the same circuit simultaneously. It’s fun to watch, and despite how close they are off the track, if you think they are not all out and all in to win when riding against each other, well I don’t know what races you are watching.
History means a lot in The Sport of Kings. There are not many venues, if any at all, with more historic significance than that of Saratoga, in our game. If you are a student of the game such as myself, you had to laugh when early in the meet following Songbird’s powerhouse victories, and the performance by Frosted in The Whitney when the so called experts, and litany of bloggers, broadcasters, and the like made statements downplaying the phrase “Graveyard of Champions.” Did they think for a second all that history, and one of the most powerful monikers in sports would simply be erased by a few big performances by favorites. Not if they have been doing their Saratoga homework. This goes back to August 13th, 1919, and The Sanford Stakes. The great Man O’ War was beaten by none other than Upset. A prophetic and fitting name I’d say. Back in 1930 Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox lost to none other than Jim Dandy, who wound up with a bar named after him on the first floor of The Clubhouse where many a celebratory and consoling drink was had in the years following. If you know these things, then you probably know Mother Goldsmiths had a Secretariat Burger on their menu. It came topped with only an Onion. If you don’t know this, you don’t really know Saratoga.
After Frosted humbled The Metropolitan Mile field on Belmont Stakes day, riding an incredibly strong closers’ bias, and earning the fastest Thoro-Graph figure in history to date, many stated he’d probably not lose another race all year. I was more concerned if he’d win one. People stated he was the most serious threat to California Chrome and a legit candidate for Horse of the Year. Do they forget that is decided on the racetrack and not in May? Frosted ran huge, but had to bounce off the race and he did. People missed that though as he did it winning anyway. He ran a huge Whitney over an overmatched field while he was given an easy lead and just cruised. Despite the optimum circumstances he ran a 3- on Thoro-Graph, a significant 5 point drop off his last. That is not indicative of a horse going in the right direction, in my opinion. But the raves and accolades came in, and between Frosted and Songbird, the graveyard of champions was no more. Nonsense. That kind of history is not easily erased.
We’ve all seen it before. You go to the well too often, eventually the bottom of the bucket will break. Frosted ran back in The Woodward as probably the most anticipated “free square” or most likely winner of the entire meet. I did not agree. While I respected both horse and trainer, I thought it was a lot to ask of any horse, especially one who was not on an upward swing. Even easy looking efforts can be taxing when horses run fast or hard. Frosted was given an extremely confidant ride by Joel Rosario. He sat off the pace and made a wide move seemingly still in hand, but when the real running started, he tried but looked exhausted. He was lugging in late and did his part to insure “The Graveyard of Champions” remains just that and always will. It’s Saratoga.
The Frosted for Horse of the Year talk quieted quickly. Crickets was heard from all the experts littered across social media and even on some of the major racing media platforms. Frosted bounced, a classic bounce which probably put him somewhere around a 0 on Thoro-Graph, just an estimation, but this time he could not regress and win. Joel took heat for the ride. I don’t think he had any choice but to hand ride and pump to the wire. His horse was tired and leaning all over the horse inside him. He couldn’t go left handed and had he gone right they may have finished the race on the widener turf course. No knock on Frosted, but those big efforts and long campaigns take their toll on the modern Thoroughbred racehorse of today. Look back at Rachel Alexandra. She was never quite the same after her remarkable campaign and that taxing Woodward she won against the boys. Now Frosted is questionable for The Breeders’ Cup Classic, and a show down for Horse of the Year with California Chrome is in jeopardy. Personally I think if Frosted is in The Breeders’ Cup at all, it’s in The Mile.
Nothing against Frosted, he’s a nice horse. Really nice horse. He just got gutted. It happens. Kieran McLaughlin had himself a superb meet regardless. The surprise of the meet for many was Charlton Baker who brought nothing but live horses over and has really stepped up his barn and game of late. Charlton was no surprise here, our Tracking Trips feature had him as a barn to watch since back at Belmont. Congratulations Kieran and Charlie! Great meets!
There was plenty of off track drama as well. Javier Castellano parted ways with long time agent Matt Muzikar despite all the success they have had together. Apparently Javier was reported to be unhappy with losing some business in some of the big barns he has had a foothold in for a long time. Much of that business is going to the Ortiz brothers who seem to do a good job of tending to business on the track and avoiding the drama off it. Matt Muzikar has taken the book of Jose Lezcano who parted ways with his long time agent. Javier hired Michael Lakow who has never been an agent but has been in the game almost as far back as I can remember. He worked in the Racing Secretary’s office way back when at NYRA and most recently has been in California. There are no lines up I’ve seen on where they settle in.
The new show NYRA launched, Saratoga Live, a continuation of Belmont Live, in a way was a refreshment from the coverage we get from the major networks when we get any coverage at all. It was also a step up from what TVG has become accustomed to giving their viewers. I’m not sure a lot of these outlets know who their viewers are. They are horse players and gamblers. As much as you may try and avoid it, gambling is the core of your business, the heart of your viewers, and the reason owners are not racing for Blue Ribbons. NYRA knew this going in and made a good effort to cater to that audience, and also make the show as appealing as it can be to the horse or racing fan who does not bet. What they can’t lose sight of for long term success of the show, is those people are in the minority. Gamblers are what keeps the show rolling. More on that later in our Low Five.
Jason Blewitt is knowledgeable and was a fine quarterback of the show. He’s a gentleman, engaging, and brings a light, friendly feel to the broadcast. He also has a good opinion. Tom Amoss is a great trainer and brings a whole new level of insight and perspective to the table. Maggie Wolfendale is also very good at what she does, and keeps pretty good notes on that I Pad of horses from race to race and season to season. Gabby Gaudet is good as well, and both young ladies have a good eye for horses in the paddock, and give insight a lot of players actually want to hear. Richard Migliore also had a good eye on the track and kept fans up to speed on horses once they left the paddock, and is open and candid about his opinion be it right or wrong. Let’s all remember this is not an easy job at any level. We all play a game where we will be wrong more than right, and lose more than win. Nonetheless, it is a skill game but only a small percentage of players can work into that club that beat it. It takes work and knowing how to make it count when you are right. Cash less but win more. You can’t be afraid to take your stand, and if you bet right, and are good enough, you can beat them. It is the greatest skill gambling game in the world. There are no better odds or any better value anywhere.
Andy Serling takes a lot of heat, and he took his share on the show. I actually think he handles it better now than he did in the past. I think he realizes it comes with the territory, and with his personality, which he is not obligated to change for anyone. Especially if NYRA likes it. He reminds me of the scene in The Godfather where Moe Green asks Michael if he thinks he’s skimming off the top. Michael said “no, you’re just unlucky.” Andy almost always has sound logic behind both his bets and don’t bets, but just comes up wrong an awful lot. I will offer him a standing invitation for a seminar, which would benefit him immensely. Overall I’d call the show a success and I would like to see it stay on permanently or at least on weekends and big race days. It’s nice to see Fox Sports 2 carry it along with MSG network.
I think you have to start at Del Mar with California Chrome and The Pacific Classic. What a performance. He was awesome, and ran the best race of his career. Victor Espinoza rode quite the race as well. He drew the rail where everyone knows he does not like to be. The plan was obvious, pin him on the rail, make him uncomfortable, force Victor into a mistake, and beat him. Unfortunately, Victor knew the plan too. He also had one of his own and was not going to let the race be dictated to him. He broke sharply, hustling California Chrome from the gate, and let him drift outside to the middle of the track. He dared Gary Stevens on Beholder to go for the lead and go inside him. He made the same offer to Raphael Bejarano and Dortmund. Still no takers. Both riders did not take the bait and sat off Chrome allowing him to set the pace and run freely on the lead. I’m not sure it would have mattered that day. California Chrome was loaded and ran the race of his life. He just trounced the field. Stellar performance and ride. Beholder, one of the best racehorses we have seen in a long time, proved she has not lost a step by any means, and ran a brave and game second, never giving up. Superb jobs by Art Sherman, Victor Espinoza, Richard Mandela and Gary Stevens. Congratulations.
We got to see the 7-1 downplayed debut of American Cleopatra, a full sister to the brilliant American Pharoah, our first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. She was spot on in her debut, and everyone wondered how she went off at 7-1 and why the downplay. She answered that question in her next start. Baffert switched from a one and done ride by Stewart Elliott to his current main man Raphael Bejarano. He also made a blinker change off the maiden win and jumped into The Del Mar Debutante. Taking nothing away from this filly who still has a world of potential and promise, she ran an OK second. She is still developing, and she has some big shoes to follow. Let’s just relax and let Bob take his time and see what we have. It’s likely to pay off.
Phil D’Amato continues to emerge as a top conditioner. Richard Baltas is elevating his game and stable too. Peter Miller always does his damage at Del Mar but this year suffered one of our games ultimate lows when his promising two-year old colt, Chasing Aces, had to be euthanized following a slab fracture sustained in The Del Mar Futurity. Klimt ultimately won the race and looks like a sprinter type to me, but hey, the last two Futurity winners won The Kentucky Derby, so who knows. Today more than ever horses outrun their pedigrees. Maybe because more are bred for speed than stamina, but that’s another discussion altogether. Kent Desormeaux’s ride on favorite and also highly promising Straight Line looked awfully odd to me. It seemed as he was sitting chilly with a ton of horse, but he waited for Klimt to draw alongside of him, and never really sat his horse down. I thought something might be amiss, as all he did was flick the reins at him a few times. That can work either way and I just found it odd. Kent has had, be it right or wrong, a reputation for not riding horses out to the wire for second and third money, and this just looked like an odd trip to me. Kent’s won enough races to know what he’s doing, so we leave that there. Paul Aguirre showed you leave him out at your own peril. He always does. Flavien Prat showed he belongs where he is in California and he and Raphael dueled right down to the wire.
I don’t know how you can talk about Del Mar this season and not mention Norberto Arroyo. No, not because we wrote about him, and how he just got to Del Mar 5 days before the meet opened, had no business, no license, and no idea how things would go. Not because we told anyone who would listen he could ride and would have a big meet and make plenty of noise on the big stage. Because he showed everyone. Things went pretty good and Norberto and his brother showed what hard work and dedication and focus can do. Yes, talent too, but Norberto was always a talented rider. Norberto finished 6th in the Del Mar standings which makes this more than a great comeback. He rode great all meet at every level, and took home the Del Mar Derby. Make no mistake about it, it was Norberto’s heads up ride and aggressive early move that got Free Rose home in The Derby. He rides any differently, or moves at any other point, there is a different outcome. That is one race the rider clearly made the difference. You can see it here:
Norberto can ride and has a future at any major circuit he takes his tack. We’re proud to have called it. His brother, Nelson, deserves plenty of credit for picking up a nice book of business for Norberto to work with, from some really good barns. I’m betting he’s on The Breeders’ Cup program. Now if I can just convince Bob Baffert to put him on anything the year will be made.
High Five
NYRA, the new Saratoga Live gets a High Five. Tracking Trips, the new live real time Twitter feed gets a High Five, so does Baffert’s Revenge from our webinar and so does Tourist, Defrong, and Suffused, our three best bets of the meet who all won. Mark DiLorenzo Jr. gets one too as his best bet of the meet, Practical Joke took The Hopeful.
Low Five
I have one, and most of you would agree with it I’m sure. It is also well deserved, but we are going to end on a positive note and give someone a pass. Who will remain a mystery at least for now.
