Eight Jockeys Star in Stakes-Rich Thanksgiving Weekend

The excellent rides that contributed to the race outcomes

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
November 28, 2007

Aside from the Breeders' Cup and perhaps half a dozen other popular racing dates, the Thanksgiving weekend of 2007 certainly ranks among the strongest concentration of high-class races we saw all year.

At Hollywood Park in Southern California, the richly endowed Hollywood Turf Festival was spiked by a pair of $500,000 stakes plus several others worth $100,000 or more. At Aqueduct Race Track in New York, the important $300,000 Cigar Mile was supported by the unique Fall Highweight Handicap and a pair of traditional graded stakes for 2-year-olds at nine furlongs, the longest distance juveniles will be asked to run this year.

At Churchill Downs in Kentucky, there was an extraordinary jockeys' race that ended with Julien Leparoux snatching the title from Calvin Borel in the final stride in the final race of the year. Beyond that, the $500,000 Clark Handicap topped a parade of popular Churchill Downs' stakes including a pair for promising 2-year-olds.

At Laurel Park in Maryland, the annual Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash was the high-profile stakes race that was supported by a pair of traditional fall stakes for still more high-quality 2-year-olds.

As I watched most of these races and wagered on some, I was struck by how many excellent rides contributed to the outcomes, so many that my extensive notes for most of these races are organized by the jockeys who were involved.

Mike Smith: A Hall of Famer since 2003, Smith frankly has failed to ride close to that standard for most of the past three years. But in recent weeks he has seemed more aggressive and confident, and he certainly was in career form at Hollywood Park during the Thanksgiving weekend.

On Saturday, November 24th, Smith guided Sea Chanter to a hard-fought, stretch running victory from an outside post position in the $113,000 Miesque Stakes (G3) at one mile for juvenile fillies on the turf. A race earlier, Smith rode brilliantly to overcome tight quarters to win a 7-furlong maiden race aboard the promising 2-year-old filly Kazimara. It was one of the best rides of the fall at any track.

The next day, Sunday, November 25th, Smith turned in a flawless front running tour de force aboard the improving 3-year-old Daytona to win the $500,000 Hollywood Derby (G1) at 1 1/4 miles on the turf. Perhaps the only other jockey in America who rode a better front running race this year was Robbie Albarado aboard Hard Spun in that colt's victory over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense in the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park on September 29th.

Daytona was defeating a good field and Smith clearly outsmarted and outrode a strong cast of nationally prominent jockeys to secure the win from fast-closing Medici Code and the Midwestern invader Bold Hawk. Meanwhile, favored Nobiz Like Shobiz ran an uninspiring race to finish out of the money as if he will need a few months off.

The steady fractions from start to finish of the Hollywood Derby clearly show Smith's efficiency and Daytona's ranking among the best American grass horses at 10 furlongs:

Fractions: 24.32; 48.13; 1:12.24; 1:36.11; 1:59.75
Daytona's quarters: 24.32; 23.81; 24.11; 23.87; 23.64

To place this in context, it is extremely rare to see a horse sustain 24-second quarter-mile splits through each of the five different quarters of a 10-furlong race. Were such a horse able to carry its speed through another quarter mile in 24 seconds, he would approach the world record for the 1 1/2-mile distance.

Julien Leparoux: Not only did Leparoux win the Churchill Downs meet title as described above, he won both stakes for 2-year-olds on the final Churchill Downs card. One of those winners was Anaka Nakai in the $276,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at 1 1/16 miles for trainer Nick Zito. Zito, as usual, seems well armed for the 2008 racing season. Anaka Nakai is a son of 1999 Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop, so there is inherent stamina in his blood to suggest Kentucky Derby possibilities.

Leparoux's other stakes victory at Churchill Downs was aboard undefeated Pure Clan in the $276,000 Golden Rod at the same 1 1/16-mile distance for juvenile fillies. Pure Clan is a Midwestern-based daughter of Pure Prize and is trained by Bob Holthus, who developed Lawyer Ron. In this race, Leparoux earned his 10 percent jockey fee, helping Pure Clan overcome a stumble at the break and considerable traffic before she rallied furiously through the final furlong to win going away.

Edgar Prado, Eibar Coa and Kent Desormeaux also won three stakes apiece over the Thanksgiving weekend and John R. Velazquez won two. That notwithstanding, the most important ride of the weekend was turned in by Mike Luzzi, while Rafael Bejarano scored a solo stakes win in a manner that measured very close to Smith's top-rated performances.

Eibar Coa: In the $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap at 6 furlongs on November 22nd at Aqueduct, Coa, aboard 4-year-old Grand Champion carrying 130 pounds, out-dueled Joe Bravo aboard Joey P (131) and Javier Castellano aboard City Attraction (130) in a three-way stretch battle that was worth the price of admission. As a side note, the Fall Highweight has always been one of my favorite races on the racing calendar - a race that gets no respect and is likely to be removed from the NYRA schedule in 2009 or 2010, because high weights are out of favor in the modern game. (As spelled out in The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing, published earlier this year, I first fell in love with the Fall Highweight in 1970 when the great filly Ta Wee carried 140 pounds to victory while spotting top-class male sprinters 7 to 22 pounds apiece.)

Over the rest of his Aqueduct weekend, Coa rode Mini Sermon to victory on Friday in the $150,000 Top Flight Handicap (G2) for fillies and mares at one mile and on Saturday, he rode the promising 2-year-old Court Vision to a desperate, stretch running score in the $200,000 Remsen (G2) at nine furlongs, the first race at that distance for next year's Kentucky Derby prospects.

In the Remsen, Court Vision seemed hopelessly trapped and ready for defeat until Coa steered him through a narrow opening in mid-stretch, enduring a bumping match before the colt surged strongly to get up in time. While the final time for the distance was slow (1:52.48) and the Beyer Speed Figure was relatively very low (78), the energy Court Vision displayed in the late going as well as his prior good form at one mile suggests that Hall of Fame trainer Billy Mott has another good Derby prospect in his barn. Among other's Mott has Hopeful Stakes winner Majestic Warrior, recovering from a very small leg fracture, pointing towards the Gulfstream meet.

Edgar Prado: While Prado did not have any mounts in the richest races of the week at Hollywood Park or Aqueduct, he confidently rode stretch running Benny the Bull to a wide rallying victory in the $250,000 DeFrancis (G1) at 6 furlongs on Saturday at Laurel Park. On the same racing card, Prado looked similarly in complete control while circling around the leaders aboard Cowboy Cal to win the Laurel Futurity for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The final margin was 6 1/2 lengths and the Beyer Speed Figure was 95, highest of all the 2-year-old stakes run throughout the country during the Thanksgiving Day weekend. This son of the European classic winner Giant's Causeway, trained by Todd Pletcher, certainly has a right to be a topnotch 3-year-old.

Prado finished his productive weekend with a victory aboard Ice Cool Kitty in the $84,000 Montauk Stakes for New York-bred fillies at Aqueduct on Sunday. Beyond the victories themselves, Prado's performances strongly suggest he has now fully recovered from an injury that kept him out of the Breeders' Cup. He is fit and ready to take his high-class act south to Florida, where he is sure to be a prominent force at Gulfstream Park.

Kent Desormeaux: The Hall of Famer had a busy weekend, riding Bob Baffert's nice juvenile Massive Drama to a strong victory in the 7-furlong, $100,000 Hollywood Prevue Stakes (G3) on Thursday, November 22nd; traveling cross country to Churchill Downs to ride Thorn Song to victory in the nine-furlong $227,000 River City Handicap for 3-year-olds and up; and scoring aboard Old Man Buck in the 1 1/16-mile Grand Canyon Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sunday. The best of those rides was aboard Massive Drama, where Desormeaux and the young colt showed considerable grit in repelling a succession of bids before drawing clear at the end. Baffert has a runner in this one, and Desormeaux has a long-range prospect for 2008.

John R. Velazquez: The first string rider for record setting trainer Todd Pletcher did not score either of his victories last weekend for his primary client even though Pletcher racked up four stakes wins at three different tracks.

On Saturday, November 24th, Velazquez was aboard Mushka - Mott's impressive daughter of 2003 Belmont winner Empire Maker - to win the $200,000 Demoiselle (G2) at Aqueduct. The Demoiselle is a nine-furlong race that serves maturing 2-year-old fillies the same way that 2-year-old male horses are served by the Remsen. Earlier in the day, Velazquez won a race-long duel for the lead aboard lightly raced and improving 3-year-old Now a Victor in the nine-furlong $109,500 Discovery Handicap for low-profile, highly skilled trainer Michael Trombetta. The second-place finisher, Shoptown Lane, was in front for the first half mile, but jockey Chuck Lopez could not handle Velazquez' stronger finishing technique.

Rafael Bejarano: On Sunday, November 25th, while riding the Bobby Frankel-trained Precious Kitten, Bejarano made a sterling split second decision that probably demonstrated just how good he can be at his best.

Breaking sharply for the lead in the $500,000 Miesque Stakes (G1) at one mile on the Hollywood Park turf, Bejarano acted quickly to restrain his mount back a few lengths when longshot Live Life surged to challenge Precious Kitten as if the two were doomed to battle head and head from there to whenever. By restraining Precious Kitten on the first turn, by allowing Live Life to set the pace for more than five furlongs, Bejarano was conserving his mount's energy just enough to launch a winning bid ahead of favored Wait a While as that pair engulfed Live Life at the top of the stretch.

Bejarano's decision on the first turn and the move on the final turn was all Precious Kitten needed to give Frankel his eighth win in this historic stakes, one more than the late Charlie Whittingham's stakes record.

Mike Luzzi: Although Luzzi did not have multiple stakes wins over the holiday weekend, he won the race that probably was the most publicized, if not the most important. Luzzi was aboard the intriguing and steadily improving 3-year-old colt Daaher in the $300,000 Cigar Mile, the last Grade 1 race of the New York season.

In the 'Cigar', heavily favored Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute seemed as if he was poised to take control of the stretch run, but Luzzi had saved plenty of horse getting to the lead after the first 1/8 mile and setting comfortable fractions to the 1/4 pole. The win was the work of this good 3-year-old, but tactically it was just as much due to Luzzi's well-judged ride.

Added notes: Trainers Todd Pletcher, Billy Mott and Bobby Frankel also had big holiday weekends. Pletcher won four stakes - the $554,000 Clark Handicap with A.P. Arrow (G2), the $100,000 Generous (G3) for 2-year-olds on the turf at Hollywood Park with The Leopard, and the aforementioned Top Flight with Mini Sermon and the Laurel Futurity with Cowboy Cal. With those victories, Pletcher broke his $26 million single season earnings record. He's now at $27.7 million with more yet to be won in December.

Mott won the Remsen with Court Victor, and he won the Demoiselle with Mushka. But Frankel's eighth career win in the Matriarch with Precious Kitten was a mind-numbing milestone that adds to his impressive resume as one of the great horse trainers in American racing history.

In Japan, the American-based Student Council could do no better than eighth in the $2.3 million Japan Cup Dirt (G1), which was impressively won by 13-10 betting favorite Vermillion. In the $4.4 million Japan Cup (G1), won by Admire Moon, American-based Artiste Royale also finished eighth. For those with an interest in betting international races, Admire Moon sparkled in the post parade televised by TVG and paid a generous $21.80.

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.