TD Thornton Review of the Week
The annual Crown Claim races took place two weeks ago. But a surprise black party for blue-collar campaigners took place over Thanksgiving weekend, when horses that used to claim cards as low as $10,000 and $16,000 ran away with three of the five. shares in Laurel Park and an 8-year-old castrated horse purchased last year for $10,000 topped a trio of previously claimed sprinters in the GIII Fall Highweight H. at Aqueduct.
The so-called Fall Highweight relic — in which nominees are assigned weights that are several notches above today’s standards — is a very outdated concept. So it’s only fitting that the 109th edition of this six-stage sprint was won by a powerful, old-fashioned motorist under 130 pounds.
Greeley and Ben (Greeley’s Conquest), who took home the second winning horse in North America in 2021 with 11 rounds in the winner’s ring, notched his seventh win of the season on November 26. His life record is 23-7-2 from 39 start.
This $882,698 earner has been an overachiever from the start. Knocked out at 94-1 in their debut October 15, 2016 at Keeneland, Greeley and Ben just missed, runner-up, hit their heads.
Proving that effort wasn’t luck, he took second place at the start and even though he didn’t advance to the stakes as a teenager or sophomore, he still retained subsidized companionship from his contemporaries, who eventually ran for the 2017 GI Kentucky Debry and future versions of the Breeders’ Cup.
Although Greeley and Ben were six-time winners in early 2021, no one entered the first two times the strapping box showed up for $10,000 at Oaklawn Park. This is likely due to the rapid drop in gelding after winning $32,000 at Churchill Downs. Was the then-coach John Ortiz’s plunge in class a red flag or a hoax?
Coach Karl Broberg was willing to bet $10,000 to find the answer, and when he dropped a vote for his own outfit (End Zone Athletics) for the third time Greeley and Ben were involved at the level. At that level (after winning and runner-up previously), he had no idea that gelding would turn out to be a triple bet winner for him, funding about 45 times more than the initial required investment. wallet inputs at Oaklawn, Prairie Meadows, Remington Park, Delta Downs, Fair Grounds and Sam Houston.
Broberg’s great run with Greeley and Ben will run until April 24, 2022, when he drops the gelding part from the Class III sprint company into a $62,500 option claimant at Oaklawn. Tilted 2-5, Greeley and Ben won again that afternoon at Oaklawn, but were claimed by coach Melton Wilson.
After finishing second and fourth in bets this past spring and summer at Monmouth and Delaware for trainer Bonnie Lucas, Greeley and Ben were auctioned for $80,000 at the Fasig sale- Tipton in July for race-age horses.
Gelding spends time in the coop of David Jacobson and Jeffrey Englehart through the end of the fall, and while Greeley and Ben must get used to their new surroundings every few weeks, his yields are steady: Required $40,000 from victory at Saratoga on September 4, then he finished second while not entering a card in the optional $55,000 claimant at Laurel October 8.
However, the past four weeks have been symbolic of what Greeley and Ben are all about. On October 29, he finished a very reliable fourth game – beaten only 3/4 of the way at 20-1 odds – in GIII Bold Ruler S. at Aqueduct, edging past Lasix (according to this article). claim in New York bet races) for the first time in his career after making all of the previous 36 starts.
Twelve days later, on November 10, Greeley and Ben received an initial grant of $10,000, also at the Aqueduct, and won by 1.5 out of 10 as favorites.
Then on Saturday, coming back in 16 days, gelding was more or less eliminated by bettors at 7-1 odds in the fall weight class. Equestrian Manny Franco patiently saved the ground at the fence, and when Greeley and Ben cut the corner to get home, he ran at full speed.
However, the opponent counterattacked and Greeley and Ben had to tenaciously regain the lead not once but twice at deep range after being headed. He won by the neck in an angry end to the photo with two favorites right behind him, separated by head shakes. The Speed 98 Beyer number for a Lasix no-stakes score represents the 8-year-old’s career best.
Darryl Abramowitz owns Greeley and Ben, and Fall Highweight is the first graded bet win for Faith Wilson, the New Jersey-based conditioner who has only been a licensed trainer for 18 months.
Meanwhile, in Maryland…
A polite $75,000 auction for mixed Marylanders at Laurel was managed by another emerging claimant after buying for $10,000.
Fille d’Esprit (Great Notion) is now 12–23 years old and has won 5 shares so far in 2022, including open company races while also winning her division in the MATCH series and the $100,000 Maryland Million prize. As of August 21, 2020, according to the statement, the 6-year-old mare has been trained by John Robb and is owned by a partnership of CJI Phoenix Corporation and No Guts No Glory Ranch.
Saturday at Laurel had three shares of the company open for $100,000, and two of them were won by relative bargains at the claim box.
Swinging back and forth (Frankly) won the Safely Kept S. 3 1/4 at 6-1 odds for Baxter Racing Stable and coach Mario Serey, Jr. The win comes exactly six months from the date that costume claims 3 years- dirty old lady for $16,000 in an 8 1/4 long maiden walk. Including the win on the day she was claimed, Swayin to and Fro is now 6 to 10 for the year, with two stake wins.
CHEAP Armando (Blame) is another runner you could have bought from a $16,000 winning attempt, which is exactly what current owner Ronald E. Cuneo and trainer Damon Dilodovico do. did a year ago, on November 28, 2021. since winning through his allowance condition ‘2x’ and in the last 60 days period he has won two hundred thousand Laurel-listed shares, the off-court Japan Turf Cup S. at 10 furlongs on October 1, and a Richard Small S. over nine feathers on the fast track on November 26.
Six for the way…
News trivia: Can you name the jockey who won six races in one race day over the holiday weekend? In case you need a hint, his last name contains only four letters and ends with the letter Z.
If you guessed Angel Cruz lived in the mid-Atlantic, you’d be right.
But Cruz is probably not the first jockey that comes to mind. You would also be correct if you guessed Luis Saez, whose six wins at Churchill Downs on Saturday put him at the top of the standings meeting there and leading the national news cycle.
No disrespect to the world-class Saez, but Cruz rarely gets much press coverage, which is why we’re highlighting him here.
Plus, Cruz’s feat is a little more unique because he had to hit the road to earn his six-pack.
On Friday afternoon, Cruz, who is currently second in the Laurel rankings, won the $75,000 Howard and Sondra Bender Memorial S. aboard the Maryland-bred Alwaysinahurry (Great Notion).
Cruz then headed west for about 90 minutes to ride under the lights at Charles Town Races, where he raced two to six races (and barely lost the eighth race, finishing second with only mount. most of his night).
Providing a fitting nickname for a horse that just finished a six pack, the name of Cruz’s eventual winner Friday was Always Drink (Speightster).
Monday walk in ‘Park’
It would not be correct to complete a column on the upward mobility of lower level claimants without mentioning Beverly Park (Munnings). race Friday in Mahoning Valley.
That November 28 race is open only to horses that have begun with a claim card of $8,000 or less in the last two calendar years. Beverly Parks won a $5,000 N2L claimant in 15 races at Belterra Park on July 8, 2021. On his next pitch, he’s taken by the current owner/trainer his own, Norman Lynn Cash, whose racehorse under the name Build Wright Stables, demanded $12,500.
Beverly Parks hasn’t started to be tagged since being asked to, only enjoy the beginner grants who claim the option he wasn’t entered to be tagged, and in the $100,000 Rocket Express game on the Claim the Crown card two weeks ago.
In the time between Cash asking for him and finishing second in Charles Town on November 19, Beverly Park was 19 to 35 with a purse income of $453,688 (about 36 times more than that. with an initial required investment of $12,500). His lifetime record is 22-7-4 from 44 starts.
