Joe Labozzetta Photo

Owner-trainer St. Lewis riding high following Discreet Lovers’ Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup upset at 45-1

by NYRA Press Office

• Channel Maker in good order after Joe Hirsch Turf Classic win; Casa Creed works ahead of G1 Champagne for Mott
• ‘No apparent excuse’ for JCGC beaten favorite Diversify
• Catholic Boy puts in maintenance breeze ahead of Breeders’ Cup Classic
• Forty Under in fine fettle following G3 Pilgrim victory, on to BC Juvenile Turf
• Phil Lam wins 2019 Belmont Stakes Challenge seat with NTRA/Belmont Park NHC Super Qualifier victory

Uriah St. Lewis’ newly minted millionaire Discreet Lover has settled back in at his Parx base following his 45-1 upset of the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday at Belmont Park.

“He’s good this morning, just tired,” said St. Lewis, who owns and trains the 5-year-old son of Repent.

St. Lewis said he vanned the horse back Saturday night after the race, arriving at the Bensalem, Pennsylvania racetrack around 9:30 p.m. It was the first Grade 1 win for St. Lewis, who took out his trainer’s license in 1988 and was surrounded by family and friends during an emotional winner’s circle presentation.

“I got my sleep last night,” he said by phone Sunday morning. “I’ve got 20-something other horses to take care of, so I just got to celebrate for a minute, but we enjoyed it. Maybe tonight, we’ll go to dinner and really enjoy it.”

In the Gold Cup, Discreet Lover rallied from well off a hot pace set by Diversify and Mendelssohn, charging down the middle of the track in the stretch to get up in the nick of time, beating Group 1 Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow by a neck. It was his seventh win in 44 career starts and added to a victory in the Grade 3 Excelsior in April, his only previous graded stakes win.

This year, Discreet Lover has been a regular player in many of the East Coast’s biggest races, generally outrunning long odds to get up for minor awards. He finished fourth this spring in both the Grade 3 Pimlico Special and Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, and this summer recorded back-to-back thirds this summer in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap and Grade 1 Whitney, both won by Diversify, the 3-5 beaten favorite in the Gold Cup.

It was the score of a lifetime in the Gold Cup, though, that pushed the Florida-bred’s earnings past the seven-figure mark for a total of $1,354,060 and earned him an all-fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Classic on November 3 at Churchill Downs.

“We watched the replay five times last night and it’s just unbelievable,” said St. Lewis. “Every time, we’re asking, ‘Did he really do that? Did he really do that?’”

St. Lewis said he doesn’t plan to rush a decision on the Breeders’ Cup, pre-entries for which are due by noon on October 22.

“I think we’ve got plenty of time, but we’ll probably give it another four or five days and then we’ll make a decision,” he noted.

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Channel Maker in good order after Joe Hirsch Turf Classic win; Casa Creed works ahead of G1 Champagne for Mott

Channel Maker came out of his 4 ½-length score in the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on September Super Saturday in good order, according to his Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott Sunday morning.

The 4-year-old English Channel gelding broke sharp and fended off a stretch-drive challenge from even-money favorite Robert Bruce, earning an all-fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Turf on November 3 at Churchill. Owned by Gary Barber and Wachtel Stable, Channel Maker earned a personal-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure following his gate-to-wire victory in the 1 ½-mile challenge on the Widener turf labeled soft.

“He looked good,” Mott said. “I was very tickled with the way he went on when they turned for home. He’d been under a little bit of pressure on the backside and on the turn, he dropped that one off and there was another challenge from a horse that had been sitting back. It looked like at one moment they were going to end up joining up, but he just opened up. It was gratifying to see.

“It’s the type of effort you’d like to see all the time, but you don’t always get. But he had been doing really well. If the way he breezed and looked coming into the race was any indication of how he was going to run, it was no surprise.”

Channel Maker earned his second graded stakes win in three starts, adding to a dead-heat victory in the Grade 2 Bowling Green on July 28 at Saratoga. With a runner-up effort to Glorious Empire in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on August 25 at the Spa sandwiched between those two wins, Mott said Channel Maker could be peaking at the right time.

“It certainly seems like he has [reached a new level],” Mott said. “He’s been the victim of some bad trips and had been coming from way back.”

Mott said he plans to ship Channel Maker to Kentucky the same time as Yoshida, who is expected to run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on the same day as the Turf. Since winning the Grade 1 Woodward on September 1 at Saratoga Race Course, Yoshida has continued to work on the Oklahoma training tack at the Spa.

Another potential addition to Mott’s Breeders’ Cup contingent worked Sunday morning, as Casa Creed breezed four furlongs in 48.55 on the Belmont main track ahead of the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds at one mile on October 6. One of four graded stakes as part of the October Racing Festival from October 6-7, the Champagne is a “Win and You’re In” qualifier to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on November 2.

“He worked this morning and it went very well, I couldn’t be happier,” Mott said. “He’s stepped up. He worked very well over the racetrack. I have no complaints. It looked like he handled it. He had a horse in front of him and he just cruised by him and was never asked to run.”

Owned by LRE Racing, Casa Creed broke his maiden at second asking on August 4 at Saratoga. Sunday marked the Jimmy Creed colt’s first work at Belmont and fifth overall since that 1 ½-length win at seven furlongs. He will be making his first start at a mile in the Champagne.

Another potential Breeders’ Cup addition could be Unionizer, who won his first race at second asking on August 11 at Saratoga before his victorious effort in the Sapling on September 1 at Monmouth Park. The 2-year-old son of Union Rags has been training this month at Belmont as he readies for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at 1 1/16 miles on October 6 at Keeneland, another “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Like the Champagne, the Breeders’ Futurity is also a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” prep race offering 10 points towards qualifying for the 2019 Kentucky Derby to the winner, with the top-four finishers receiving a points spread of 10-4-2-1.

“He already did [stretch out] when he won at Monmouth around a mile [with] two turns,” Mott said. “He looked good doing it if you go by the figures they pass out.”

Mott said Mucho is doing well but will not race again this year. Currently in Maryland, the 2-year-old son of Blame finished second in his debut on June 10 at Belmont and then broke his maiden with a 9 ¾-length win that earned him a 90 Beyer on August 4 at Saratoga. Stepping up to stakes company, he finished second, just three-quarters of a length behind Mind Control, in the Grade 1 Hopeful on September 3, Closing Day, at Saratoga.

“He’s already at Fair Hill,” Mott said. “We won’t pick him back up til November. He’s done for the year, but we got three good races.”

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‘No apparent excuse’ for JCGC beaten favorite Diversify

Lauren Evans and Ralph M. Evans' Diversify is no worse for wear following his fifth-place finish as the beaten favorite in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, said Ralph Evans on Sunday.

The New York-bred multiple Grade 1 winner battled European invader Mendelssohn though fast early fractions, folding at the eighth pole to finish five lengths behind Discreet Lover. It was just the third off-the-board finish in 16 career starts for Diversify and his first since being eased to seventh in the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic in April.

“I’ve gotten nothing but good reports on him this morning,” said Evans. “He scoped clean and hopefully, we’ll fight another day. We have no apparent excuse, it seems, except just going too fast early.”

A one-length winner of the 2017 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Rick Violette, Jr.-trained Diversify entered this year’s 100th running on a three-race win streak, beginning with the Commentator for New York-breds in May and followed by the Grade 2 Suburban on July 7.

This summer, he earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Classic with a 3 ½-length victory in the Grade 1 Whitney in his typical front-running style on August 5 at Saratoga.

Evans said the connections will do blood work in the coming days, a routine procedure for the 5-year-old Bellamy Road gelding, and resume discussions about Diversify’s Breeders’ Cup viability, held this year at Churchill, where he finished a tiring fourth in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap last fall.

“We haven’t addressed the issue since the race and we probably won’t for a few days at least,” he said.

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Catholic Boy puts in maintenance breeze ahead of Breeders’ Cup Classic

With regular rider Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano aboard, multiple Grade 1 winner Catholic Boy breezed four furlongs in 49.07 seconds on Belmont’s main track Sunday morning, marking his second workout since winning the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 25 at Saratoga.

Deciding to train up to his expected next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on November 3 at Churchill Downs, trainer Jonathan Thomas said the 3-year-old More Than Ready colt has continued to progress since notching his first Grade 1 win on dirt in the Mid-Summer Derby after capturing the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational on turf. Thomas reported that Catholic Boy has settled into his new surroundings at Belmont, where he will remain and is expected to have two more workouts before shipping to Churchill in advance of the race.

“Today was just a kind of maintenance work,” Thomas said. “It was his second breeze back since the Travers, after which we gave him 10 days off just to let him get a little break. We came down here about two weeks ago and he’s settled in really nicely.”

Catholic Boy kicked off his 2018 campaign with a second-place finish in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis before running fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream. He then returned to the turf, recording victories in both the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge and Belmont Derby.

“Obviously, we’ll let the weather determine our schedule, but it’s a factor for everybody,” said Thomas. “We plan to train with maybe two more works here, and then we’ll go to Churchill, where we’ll either have one or two breezes.”

Thomas said he is looking forward to continued success competing in New York after posting three wins from six starts at the Belmont fall meet through Sunday, including a victory with 3-year-old filly Tesora in the Christie Cat on September 7.

“Everything’s good,” Thomas said. “We’ve been very lucky and had a very good last couple months and look forward to running a couple horses and staying here through the fall.”

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Forty Under in fine fettle following G3 Pilgrim victory, on to BC Juvenile Turf

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart reported Sunday that August Dawn Farm’s Forty Under exited his win in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Pilgrim in good order and is looking forward to taking the next step, pointing him towards the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Friday November 2 at Churchill.

Forty Under showed a new dimension, coming from off the pace to secure a three-quarter length win in his stakes debut.

“He seemed great this morning and seemed like he came out of the race well,” said Englehart. “Looking back and watching the replay, I was really pleased with Manny’s [Franco] ride. I was a little nervous when I kind of saw the opening quarter-mile [23.97 seconds] I thought that was kind of quick and I think even [race caller] Larry [Collmus] had mentioned something about it. Manny had enough sense to kind of take him back off that which definitely helped us in the long run. If everything goes well from here, I would definitely want the Breeders’ Cup [Juvenile Turf] to be his next start.”

A son of Uncle Mo, Forty Under made his debut on the dirt in a ninth-place finish at six furlongs on July 28 at Saratoga. He rebounded to break his maiden in his second start, where he was forwardly placed.

Forty Under is owned by the racing outfit of two-time Super Bowl-winning Hall of Fame football head coach Bill Parcells, who Englehart said was ecstatic with the victory.

“Bill was really excited,” said Englehart. “It’s nice. These are the races you want to win and get to the big races. That’s his Super Bowl.”

Juvenile filly Sue’s Fortune was also on the work tab on Sunday, breezing four furlongs in 49.87 seconds. She will make her next start in next Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette, a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” automatic qualifier.

“She’s doing well,” said Englehart. “We’re still on target for the Frizette. Her breeze was just what I wanted to see. Nothing too fast, 49 [seconds] and change and she worked in company with Take Me to Hardoon and I thought the they book looked and galloped out good. Sue’s Fortune’s energy level her last couple of works has been very good, so I think she’s coming into her race in the right frame of mind.”

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Phil Lam wins 2019 Belmont Stakes Challenge seat with NTRA/Belmont Park NHC Super Qualifier victory

Phil Lam is proving to be a force to be reckoned with at handicapping challenges held at NYRA racetracks. Lam, already a winner at the 2018 Wood Memorial Challenge, captured first place on Saturday at the NTRA Belmont Park NHC Super Qualifier at Belmont.

Lam, an IT professional in the banking industry from Fresh Meadows, New York, finished the event with bankroll of $4,775 from a starting point of $1,000. The NTRA Belmont Park NHC Super Qualifier had a $1,500 buy-in, with $1,000 going to a live bankroll and $500 to the prize pool. Contestants were limited to placing 10 individual $50 win/place wagers at Belmont Park, Laurel Park and Gulfstream Park.

The key to Lam's victory was the day's featured race, the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup. Lam chose longshot Discreet Lover for one of his $50 win/place wagers and when Manuel Franco guided the 5-year-old bay up to a dramatic come from behind victory, the $93 win payoff, along with a $25.40 being returned to place, it was enough to propel Lam towards the top of the leaderboard. He finished off with wins at Gulfstream, Laurel and the last at Belmont to cap off his day and win a spot to the 2019 Belmont Stakes Challenge. In addition to his live cash winnings of $4,775, Lam also took home $1,980 in prize money.

“I thought Diversify was vulnerable," Lam said about the 3-5 favorite in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. "He had everything his own way in his last two races. Today, there was going to be more pressure. And, the track was drying out and horses were coming from behind.”

Jeff Bussan finished second. He finished with a bankroll of $3,972.50, and also earned $880 in prize money. In addition, Bussan earned a seat to the 2019 National Horseplayers Championship.

Basil Devito finished with a bankroll of $3,335, good enough for third place and $660 in prize money. He also earned a seat at the NHC contest.

With five NHC seats available in the contest, the remaining seats were awarded to Andrew Berg, who finished seventh with a bankroll of $1,885; David Wolff in eighth-place who’s earnings totaled $1,865; and Ralph Magnetti in ninth-place with a total of $1,830. Dave Nichols, who finished in fourth place with a bankroll of $2,037 and already earned an NHC seat this year won a double qualifier cash bonus of $2500 along with Basil Devito who also finished in fifth-place in Saturday’s tournament.

For full results of Saturday’s NTRA/Belmont Park NHC Super Qualifier please visit: NYRA.com/Belmont/racing/handicapping-challenge.