Francesca Le Donne Photo

Diversify a ‘happy camper’ following dominant G1 Whitney victory

by NYRA Press Office

• Summers keeps options open for Whitney runner-up Mind Your Biscuits
• Discreet Lover Woodward-bound following strong Whitney showing
• Kelly’s Humor will continue to target sprints after impressive kick in G1 Test
• Pletcher looks to regroup with Tapwrit; readies contingent for juvenile stakes
• Coltandmississippi looks to find footing on turf in Wednesday’s Quick Call
• Frostie Anne expected to take win streak into $100,000 Saratoga Dew

In describing Laura Evans and Ralph M. Evans’ Diversify following his dominant victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney, trainer Rick Violette could have easily been talking about himself.

“He was tired, but content,” Violette said Sunday morning. “He’s a pretty happy camper.”

The same could be said for Violette, who has overcome health issues in recent years and right up to entry day wrestled with the decision to run Diversify in the Whitney off back-to-back standout efforts rather than waiting for the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward September 1.

“I had the most blissful sleepless night last night because I was just wired. Every time I rolled over I woke up, or somebody sent me a message and you hear the ‘ping,’” Violette said. “I’m a wreck today. I’m just exhausted today because I didn’t sleep, but it was a blissful, restless night.

“He’s supposed to be tired. If he wasn’t, I’d be a little concerned. We kicked him out in the [round pen] for a couple hours and let him graze for another hour. He had a pretty cool morning, and he still didn’t want to go into his stall,” he added. “Sometimes you just have to listen to them. He kept telling me, ‘Don’t be a chicken, put me in,’ and it worked out. He was pretty special yesterday.”

The Whitney was the third consecutive stakes victory for Diversify following a nose decision in the Commentator against fellow New York-breds May 28 and a 6 ½-length romp in the Grade 2 Suburban July 7 – both at Belmont Park – and earned the 5-year-old gelding an automatic berth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic November 4 at Churchill Downs.

Violette said the prudent step is to skip the Woodward and point to a title defense in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup September 29 at Belmont as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup, but as he did prior to the Whitney, the trainer will ultimately leave the decision in Diversify’s hands.

“I probably won’t even nominate to the Woodward. Off this race and the two before that, I just think it would be unreasonable. It’s four weeks and then four weeks to the Jockey Club and then four weeks to the Breeders’ Cup. I don’t think that’s logical,” Violette said. “I think we will set our sights on the Gold Cup and see what happens after that. We could go right to the Breeders’ Cup if the situation arises, but he does like Belmont. I’ve said it too many times; if you want to make God laugh, make long-range plans.”

One of Violotte’s long-time clients, Evans and his daughter purchased Diversify for $210,000 at Keeneland’s November 2016 sale when the original owner partnership was dissolving. Violette had trained the son of Bellamy Road to two wins and recommended him to Evans, and since then they have won six stakes, including the first Grade 1s for Evans as an owner and first for Violette since Dream Rush swept the Prioress and Test at Saratoga in 2007.

“I guess he’s got to be the best horse I’ve ever trained,” Violette said. “We’ve had some very, very talented horses. [Evans-owned] Upstart was a very talented horse, but he never won a Grade 1. Read the Footnotes never won a Grade 1 and was a really, really talented horse. Between the talent and putting up the performances, he’s certainly at the top of the list. He’s a scary good horse.”

Diversify has also been a blessing for the 65-year-old Violette, who underwent treatment for cancer in 2015 and last fall was hospitalized for 10 days with pancreatitis which kept him away from Belmont for the Gold Cup and left his longtime assistant, Melissa Cohen, in charge.

“What we’ve gone through the last few years, I’m a very, very lucky man. I can’t tell you how many people rallied behind me – people I didn’t know, people I knew very casually, my best friends, and my family’s been outstanding,” Violette said. “I didn’t know I had so many friends and so many real, caring people that literally took care of me the last three years. Melissa, she should be up for sainthood. That’s the real rock solid base, and this is all gravy. Fundamentally, I’m a pretty lucky guy.”

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Summers keeps options open for Whitney runner-up Mind Your Biscuits

After little to no sleep – and having watched the replay of Saturday's race “78 times” – trainer Chad Summers couldn't be happier with Grade 1 Whitney runner-up Mind Your Biscuits following his 3 ½-length finish behind Diversify in the 1 1/8-mile route.

The 5-year-old by Posse made his patented closing move in an effort to catch the front-running Diversify, who led from gate to wire in what was billed as a showdown between two of the top New York-breds in racing this year.

“I came back last night about midnight, the feed tub was licked clean,” Summers said. “He was calling for more food, I gave him another scoop, he ate it up. He walked the shedrow this morning, and I couldn't be happier with how he came out of the race.”

The field of eight withstood a 41-minute delay due to lightning in the area and within minutes the main track condition changed from fast to sloppy and sealed following heavy rain. The storm left many wondering how the race may have played differently over a fast track, but Summers said he won't buy into the change in surface affecting the outcome.

“The way the track was playing going into the race, I was very very confident,” said Summers. “The outside was good. The pace looked good. I think it would have been a little bit of a difference, but that being said I take nothing away. [Diversify’s] breeze last Sunday was one of the best breezes I've seen in Saratoga in years, and was the best breeze of his life, and I knew it was going to be a dogfight. I was hoping the seven pounds was going to make a difference.

“You sit there, and you look at the year,” he added. “We've got four starts: one win and three seconds. You lose the Met Mile by a nose, and this race with the 41-minute delay, there's no excuse. Everybody had the same issues, but you say, man, you just wish that maybe they could’ve run the race on a fair track, but I'm not making any excuses. At the end of the day, the prize is the Breeders' Cup.”

The Whitney was the first time in 23 career starts that the highest-earning New York-bred in history, now with $4,138,286 in purses, ran around two turns. Prior to the Whitney, Mind Your Biscuits raced twice at a mile, his longest distance at the time and both around a single turn, finishing second in both the Grade 1 Cigar Mile last December and the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on June 9, where he came up a nose short of a loose-on-the-lead Bee Jersey.

“The biggest takeaway [from the Whitney] for me is when [third-place finisher] Discreet Lover got on the best part of the track and started flying. Biscuits saw him and kind of re-broke a little bit. He was not going to let him go by, and together the two of them cut into Diversify's lead,” Summers said. “Obviously, he has a big heart. We've always known he has a big heart. He was not going to let that horse by him, and you can't sit there and say that he was exhausted or [the 1 1/8-mile distance] was his limit, he doesn't let the horse pass him, and he gallops out past both of them.”

Summers said the plan is to keep all options on the table for Mind Your Biscuits, adding that he could be under consideration for the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward, also at 1 1/8 miles, on September 1.

“Rick Violette taught me a very important lesson yesterday,” Summers said. “If he's doing good on the morning of the entries we'll enter in the Woodward, but it would be between one of four races right now: The Woodward, the Kelso [Grade 2, $300,000 at one mile], the Ack Ack [Grade 3, $100,000 at one mile] or the Lukas Classic [Grade 3, $200,000 at 1 1/8 miles].

“I think he'll do anything,” he added. “I half-joke to run him in the [Grade 1] Woodbine Mile – run him on the turf at a mile. It’s something I'll think about. I always thought he was a turf horse. Would I be tempted to breeze him on the grass? Maybe. It's a million-dollar race.”

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Discreet Lover Woodward-bound following strong Whitney showing

Prior to heading back to Parx Racing on Sunday morning with his two-horse trailer, owner and trainer Uriah St. Lewis said he is already considering the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward for Discreet Lover following his late-closing third-place finish to Diversify and Mind Your Biscuits in Saturday’s Whitney.

St. Lewis said he wasn’t surprised with how Discreet Lover made a six-wide move coming into the stretch and closed on Mind Your Biscuits to miss second by a half-length.

“We knew he was going to hit the board,” St. Lewis said. “When he gets clear outside, he’s going to be coming; he’s going to roll. He tries all of the time. That’s all we ask from him.”

Discreet Lover, who was purchased for just $10,000, earned $120,000 for the third-place finish that puts him just shy of the $1 million mark at $941,560 in career earnings. For St. Lewis, the plan for Discreet Lover, as well as Norma’s Charm, who finished fifth in the Grade 1 Test, is possibly coming back to Saratoga in about 10 days.

“We are going to take it one step at a time, but the Woodward is next,” said St. Lewis. “Both horses came out of their races good. We’re going home and get a few days off. In a few days, if he says he is ready, we go back into training. We’ll probably bring him back up here a little early.”

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Kelly’s Humor will continue to target sprints after impressive kick in G1 Test

Kelly’s Humor rallied from seventh in the stretch to finish third in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test, marking the first time the 3-year-old had finished on the board in three career Grade 1 starts.

Trainer Brad Cox said Kelly’s Humor came out of the race well and has found a comfort level going shorter distances. After running eighth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on May 4 at Churchill Downs, the Midnight Lute filly has since raced twice at the Test distance of seven furlongs. She is 1-2-1 in four career starts at the distance, where her conditioner said she will likely continue to run.

“She came out of the race in good order. I don’t know where we’ll go from here; we’ll look for races going seven-eighths around one turn,” Cox said from his barn Sunday morning. “I think [seven furlongs] is her thing. You’re always a little bit of a victim of the pace. They didn’t go extremely fast yesterday. Honestly, the mission was to finish in the top three, and she got it done.

“She’s picked up. She’s run solid in every race,” he added. “Even the Oaks, she ran good, the mile and an eighth is probably something she doesn’t want to do. She definitely likes that [shorter] distance.”

Breaking from post 8 in her Saratoga debut, Kelly’s Humor stayed well off pacesetters Classy Act and Mia Mischief under jockey Joel Rosario. Out of the turn, Kelly’s Humor was second-to-last in the eight-horse field but used a stretch-drive surge to the wire, besting Alter Moon by a nose to earn third.

“Joel did an excellent job,” Cox said. “The plan was to save some ground off the turn, fan her off the turn and get her out in the middle of the track. He did a good job in recognizing that there were some lanes open on the inside. It worked out great.”

Cox also said leading 3-year-old filly contender Monomoy Girl is slated to return to the worktab next weekend. After winning the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks on July 22 at the Spa, The Tapizar filly is 5-for-5 in her sophomore campaign and has already compiled four Grade 1 wins this year, including the Ashland on April 7, the Kentucky Oaks and the Acorn on June 9 at Belmont before besting Midnight Bisou by three lengths in the 1 1/8-mile route on Saratoga’s main track last month.

“She’s doing excellent, we’ll probably breeze next weekend. The chances are we’ll [work] her next Saturday or Sunday,” Cox said.

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Pletcher looks to regroup with Tapwrit; readies contingent for juvenile stakes

Following Tapwrit’s distant fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney after thunderstorms delayed the start contributing to a sloppy track, trainer Todd Pletcher made no excuses for the 4-year-old son of Tapit, who still remains in search of his first win since capturing the last year’s Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

“He seemed to come out of the race well,” said Pletcher. “He looked good this morning. Johnny [Velazquez] felt like he struggled with the track a little bit. He said when he had him gathered up again with the bridle going down the backside, he felt good and thought he was in a good spot and at that point we were getting the trip we wanted, but when he went into the far turn and needed to start picking it up, he kind of had to turn his head loose, and he felt the track started slipping away from him at that point.”

Pletcher said he was willing to draw a line through the race and will likely stick with the plan of pointing Tapwrit to the Grade 1 Woodward.

“Our initial thought is to train him towards the Woodward and see how he responds,” said Pletcher. “The race unfolded pretty much the way we thought it would on paper and we got into the position that we wanted to get into. It’s impossible to say we would’ve had a different outcome on a fast surface, but at the same time, Diversify is in awfully good form and he’s just kind of running everyone off their feet, so hats off to them for the good performance.”

Pletcher also reported Grade 3 Sanford winner Sombeyay has remained in good order following his win and is tentatively scheduled to breeze tomorrow if track conditions permit, while Grade 1 Man o’ War winner Hi Happy will look to rebound from a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Bowling Green. Hi Happy is on target for the Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer on Travers Day, August 25. 

“[Hi Happy] seems great,” said Pletcher. “He came out of it well and we’re going to point for the Sword Dancer as long as the ground’s firm.”

Graded stakes winner Ivy Bell, who finished fourth in the Grade 3 Shuvee last Sunday will next look to cut back in distance and point to the Grade 1, $500,000 Ketel One Ballerina at seven furlongs on August 25.

“She came out of it well and we’re going to back her up into the Ballerina next,” said Pletcher. “That was sort of our plan even before the race, if we got a good performance after two routes – cutting back then that might be her best distance to begin with.”

Pletcher also reported that juvenile maiden winners Spinoff and Meade are both likely to contest the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special presented by Coors Light next weekend. On Sunday morning, the pair breezed four furlongs in company in 49.21 seconds for their respective stakes debuts. Virginia Eloise, who won her unveiling by five lengths on July 4 at Belmont Park, is slated to carry the banner in the Grade 2, $200,000 Adirondack on Saturday.

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Coltandmississippi looks to find footing on turf in Wednesday’s Quick Call

Coltandmississippi will look to notch his first career stakes win and continue to make improvement on the grass in the ninth running of the $100,000 Quick Call for 3-year-olds going 5 ½ furlongs on the Mellon turf on Wednesday at Saratoga.

Owned by Teresa Viola Racing and St. Elias Stable, Coltandmississippi, who was a $400,000 weanling purchase, made his first six races on dirt, winning two of his first three starts in his juvenile campaign. As a sophomore, the son of Pioneerof the Nile ran third in the Jerome on January 13 before finishing fourth in his graded stakes debut in the Grade 3 Withers at 1 1/8 miles on February 3 at the Big A.

Trainer Todd Pletcher moved Coltandmississippi to grass, where he ran third in the Bridgetown at six furlongs on April 14 at Aqueduct and third in the Grade 2 Penn Mile on June 2 at Penn National in which he posted a personal-best 82 Beyer Speed Figure. After finishing seventh in the Not Surprising at one mile on July 7 at Gulfstream Park, Pletcher said he should benefit from a cutback.

“We felt he’s handled the turf pretty well; we shipped him down to Gulfstream, which turned out to be an error, but based on his decent performance in the six-furlong turf sprint [Bridgetown], we thought we’d give him another try sprinting on the grass,” Pletcher said. “There’s some turf pedigree there and it was the one thing we hadn’t tried. We went short and went long, and we thought he handled it well enough to deserve another opportunity.”

Joel Rosario will have the call from post 11.

“I think he’s versatile enough in his running style that hopefully he can work out a good trip, but he’ll probably be off the pace. In that scenario, you sometimes encounter a little more traffic in a big field. [But] I think the cutback should be in his favor,” Pletcher said.

World of Trouble will gain class relief after running fourth in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens on June 9, Belmont Stakes Day, which followed his third-place finish in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 10. The Jason Servis trainee won his first start of the year, capturing the Pasco by a whopping 13 ¾ lengths on January 20 at Tampa Bay Downs.

Breaking from the rail, World of Trouble will have Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons.

A Different Style will be seeking his second stakes win, adding to his three-length score in the Jimmy Winkfield on February 10 at Aqueduct. Trained by John Servis, he drew post 4 with Kendrick Carmouche aboard. 

Rounding out the field is Like What I See, winner of the Colin on September 2 at Woodbine; Majestic Dunhill, who won his first stakes in the My Frenchman last out on July 14 at Monmouth Park; Fig Jelly; Clouded Judgement; Shangroyal; and Stolen Pistol, off back-to-back wins against allowance company.

Entries making their stakes debuts include Dirty, Totally Boss, and the South Korean-bred New Legend. Soutache is entered for the main track only.

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Frostie Anne expected to take win streak into $100,000 Saratoga Dew

Riding the momentum of four consecutive wins, Frostie Anne is being pointed to the $100,000 Saratoga Dew at 1 1/8 miles for New York-bred fillies and mares 3 and up August 13 at Saratoga, trainer and co-owner Rudy Rodriguez said Sunday.

Frostie Anne and multiple stakes-winning stablemate Frosty Margarita are each nominated to the Saratoga Dew and scheduled to work Monday morning. Rodriguez said Frosty Margarita was also being considered for the 1 1/16-mile Jack Betta Be Rite the same day at Finger Lakes.

“They’re both ready to run. I’m going to breeze them tomorrow and we’ll see,” Rodriguez said. “Hopefully, they both work good and they come back good, and we go from there.”

Rodriguez claimed Frostie Anne for Michael Imperio for $25,000 out of a three-length victory last December at Aqueduct, and the 5-year-old Frost Giant mare has gone 4-1-1 in six starts for her new connections, banking $105,840 in purse earnings.

She ran third in the 1 1/8-mile Bay Shore January 18 in her seasonal debut, then finished second in a one-mile optional claimer against state-breds March 17 before kicking off her win streak with a front-running length triumph in the open Sis City two weeks later. Each of Frostie Anne’s last two wins have come at Finger Lakes.

“She’s not a fast filly but she can maintain her speed and I think she can go the two turns with a nice easy pace,” Rodriguez said. “She’s doing very good. I’m very happy with the way she’s run and she’s training really good over here. We sent her from here to Belmont and she won and we sent her from here to Finger Lakes and she won. She’s been a very, very good claim.”

Frosty Margarita, another 5-year-old daughter of Frost Giant, has also made her last two starts at Finger Lakes winning a six-furlong allowance June 20 and coming back to be second by a neck under similar conditions going a mile July 17. She owns seven wins and purses of $546,176 from 29 career starts, taking the Key Cents, New York Stallion Series and Maddie May in successive starts in 2015 and 2016.

Tied for fifth at Saratoga in 2017 with 17 wins and topping $1 million in purses, Rodriguez is hoping to heat up after winning with two of 31 starters through the first 14 days this summer, including six seconds and seven thirds.

“It’s tough up here,” Rodriguez said. “It’s been tough so far, but we keep trying. That’s all we can do is keep going and keep working hard.”