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Wise Dan just prevails in Baruch comeback
Fourstardave was carrying 115 pounds, a dozen fewer than comebacker Wise Dan, who was last seen defending his crown in the May 3 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs. Only 13 days later, Morton Fink's homebred suffered a bout of colic that required emergency surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington, Kentucky. LoPresti had considered bringing Wise Dan back in the August 9 race named in honor of Fourstardave, which he had won for the past two years. But based on the way the seven-year-old gelding was training, LoPresti decided to skip the three-peat attempt and give him a little more time, and his wisdom paid off. Wise Dan began to show his characteristic aggressiveness in the morning, and he needed every ounce of fitness he had in the Bernard Baruch.
No sooner had the champion put his head in front, than Optimizer -- the other comebacker -- exploded into contention. Making his first start off a four-month break for new trainer Jose Fernandez, the 29-1 shot was gaining ground rapidly, and threatened to spring the upset with an 11-pound pull at the weights. But Wise Dan, as though remembering that he had dusted Optimizer by 4 3/4 lengths in last year's Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, would not permit it. With Velazquez nursing him to the wire, Wise Dan kept his head up in a display of sheer will power. In so doing, Wise Dan remained perfect in three starts this campaign and extended his winning streak to four, dating back to last November's Breeders' Cup Mile. He has now won 13 of his last 14, and 18 of his last 21, outings. "When I got to the eighth-pole, I didn't think I got it," Velazquez said. "When I got past the sixteenth-pole he was giving me everything he had and the other horse (Optimizer) was coming from the outside. "There was a little bit of doubt. He was getting tired -- incredibly proud," the Hall of Famer added of his feelings about Wise Dan. "I wouldn't have been disappointed if he was beat today," LoPresti said. "It would have been something to build on.
Optimizer was a clear second by 1 1/4 lengths from Five Iron, who edged Sayaad in a photo for third. Next came Bio Pro, North Star Boy, Sky Blazer, Boisterous and Paris Vegas. The main-track-only pair of Lea and Red Rifle were withdrawn. Wise Dan has compiled a Hall of Fame-worthy record of 30-22-2-0, $6,952,920. Of his 20 career stakes victories, 10 have come at the Grade 1 level. Unraced as a juvenile, Wise Dan showed ability when winning four of six starts at three. During that 2010 campaign, he captured his stakes debut in the Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland and finished a creditable sixth, beaten just 2 1/2 lengths, in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.Wise Dan proved a triple-surface threat in 2011, winning the Firecracker in his turf debut, and adding the Presque Isle Mile on Tapeta, before romping in the Fayette over Keeneland's Polytrack and the Clark Handicap on the Churchill Downs dirt. He kicked off his 2012 season at Keeneland with a scintillating 10 1/2-length conquest of the Ben Ali in a track-record time of 1:46.63 on the Polytrack. Wise Dan returned to Churchill for the Stephen Foster Handicap, only to lose by a head after a tough trip. Wise Dan commenced a winning spree in the Fourstardave at Saratoga, then added the Shadwell Turf Mile, Woodbine Mile and Breeders' Cup Mile, the latter in a course- and stakes-record 1:31.78. Those victories propelled him to an Eclipse Award sweep of the champion older male, champion turf male and Horse of the Year awards. In 2013, Wise Dan extended his streak with scores in the Maker's 46 Mile, Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, Firecracker and Fourstardave, carrying 128 and 129 pounds, respectively, in the latter two performances. He captured the Woodbine Mile for the second straight year in mid-September, this time blitzing in a course-record 1:31.75. His nine-race skein was halted when second in the Shadwell Turf Mile, which was held over a puddle-strewn Polytrack at Keeneland. Wise Dan rebounded in the Breeders' Cup Mile, defeating runner-up Za Approval by about a length, and repeated as champion older male, turf male and Horse of the Year. He opened 2014 with successful title defenses in the April 11 Maker's 46 Mile and the aforementioned Woodford Reserve, where he gamely repelled Seek Again by a head. The Kentucky-bred is by Wiseman's Ferry and out of the winning Wolf Power mare Lisa Danielle, the 2012 Broodmare of the Year. His half-brother, multiple Grade 2 victor Successful Dan, set a new Churchill track record when taking the 2012 Alysheba. Another half-sibling to the "Dans," stakes winner Our Royal Dancer, is herself the dam of Argentinean Group 2-placed Bailando Voy. Lisa Danielle is in turn a half-sister to Grade 1-placed Carsona, who has produced Grade 2 victor Siphon City. This is the family of German Group 1-winning highweight Scalo, and further back, French champion, classic winner and noted sire *Val de Loir as well as dual classic heroine and Irish champion *Valoris II. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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