Darley Stable’s JUSTENUFFHUMOR (Distorted Humor) lived up to his illustrious
pedigree with an authoritative 2 1/2-length victory in his stakes debut in
Sunday’s $158,750
Fourstardave H. (G2) at Saratoga. A half-brother to 2006 champion juvenile
filly Dreaming of Anna and multiple Grade 2 winner Lewis Michael, full siblings
by Rahy, Justenuffhumor became the latest graded stakes winner produced from the
multiple stakes winner Justenuffheart (Broad Brush), herself a half-sister to
2004 turf champion male Kitten’s Joy (El Prado [Ire]) and multiple Grade 1
winner Precious Kitten (Catienus). Justenuffhumor returned $9.50, $6.30 and
$3.50 as the 7-2 third choice in a field of nine.
Traveling along the inside in the second tier, Justenuffhumor bided his time
under Alan Garcia as 2-1 favorite Cowboy Cal (Giant’s Causeway) led through the
opening mile while setting fractions of :23 4/5, :47 3/5, 1:12 2/5 and 1:36 4/5.
Advancing rounding the far turn while still hugging the hedge, Justenuffhumor
moved out slightly in the stretch and split horses to win going away, finishing
up 1 1/16 miles on the good turf in 1:42 4/5. Mambo Meister (King Cugat), the
15-1 invader from Calder, rallied up the inside late to edge Cowboy Cal for the
place by a half-length, giving back $14 and $4.80. Cowboy Cal held off Cosmonaut
(Lemon Drop Kid) by three parts of a length for the show and gave back $2.80.
The exacta was worth $91, the trifecta $345.50, and the 2-7-1-4 superfecta
$1,639.
Veiled Prophet (Kingmambo), Wesley (El Prado [Ire]), Interpatation
(Langfuhr), Kip Deville (Kipling) and Papa Bear (Distorted Humor) rounded out
the order of the finish. For Kip Deville, the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1)
winner who was the 5-2 second choice, it was his fourth unplaced finish from his
last five starts.
The Fourstardave was Justenuffhumor’s fifth win in as many attempts on the
turf. After finishing ninth of 11 in his Polytrack debut at Keeneland last
October, the four-year-old has reeled off five straight beginning with a maiden
score at Gulfstream on January 14. He later knocked out his first three
allowance conditions at Gulfstream, Aqueduct and Belmont. With this victory he
pushed his career earnings to $197,400.
“We have to keep stepping up,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said. “We’ll
obviously look at the Bernard Baruch (H. [G2] at Saratoga on August 28). I’m
just thankful we’re training at Greentree (Training Center over the synthetic
surface), not to miss any works with this horse during the rainy weather — it
helps.”
Bred by Mt. Brilliant Farm in Kentucky, Justenuffhumor was a $550,000
Keeneland September yearling and also counts as half-siblings the unnraced
juvenile filly Justenufftime (Giant’s Causeway) and an unnamed yearling colt by
Storm Cat. In addition to the luminaries in Justenuffhumor’s immediate family,
this female line is also responsible for Hall of Famer Spectacular Bid (Bold
Bidder) and the Grade 1 winners Down the Aisle (Runaway Groom) and Road Princess
(*Gallant Man).