Less than five months into his racing career, J. Kirk and Judy Robison’s
WESTERN SMOKE (Smoke Glacken) has achieved more than many of his peers will
achieve in their lifetime. The gray colt pressed the pacesetting Awesome Son
(Pure Precision) through an opening quarter in :21 2/5, seized control soon after
and was up 2 1/2 lengths after a half-mile in a blazing :43 4/5, and easily held
off Not Macho Any More (Macho Uno) to register a 1 3/4-length victory in
Saturday’s $150,000
Sapling
S. (G3) at Monmouth Park. The final time for six furlongs over the fast
track was 1:09 2/5. In winning his third consecutive stakes, the 4-5 choice
rewarded his backers with payoffs of $3.60, $2.40 and $2.10.
“We really didn’t break too well,” winning rider Elvis Trujillo said. “He
kind of stumbled a bit. But he picked himself up quickly and wanted to go to the
front. I tried to rate him a little, but I didn’t want to fight him. After that,
I decided to just let him run.”
Not Macho Any More, who bypassed Monday’s Hopeful S. (G1) in favor of this
spot, was a length clear of El Rocco (Vicar) and returned $3.20 and $2.40 at
3-1. The latter paid $2.80 as the 7-1 third choice. Next under the wire were
Whats Up Cuge (Officer), Come From Behind (Roaring Fever), One Roll (Strong
Hope), Awesome Son and Toccet’s Charm (Toccet). The exacta paid $12.20, the
trifecta $35.40, and the 5-2-1-7 superfecta was worth $204.40.
Conditioned by Steve Asmussen,
Western Smoke kicked off his juvenile campaign with a 5 1/4-length romp at
Keeneland on April 16, then ran out of the money for the first and only time
when fourth in the Kentucky Juvenile S. (G3). Runner-up against allowance foes
at Churchill in his next start, he then hit the road to Iowa, where he took down
the Prairie Gold Juvenile S. by 6 3/4 lengths, and then shipped to West Virginia,
where he blasted his rivals by 12 1/2 lengths in the Charles Town Juvenile S. His
record now stands at 6-4-1-0, $226,687.
Bred in Kentucky by Hopewell Investments, Western Smoke is the first foal
produced from the winning Echo Harbor (Boston Harbor), a half-sister to Grade 2
winner Letgomyecho (Menifee), who is also the dam of an unnamed yearling filly
by Cozzene and a 2009 filly by Bob and John. This is the family of Grade 1
winners Voodoo Dancer (Kingmambo), Engine One (Our Michael) and Singletary
(Sultry Song), who captured the 2004 Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).
Western Smoke is now a second generation Sapling winner. His sire, Smoke
Glacken, won the 1996 edition of the race when it held Grade 2 status.