Gutsy ‘Dan’ surpasses John
Henry’s bankroll in Woodford Reserve
Two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan added yet another soul-stirring chapter
to his legacy with a repeat victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $559,100
Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, overcoming both a
checkered passage early and a stern challenge late. Showing that his heart is as
massive as his talent, the future Hall of Famer dug deep to stave off
upset-minded Seek Again by a head, to the roar of the Kentucky Derby crowd.
Morton Fink’s homebred thereby became the richest gelding in North American
racing history, with a bankroll of $6,802,920 from his 29-21-2-0 line. It was
fitting that he had to turn on the courage to surpass that record long held by
the legendary John Henry, who amassed $6,591,860 in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
Wise Dan, the 1-2 favorite, broke from the potentially tricky post 1, and
Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez was immediately looking to get him off the
hedge and out into the clear. Bright Thought, drawn post 2, went straight to the
front, allowing Wise Dan to shift out for breathing room to track him. But as
Velazquez was executing that maneuver, Skyring hustled up on the outside to join
them, and Wise Dan now found himself in tight quarters.
As the scrimmaging for early position ensued, Velazquez was forced to steady,
and Wise Dan got lit up. The champ was eventually wrestled into third, in the
clear, but had paid a higher than expected price to get off the inside.
Meanwhile, Bright Thought doled out steady fractions of :24, :48 and 1:12 1/5
on the firm turf, prompted by Skyring. Wise Dan had enough of waiting as the
field prepared to leave the backstretch, and he galloped up alongside the
leaders on the far turn.
Wise Dan dispatched them in short order at the head of the lane, only to find
the rallying Seek Again erupt along the hedge. A Juddmonte Farms homebred who
employed an eerily similar trip to win his U.S. debut in last November’s
Hollywood Derby, Seek Again suddenly loomed as a danger in this first outing for
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
As the six-time Eclipse Award winner was confronted by the fresh-faced
four-year-old, the outcome hung in the balance. Seek Again matched strides with
Wise Dan in their pulsating stretch drive, and for a brief moment, threatened to
spring the surprise.
But Wise Dan proved that the parallel with John Henry is apt. Finding
something extra in the heat of battle, the seven-year-old repelled Seek Again
and forced his head in front at the wire. Wise Dan, who clocked 1:36 for the
mile split, threw in a final furlong in :11 3/5 to complete 1 1/8 miles in 1:47
3/5.
“Horses like that are hard to find,” trainer Charles LoPresti said. “They’re
true warriors and they don’t want to get beat and they know where the wire is
and they know how to win. He’s just that kind of horse.”
“Going past the wire the first time,” Velazquez said, “he broke with a long
hold (on the reins), but when the other horse came to him on the outside, he got
real aggressive and I had to really fight him back. I didn’t want to do that
because he threw his head up, but I had no choice.
“I thought I won it at the wire, but I thought the same thing yesterday and I
finished third. He hasn’t been training as good as he was last year. He ran
great at Keeneland (winning the Maker’s 46 Mile), ran a great race here today at
1 1 1/8 miles but he was definitely tired.”
“He was pretty tough going a mile-and-an-eighth,” LoPresti said, “but Johnny
knows how to get him back. He wrangled him back, it wasn’t very pretty, but he
got him in the spot where he needed to be.
“If he wouldn’t have done that, he would’ve been on the lead and would’ve
seen daylight and he might’ve gone a little bit too fast up front. He needed to
be tucked in. We thought second or third, and that’s where he put him. When I
saw the :48 (half), I thought we were in real good shape where he was sitting.
“I was worried about Bill Mott’s horse (Seek Again),” LoPresti continued.
“He’s a nice horse, coming off a Grade 1 win in California, and (jockey Joel)
Rosario was on his heels the whole way when he moved.
“But he won’t let a horse go by him. If they get to him he’s not going to let
them go by.”
Rosario described his tactics on Seek Again.
“There was no doubt I was going inside,” Rosario said. “I’m trying to beat
Wise Dan and I’ve got to take any edge I can get. If I go outside, I have no
chance. The hole came open and he went. He was running hard. My horse is a
really nice horse. So is Wise Dan, of course. But we gave him a try. Maybe we’ll
try him again.”
“It was a great ride,” Mott said of Rosario’s effort. “It was a great ride.
No complaints. We’ve got to decide if we’re going to give him a try in the
Manhattan (at Belmont Park June 7). It’s a mile and quarter. He won the
Hollywood Derby at a mile and a quarter.”
The top two had 1 1/4 lengths to spare over millionaire veteran Boisterous,
who nipped Kaigun for third. Admiral Kitten checked in fifth, followed by Guys
Reward, Moro Tap, Finnegans Wake, Bright Thought and Skyring.
Wise Dan was earning his 18th career stakes victory, 10 of them 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.
Last year, 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 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 another successful title defense in the April 11
Maker’s 46 Mile.
“The way he has trained and the way he’s done, I would say, at this point in
time, he’s better than he was last year,” LoPresti said, in an apparent
difference of viewpoint from Velazquez. “This was a little bit stiffer group of
horses (compared to the 2013 Woodford Reserve). Nothing against the horses last
year, but with Point of Entry out, it was pretty much his race last year.”
LoPresti dangled the possibility of a return to dirt for the June 14 Stephen
Foster.
“If it’s up to me, I’ll wait until Saratoga, but we’ll see how he comes out,”
the trainer said. “We’ll watch the handicap division. I thought a little bit
about the Stephen Foster just because of yesterday’s race (the Alysheba Stakes,
won in an upset by Moonshine Mullin with Will Take Charge a well-beaten sixth)
and I haven’t heard much about the other horses. I doubt we would do it, but
it’s something to at least consider.”
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.
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