A case could be made for Modem being the hardest luck case among any horse in an Eclipse Award division. Since his importation from Europe last year, the eight-year-old gelding has run second in five consecutive Grade 1 hurdles.
On Monday, Modem will try again to end the bout of seconditis in the $175,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial (G1) at Saratoga, a race he was favored at 5-2 to win last season when finishing two lengths adrift of Swansea Mile. The Smithwick was postponed from last Thursday due to course conditions and re-drawn.
Modem will be an even heavier favorite this time. Admirably consistent, he’s simply found one horse better in each of his domestic tries. Following the Smithwick, Modem earned silver in the New York Turf Writers Cup (G1), Lonesome Glory (G1), Grand National (G1), and in the May 12 Iroquois (G1) in his season debut.
“This year, he’s put on a lot of weight and is better conditioned,” trainer Elizabeth Voss said. “He ran well last year coming here. He doesn’t have a lot of different paces. It might be more a jockeys race.”
The Smithwick is contested at 2 1/16 miles, and due to modifications made a few seasons ago, the homestretch fences are not jumped. Instead, the last fence negotiated is around three furlongs from the wire
“Not having the last jump hurts us because he’s a great jumper who plugs away and tries his hardest,” Voss said of Modem. “We’ll see what we got taking on some of these young guns.”
All the Way Jose has finished behind, if at all, to Modem in four of their five meetings, but does have something the favorite lacks — a Grade 1 win. That came courtesy of the Lonesome Glory at Belmont last fall when All the Way Jose prevailed by 1 1/4 lengths. Last year at the Spa, All the Way Jose lost his rider in the Smithwick and finished third in the Turf Writers Cup.
Personal Start and Iranistan enter on win streaks of three and four races, respectively. Personal Start most recently captured the David Semmes Memorial (G2) at Great Meadow, Virginia, while Iranistan’s streak includes a $100,000 stakes at the Iroquois Hunt in Nashville and a maiden win on the flat at Delaware Park earlier this month.
Also of note are Show Court, winner of the Jonathan Kiser Novice at Saratoga last summer, and the recent English import Oskar Denarius.
