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Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I’ve Always Thought He Was A Star’

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Trainer George Weaver has long believed that Vekoma is capable of big things on the racetrack. The 4-year-old son of Candy Ride has delivered on that faith in a major way this season, earning back-to-back Grade 1 victories in the seven-furlong Carter Handicap and last Saturday’s Runhappy Metropolitan Mile Handicap.

Vekoma defeated Network Effect and Code of Honor by 1 ¼ lengths in the Met Mile, leading throughout the one-mile contest under Javier Castellano.

“I actually did think he could be on the lead,” Weaver said after the race. “I thought we had the most natural speed of the horses in the race. I knew the outside horses liked to show speed, but at the end of the day I thought if we broke well, they might just be caught chasing. When I talked to Javier in the paddock, he was non-committal, and I said the whole time that I know Javier understands this horse and feels what he can and can’t do, and I left it in his hands.

“At the quarter pole, it seemed like all comers were coming and I thought ‘Man, does he have anything left in the tank or not?’ When they got to the eighth pole and I saw him rebreak and keep going, I got excited. It was fun.”

The big wins have increased Vekoma’s career earnings to $1,245,525, making him Weaver’s highest earner since the trainer took out his license in 2002.

“I was so proud of him,” said Weaver. “Physically he’s matured and filled out, and I really couldn’t be any happier with him.”

The Met Mile was Weaver’s fourth top-level win as a trainer, following Saratoga County’s win in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2005 and Lighthouse Bay’s win in the Grade 1 Prioress in 2013.

Still, the Louisville native grew up with dreams of the Kentucky Derby. He made his inaugural Run for the Roses in 2015 with Tencendur, but that horse faded to finish 17th.

Early last year, Weaver had gotten excited that Vekoma might give him a stronger chance in a second trip to the Derby. The colt won the G2 Nashua as a juvenile, and made his 3-year-old debut a third-place finish in the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes. In April, Vekoma dominated the G2 Blue Grass Stakes by 3 ½ lengths, securing his spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby.

Unfortunately, Vekoma disappointed on the day, up close early and fading to finish 12th, and the colt was sent to the farm for a break that lasted the remainder of 2019.

“He did not perform well on Derby day, and I don’t know if it was the (sloppy) track or if it just wasn’t his day,” Weaver said. “He’s a terrifically talented racehorse, and I’ve always thought he was a star. Obviously, we were hoping to do better in the Derby, but history shows that a lot of really nice horses don’t run well on the first Saturday in May.”

Bringing the colt back to the races involved a lot of dedication from both Weaver and his wife and business partner, Cindy Hutter. The couple first met in 1991 when they were employed by D. Wayne Lukas, but didn’t date until they both made the move to trainer Todd Pletcher’s team.

Pletcher, also employed by Lukas early in his career, left the Hall of Famer to go out on his own in 1996, and Hutter went along as his assistant. Weaver made the move to Pletcher’s barn in 1997, but as assistant trainers, he and Hutter had to work at separate locations for much of the year.

In 2002, the couple made the decision to stick together and work for themselves.

“We decided to make a go of it and do everything all at once,” Weaver explained. “We went into business for ourselves, we bought a house, had a kid; we didn’t hold back and did it all at once.”

Today, 18 years later, Hutter is very hands-on with the horses while Weaver is able to handle many of the business aspects like communicating with owners and planning races.

When it came time to bring Vekoma back to the races early in 2020, Hutter was on the talented colt’s back nearly every morning.

“She’s gotten on him most of his career,” Weaver said. “I have confidence when she tells me they’re doing well. She’s a great horseperson and knows our horses very well.”

In late March, Vekoma made his first start off a nine-month layoff a winning one in Gulfstream’s listed Sir Shackleton Stakes, dominating the seven furlong-contest by 3 ¾ lengths. Though his next start was delayed a bit by the coronavirus pandemic, Vekoma didn’t miss a beat and celebrated his first Grade 1 win with an impressive romp in the Carter Handicap, a Win and You’re In Challenge Series race for the Breeders’ Cup.

With a 7 ¼-length win and a final time of 1:21.02 for seven furlongs, Vekoma earned an automatic entry into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. The Met Mile win earned the colt a slot in the Dirt Mile, so there are plenty of options leading up to this year’s World Championships.

“Nothing’s written in stone, but we’ll probably focus on a mile or under going forward,” Weaver said. “We’re going to nominate to the Whitney for sure, but he’s run two huge races back-to-back. The most likely scenario, to me, is that he would come back in a race like the Forego. We want to plot a campaign to get us to the Breeders’ Cup, so we’ll take a look at the calendar and go from there.”

“I think he’s the best older horse in the country,” co-owner Randy Hill told NYRA publicity. “The horse will tell us. He’s such a warrior.”

The post Breeders’ Cup Presents Connections: ‘I’ve Always Thought He Was A Star’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Casse Sends Out Pair Of Fillies For Spa’s Opening-Day Schuylerville

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Stakes action at historic Saratoga Race Course kicks off with a field of eight 2-year-old fillies assembled for the 102nd running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville on Thursday, Opening Day of the summer meet.

Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse will send out John C. Oxley’s impressive maiden winner Beautiful Memories, who romped by 10 lengths in her career debut on May 28 at Churchill Downs.

The homebred chestnut daughter of Hard Spun received encouragement coming out of the gate in her debut before taking command and extending her lead through every point of call, crossing the wire on cruise control under jockey Jose Ortiz in a final time of 58.05 seconds for the five-furlong sprint.

Casse said Beautiful Memories demonstrated potential from the start.

“We broke her and had her down at the training center all winter and she seemed special,” said Casse. “I told Mr. Oxley when I breezed her that she gave me chills and that doesn’t happen often.”

Beautiful Memories, a Kentucky homebred, is out of the Sky Mesa broodmare Sky Dreamer who is a half-sister to turf Grade 1-winner Dream Dancing as well as graded stakes-placed Dream Maker.

Beautiful Memories has been training forwardly for Casse, working two bullets at Churchill Downs heading into Thursday, most recently registering a five-furlong drill in 59.20 on July 4.

Casse said he is hoping for another impressive performance from Beautiful Memories on Opening Day at Saratoga.

“You always want to see more than just one time,” said Casse. “She’s come back and trained well and her last two works have been really good. It was not a shock to see her run the way she did first out. We’re hoping for a similar performance, but we’ll let her do the talking.”

Ortiz, who piloted Catherinethegreat to a 2018 Schuylerville victory for Oxley and Casse, will retain the mount aboard Beautiful Memories from post 3.

Casse also sends out Gary Barber’s New York-bred Make Mischief, who won her debut as the favorite in a five-furlong maiden special weight against her Empire State-bred counterparts on June 18 at Belmont.

The bay daughter of Into Mischief tracked two lengths off the pace in her five-furlong career debut and was a bit green in the stretch but had enough to score a half-length triumph.

Bred by Avanti Stable, Make Mischief is out of the Speightstown broodmare Speightful Lady and was purchased for $285,000 from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-bred Yearling Sale last August.

Casse said he is looking for Make Mischief to step her game up a notch on Thursday.

“She’s a horse we were high on this winter,” Casse said. “I thought her win was good, but I think she’s better than what she showed, at least I’m hoping so. She’ll have to come with a better performance.”

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will attempt a sixth Schuylerville triumph when piloting Make Mischief from the inside post.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle Hopeful Princess, who arrives off a three-quarter length maiden score at Churchill Downs. Owned by Stonestreet Farm, the dark bay filly gave highly regarded freshman stallion Not This Time his first winner when stalking the pace from second, battling down the stretch with a foe and eventually coming out on top while galloping out with authority on May 21 at Churchill, earning a 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

Bred in Kentucky by Elm Tree Farm, Hopeful Princess is out of the More Than Ready broodmare More Than Magic.

Jockey Ricardo Santana, Jr. will pilot Hopeful Princess from post 8.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Sunny Isle Beach, who will exit post 5 under Irad Ortiz, Jr., will take a big step up in class for trainer Wesley Ward after displaying a victorious late kick on debut for a $75,000 tag on June 6 at Churchill.

The bay daughter of Jimmy Creed broke from the outside, where she laid mid pack early on, was caught seven wide at the top of the stretch but shifted to the inside of rivals down the lead to score a narrow victory.

“When you have a 2-year-old maiden winner you’re halfway mandated to try stakes company so that’s what we’re doing here,” Ward said. “If you hit the board in a graded stakes race that’s enshrined in their pedigree forever. We should be able to come from behind, so we’ll sit back and ask Irad to be a cool-sitter and a go-getter, which is what he is. If there’s a strong pace up front, then here we come.”

Bred in Kentucky by her owners and Dixiana Farm, Sunny Isle Beach is out of the Kitten’s Joy broodmare Kathern’s Kitten.

Completing the field are Hara [post 2, Tyler Gaffalione], Quinoa Tifah [post 4, Manny Franco], Queen Arella [post 6, Joel Rosario] and Dayoutoftheoffice [post 7, Junior Alvarado].

The Schuylerville is slated as Race 8 on Thursday’s 10-race card, which offers a first post of 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Saratoga Live will present daily television coverage of the 40-day summer meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete Saratoga Live broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Saratoga Race Course, and the best way to bet every race of the 40-day summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, NYRA Bets is currently offering a $200 new member bonus in addition to a host of special weekly offers. The NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Laoban Colt Earns Furlong Bullet at OBS Under-Tack Finale

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A colt by Laoban work the co-fastest furlong of the week Sunday during the sixth and final session of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s July 2-Year-Olds and Horses of Racing Age Sale under-tack show. The session, originally scheduled for Saturday, was delayed a day after lightning damaged the track’s timing equipment.

From the first crop of GII Jim Dandy S. winner Laoban (Uncle Mo), hip 983 was the second juvenile to work the furlong in :9 4/5 during the under-tack show. Out of One Look (Henny Hughes), the bay is consigned by Jesse Hoppel’s Coastal Equine.

“This track has played really weird all week,” Hoppel said. “But the way he prepped, we thought he’d be a :10 flat type horse. If you think they are in one spot, you get lucky and they go a little bit faster and, if you have some bad luck, sometimes they go a little bit slower. But he was really spot on today. He did really good.”

A full 27 juveniles worked the furlong in :10 flat during the week. Hip 983 and hip 640, a daughter of Not This Time, were the only of the week to work in under :10.

“I think it will highlight him for sure,” Hoppel said of the bullet. “But if the horse made a good video-which I think he did, he’s got a really good way of moving–then he will be just fine. I don’t think you have to necessarily be the bullet to sell a horse well. As long as the horse has good action and they go fast the right way, that’s the thing, they have to go fast the right way. Sometimes you get a horse that goes really fast and they look like something is about to fly off. And that’s no good. But I think he did it the right way, so they’ll appreciate it.”

Hoppel is consigning the colt on behalf of a group of friends who partnered to buy the youngster for $3,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale. Luis Franco signed the ticket in Lexington last fall.

“He is a robust, strong, aggressive colt,” Hoppel said of the juvenile. “He is a horse that doesn’t not show up. Some of these colts sometimes they get a little lazy or they start thinking about other things. He’s a very game individual.”

Hoppel sent out 11 juveniles to work during the week at OBS–including the bullet quarter-mile worker on the first day of the under-tack show–and the consignor said the track shifted from session to session as conditions went from hotter to cooler temperatures and was hit by several major rainstorms.

“I think the biggest part of the track is that it’s heat sensitive,” Hoppel said. “And dealing with July in the state of Florida, heat is an issue. That track gets to be a softer, slower playing track the more heat that is on it. When it is cold, the track is hard and fast. So this week, we had rain, we had heat, it just depends on was it a cold rain that cooled the track off or not. We had some days that were faster than other days. I had enough horses here that I had a good sampling throughout the week and I know where these horses are amongst themselves. So I know some days were different than other days. And those good agents, they know this track plays different day to day, so they will measure these horses on a per-day basis.”

A filly by Bahamian Squall (hip 1030) turned in Sunday’s fastest quarter-mile work when covering the distance in :20 3/5. Consigned by McKathan Brothers Sales, the dark bay filly was supplemented to the July Sale. She is out of Up for Grabs (First Samurai) and was purchased by Fernando Velasquez for $1,000 at last year’s OBS October Yearling Sale.

A colt from the first crop of multiple graded stakes winner Protonico (Giant’s Causeway) equaled the fastest three-furlong work of the week when covering the distance in :33 flat Sunday for Whitman Sales. Out of Mongolian Changa (Brilliant Speed), the dark bay was purchased by Christy Whitman for $1,000 at the OBS Winter Sale.

The once-raced 3-year-old filly Chambers Creek (Goldencents) (hip 992), consigned by Bobby Dodd, also worked in :33 flat Sunday.

The July sale will be held Tuesday through Thursday with sessions beginning daily at 10 a.m.

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Haskell Draw to be Streamed Live on Facebook

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The post position draw for Saturday’s GI Haskell S. will be streamed via Facebook Live on Monmouth Park’s Facebook page. The draw, which will take place in the Breeders’ Cup Garden on the Clubhouse side of the racetrack, will be held Wednesday at noon.

The $1-million Haskell offers points towards the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby and is also a “Win and You’re In”race for the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. BetMakers, in partnership with Monmouth Park, is offering a $1-million bonus to the connections of any horse that wins the Haskell, Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

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