Steeplechase star could emerge from novice ranks
By now, most racing fans have at least heard of the top steeplechaser Good Night Shirt. He won the Eclipse Award in 2007 and is a lock to do so again in 2008 with four Grade 1 victories in as many tries.
But who else is out there? "Novice" steeplechasers meet in a Grade 1 stakes Saturday at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Ga., to help find out where the next round of top steeplechasers will come from. The term sounds like a knock, but in actuality novices are akin to 3-year-olds on the flat. They are in their first or second year of jump racing, and get several chances to shine in the restricted division before taking on the big names (like Good Night Shirt) in the open stakes.
On Saturday, seven Thoroughbreds meet in the $100,000 AFLAC U.S. Championship Hurdle, a Grade 1 for novices at 2 1/4 miles.
Gil Johnston's Swagger Stick broke through in his last start, winning the Grade 1 Foxbrook at Far Hills on Oct. 18, and has the favorite's role at Callaway. The 7-year-old son of Cozzene had been an ongoing frustration for Jack Fisher, parting ways with jockey Xavier Aizpuru in four of his first six hurdles starts under the trainer's care. After Swagger Stick threw Aizpuru at Philadelphia Park this July, Fisher employed the services of Willie Dowling; things have grown considerably brighter since.
In five starts (all stakes) with Dowling, Swagger Stick has a win, two seconds and a third. The jockey takes the return call Saturday at 153 pounds.
"At the moment we seem to get along pretty well. I try and not move on him; he's a pretty good jumper so I try not to give him a squeeze and just sit there," Dowling said. "He's not tricky, he just has a bit of a spring to him and you have to be ready when he jumps. He's getting more and more confident now that he is finishing -- when we went to last he was more focused, he's not losing interest anymore."
Dowling rode Swagger Stick (a half-brother to 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Pleasantly Perfect) for the first time in May at Radnor. They finished fourth, beaten more than 40 lengths in soft turf, but things got brighter at Saratoga, where Swagger Stick hit the board in three novice stakes in a four-week time span. He finished sixth at Monmouth Park on Sept. 20, but Fisher and Dowling call the race a throwout. Swagger Stick was on his best behavior in the Foxbrook, jumping effortlessly, taking charge on the far turn and holding sway over fellow AFLAC rival Baby League. The win was his first since breaking his maiden at Callaway last November.
Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard enters a pair he co-bred with Bill Pape, The Price Of Love (Danielle Hodsdon, 156 pounds) and Baby League (Hodsdon on a double call, 150), and either would merit a long look should they start.
The Price Of Love made a name for himself this summer at Saratoga, winning a pair of novice stakes, July 31 and Aug. 21. The 5-year-old son of Prenup raced close to the pace and dug in gamely through the stretch in both efforts. He finished fifth at Monmouth, but like Swagger Stick, may have been hampered by the hard turf course.
Baby League returned from almost 14 months on the shelf to run second to Swagger Stick in the Foxbrook, his first start since being pulled up at Saratoga in 2007, the only time he was off the board in six hurdle starts. Baby League pressed the pace early in the Foxbrook, dropped back to fourth on the second lap then came again to miss by 1 1/4 lengths.
Sheppard also sends out Calvin Houghland's Dr. Bloomer (Robbie Walsh, 153). The 7-year-old got back on track with a third in the Monmouth County after two off-the-board finishes. He was third in the AFLAC last year and gained attention this spring at Nashville when he stepped outside the novice ranks to win the Grade 3 Marcellus Frost.
Rounding out the AFLAC field are: Irv Naylor's Tax Ruling (Mark Watts, 150), second to Bow Strada in a Great Meadow allowance last out for Desmond Fogarty; Mecklenburg (Will Haynes, 144), an Atlanta maiden winner over Dreadnaught in April for Anne Haynes and trainer Mike Berryman; and Cuse (James Slater, 150), who won a maiden at Great Meadow after numerous close calls for Karen Gray.
The Callaway card includes six races worth $185,000 with a first post of 1 p.m.
