Clawing Away To A Victory

Long-time trainer Bruce Levine wins his first Saratoga race of the meet with an impressive run from locally-bred Brown Eyed Cat

Bruce Levine pretty much started his Saratoga Race Course meet with nearly the way he ended his Belmont at Aqueduct meet.

However, he had to watch some anxious moments from the start to the finish for that Saratoga victory.

Brown Eyed Cat, a 3-year-old making his debut on Opening Day, was off a step slow while getting bumped hard by Romantic Charmer as a soon as the starting gate opened. Through a patient ride from Javier Castellano, Brown Eyed Cat rallied 15½ lengths off the quick pace to run down Call Bob in the last 220 yards to win by a length.

“It was very impressive,” Levine said. “It was a speed-favoring track and he closed a lot of ground. I know there were some fast fractions, but he did put in some run. It’s good to get that first win.”

During Belmont at Aqueduct’s closing weekend two weeks ago, Levine watched Light Man catch pacesetter Kingdom in the final furlong for the 1¼-length win.

While Brown Eyed Cat’s win came across as impressive, Levine said he wasn’t surprised in the colt’s running style. Even with the latest “bullet” workouts from the gate, Levine indicated that his horse has the tendency to start slowly. When Brown Eyed Cat got off to a rough start and fell behind quickly, Levine didn’t know if his horse could overcome that.

“I’m not surprised,” Levine said. “He has never been a good breaker in the morning. Between not being a sharp breaker and getting bumped at the start, and he was so far back, I really couldn’t imagine him winning, especially for a first-time starter.”

After being bred by Dave Valeri with the sire of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown and the mare Cat Ferrad at Irish Hill Century Farm, just six miles away from the track in Stillwater, Brown Eyed Cat, owned by AngieV Stables, came to Levine’s barn last summer at Belmont Park.

Even though the colt showed potential through a series of workouts, there were moments when Levine had to give him a break.

“I knew he could run,” Levine said. “We have been fighting quarter crack issues with him. That is what has slowed him in getting to the races. He’s a sound horse. It’s just his feet.”

“I wanted to give him another workout,” he added. “But I said to myself, if this race goes, I got to wait another month to run. Let me give him some experience. He acts a little green around horses. Not only that, there is now fitness on his side.”

Brown Eyed Cat wasn’t the only winner for Levine last week. He also had a winner at Monmouth Park with Kaymus in a claiming race. Though, it’s not uncommon for Levine to run his horses at multiple tracks.

Within the first couple of years as a trainer that started in late 1979, Levine won races at Aqueduct, Belmont, the Meadowlands, Monmouth Park, Delaware Park and even Hialeah Park. This included his first graded stakes winner with I’m It followed by multiple graded stakes winner Lady Eleanor.

In 1982, even though he had been racing horses at Saratoga early in his career, Levine finally brought his stable to Barn 64, where he is still located just next to the gap of the first turn on the Oklahoma Training Track. That is when he also had his first Saratoga winner with Rob’s Lady in a maiden race.

Over the last four decades, several horses have been part of Levine’s stable, which has earned 2,238 victories from nearly 13,000 starters. They include 2008 New York-bred champion sprinter Bustin Stones, three-time Grade 3 Gallant Fox marathon winner Coyote Lakes, John Morrissey Stakes winner Clever Electrician and Saratoga Dew Stakes winner Hot Stones.

Even with Grade 1 winner Bustin Stones and a former claiming horse like Coyote Lakes, both owned by Roddy Valente, Levine continues to look for that promising horse through breeders and sales rather than focusing on the claiming division.

“It has been good, but it’s challenging,” Levine said. “I’m still looking for a good horse. I used to work with a lot claiming horses. I don’t mind claiming, but it’s just harder. If you claim a horse $20,000 and run it for $30,000, you will probably keep it, but you can’t win. If you want to win, then you will have to lose the horse.”

“It’s hard to win a claiming race and have your horse not to get claimed out of it,” he added. “It’s so hard to replace your horses. It takes two months to replace it. It used to be that you could hold onto them longer.”

Beyond a few claiming horses, Levine has other promising horses who have been allowance race winners such as Light Man, Cupid’s Heart, and Fortune’s Nephew.

Levine also has younger and unraced horses. Two of them are scheduled to run in maiden races on Friday: first-time starters Joker on Fire and Posse Rocks.

“I’m so lucky that I have some homebreds, and I can buy some yearlings and 2-year-olds to add to the stable. I am working with more 2-year-olds.” he said “Otherwise, I would be in trouble. With the babies, you can stay in business through trial and error.”

As for Brown Eyed Cat, Levine knows he some options, especially since the colt is eligible to compete in the New York Stallion Series races. However, he will know the next steps based on the horse’s health, body language, and behavior over the next couple of weeks.

“He will tell me,” Levine said. “Horses always do. He may run in an allowance race in three or four weeks. We’ll have to see where he is.”