On a picture-perfect day fit for the Queen of Saratoga, fans from all walks of life, both fillies and colts, were resplendent in pink to honor their beloved Marylou, and to watch the 92nd running of the Grade 1, million dollar race that bears her name.
Nobody left disappointed, as even the most grizzled gamblers couldn’t complain about the beautiful weather or great racing, and anyone with a pulse had to be touched by the outpouring of love for Marylou Whitney.
The weekend started off on Friday morning at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion where twelve Pillars of the Turf were honored, including Marylou. It seems such a shame that this much deserved honor was not bestowed upon Marylou earlier, as it certainly would’ve been wonderful if she could’ve enjoyed this shining moment while she was still with us.
Also inducted was the regal champion Royal Delta. The daughter of Empire Maker, who won back-to-back editions of the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (now the Distaff), and three consecutive Eclipse Awards from 2011-2013, tragically passed away due to foaling complications in 2017 at just 9-years-old.
In a magnificent career that spanned three+ seasons, I consider myself blessed to have been able to see “Royal” race in person six times. Ironically, I saw the great champion lose as many times as she won, but the impression the big, bold beauty left was indelible.
Royal made her debut at the Spa in the 2011 Coaching Club American Oaks, but was beaten by It’s Tricky, who would become her fierce rival. Royal came right back to avenge this loss in the Alabama, where she beat It’s Tricky by 5-1/2 lengths for her first Grade 1 victory.
Following Royal’s victory over It’s Tricky in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, Benjamin Leon of Besilu Stables waged a bidding war with Adena Springs owner Frank Stronach to purchase her rights. The gavel was struck at $8.5 million.
Leon chose to continue racing Royal in 2012, and she would return to the Spa in late August to run in the Personal Ensign. She was visibly agitated and washed out prior to the race, and ended up losing by a half length to longshot Love and Pride.
Royal would come back with a vengeance in the Beldame that September, where she dominated her rival It’s Tricky with a crushing 9-1/2 length victory. She would follow this up with another Breeders’ Cup victory when she defeated a game challenger in My Miss Aurelia.
Royal returned to the Spa as a 5-year-old and avenged her previous year’s loss in the Personal Ensign with yet another dominating performance. Mike Smith gave up the mount on Bob Baffert’s Game On Dude this same day in the Pacific Classic to remain on another Hall of Famer’s charge with Bill Mott’s Royal Delta.
In retrospect, I imagine that Mikey was very happy to have made this decision, as it would become Royal’s final victory. She would lose next time out to local owner Ed Stanko’s Kentucky Oaks winner, Princess of Sylmar, on Super Saturday at Belmont in the Beldame.
And in the final race of her career, Royal came in 4th in the Breeders’ Cup behind the winner, Beholder, in a compact field that also included Close Hatches, Authenticity and Princess of Sylmar.
Royal would become a broodmare in 2014, and Benjamin Leon sent her to Ireland to be bred to leading sire Galileo at Coolmore. She did not get in foal in 2014, and miscarried the next season.
The joy of finding out that she was finally in foal to Galileo in 2016 quickly turned to sadness and devastation when we heard the heartbreaking news that she had died while giving birth in February of 2017.
Royal’s lone foal thankfully survived and is named Delta’s Royalty. Leon sent her to trainer Roger Varian in Newmarket, England, and hopefully we shall soon see the regally bred 2-year-old filly race. Benjamin has said that she will never be sold, because of who she represents to him as the sole offspring of his beloved Royal Delta.
Mike Smith and Bob Baffert returned to Saratoga last Saturday and continued their winning ways, as once again they departed victorious. Their 4-5 favorite McKinzie broke well, and under another masterful ride by Big $$ Mike made it look easy.
Preservationist took the early lead, while Mike stayed in the mix, sitting pretty in 2nd. Mike made one of his typical gutsy calls when he asked McKinzie to ease back and make an inside-out move, and he responded.
Mike was able to take control of the pace and the race, and McKinzie recorded a 111 Beyer for his efforts. Although Yoshida made an impressive late run, Mike was never worried, as he knew McKinzie had plenty left in his tank, and rode him in hand across the wire.
The miserable traffic jam Mike encountered in the Met Mile had left a foul taste that was still fresh. His decision to let McKinzie fall to the back of the pack on the inside rail at Belmont backfired, and Big $$ Mike was not about to let that happen again.
The stinging memory of that loss to Mitole propelled both Baffert’s and Smith’s strong desire to come back in a big way with their talented horse, and there’s certainly no better way to do that than to win a monster race at Saratoga.
Baffert and Smith expressed sadness after the Whitney that Marylou was not there in the Winner’s Circle to present them with the coveted silver chalice. It was obviously a bittersweet victory for both Hall of Famers, who were nonetheless honored to celebrate the new Hall of Famer’s memory by winning the race just 15 days after her passing.
Surprisingly, this was the first Whitney victory in Baffert’s storied career, and only the second for Smith, who won his first Whitney 26-years-ago aboard Brunswick.
It was also a very emotional victory for Bob because McKinzie is named after his dear friend Brad McKinzie, a former racing executive at Los Alamitos and college buddy of Bob’s.
Brad McKinzie sadly passed away a couple years ago at just 62. Nicknamed “Big Brad,” which Baffert and owner Mike Pegram had actually considered when naming the horse, McKinzie was known for his equally big heart, and it’s apparent that his equine namesake possesses the same trait.
Jaime Roth credits the great Rachel Alexandra for sparking her interest in horseracing and making her a huge fan 10-years-ago. She parlayed that initial obsession into a joint thoroughbred venture with her parents, Larry and Nanci, forming LNJ Foxwoods. Dad Larry is also the co-owner of the Adelphi Hotel, along with his son David, and their three restaurants, The Blue Hen, Salt & Char and Morrissey’s, while Jaime focuses on the horses.
Jaime has to be tickled pink with the work that Alex Solis, II and Jason Litt of Solis/Litt Bloodstock have done for her. Alex, the son of the Hall of Fame jockey from Panama with the same name, has already been a bloodstock agent for 15 years at just 35-years-old. When he helped find Covfefe for Jaime it was just another feather in his cap.
The 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief initially flashed her potential brilliance when she blazed her way to a track record in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness, her first graded stakes victory.
Covfefe, named after the infamous Twitter blunder by the POTUS, faltered slightly last time out in the Roxelana Stakes at Churchill Downs, when she lost to her older half-sister Mia Mischief. But she was all business in the 94th running of the $500K, Grade 1 Test when she and Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress engaged in a stirring stretch battle.
Although it was a shame that either trainer Brad Cox or Tom Amoss had to lose this exciting battle between their determined fillies, it was a rousing celebration filled with tears of joy for Jaime Roth, her family and
their connections.
In the inaugural running of the $750K Saratoga Oaks Invitational last Friday, the second leg of the new Turf Tiara, Concrete Rose established her dominance in the series when she cruised on auto-pilot through dawdling fractions, and then kicked clear to win by 4-3/4 lengths over Aidan O’Brien’s Irish invader Happen.
Rusty Arnold’s daughter of Twirling Candy remains undefeated in 2019, and is 5-6 in her career, with Julian Leparoux aboard for every race. Her lone blemish was in last year’s Grade 1 Juvenile Fillies Turf Breeders’ Cup when she lost to Newspaperofrecord. She avenged that loss in the Grade 3 Edgewood on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.
Concrete Rose won the first leg of the Turf Tiara in the $750K, Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on the Stars and Stripes card, and Rusty expects to go for the crown in the third leg, the Jockey Club Oaks, on September 7, also at Big Sandy.
Arnold has also said that he’d like to run her in the Grade 1, QEII (Queen Elizabeth II) on October 12 at her Keeneland base. This will only leave three weeks between racing, however, as the Breeders’ Cup will follow quickly on November 2.
For 12 years fans have flocked to the Jockeys vs Trainers/Horsemen Basketball Game to benefit the New York Racetrack Chaplaincy, as a fun evening for a great cause is always guaranteed.
Chaplain Humberto Chavez, his wife Karen who is the General Manager, and Programs Director Nick Caras dedicate their lives ministering to the backstretch community, which is why this annual event is so important.
Coach Angel Cordero and the Jocks take it seriously, and come out with their game faces on, while Todd Pletcher and Kiaran McLaughlin sit stoically as they coach the other side.
In spite of having some “ringers” with size to match honorary Jocks teammate, former Knick Charles Smith, the speed and quickness of two-time MVP Manny Franco and the Ortiz bros is too much to overcome, as is the natural talent of Joel Rosario, Jr. The jockey’s son is a spitting image of his Dad, but over a foot taller, and he made a difference last Thursday night at the Y.
Once again the Jocks prevailed in a thriller that went down to the wire, as they pulled out a 56-53 victory. But most importantly, they honored those that are the heart and soul of the racing industry by coming out to support the charitable efforts of the Chaplaincy that serves them.
One of my favorite things about a day at the track is the people I meet hanging out at the rail by the Winner’s Circle. On Whitney Day two beautiful young girls who were at the races for the very first time struck up a conversation with me, and I quickly found out that Julie is the sister-in-law of Siena’s new head basketball coach, Carm Maciariello, Jr.
Julie, who was recently married, was visiting from Boston with her BFF since Kindergarten, Katie. Julie’s sister/Carm’s wife Laura is a nurse in the Track Infirmary, and it was just like kismet that we met.
People that know me well know that I am passionate about both horseracing and basketball, so it was like a meeting from Heaven! Julie and Katie were as nice as they were beautiful, and it was such fun to learn about the connection to Carm and his wife Laura and their 2-year-old daughter Reese.
Carm was a star at Shenendehowa and led the Plainsmen to a Section II title, and was also the Times Union Player of the Year.
He spent three years at New Hampshire before coming home to play for Siena his Senior year. After graduation, Carm played in Italy for four years, and then returned to his Alma Mater and became the Director of Basketball Operations under Fran McCaffery.
Following brief stints at Fairfield and Providence under Ed Cooley, Carm spent two years as an assistant at Boston University. He moved on to George Washington, and was on the Colonials staff when they won the 2016 NIT Championship.
He returned to Siena in 2018 as an assistant to Jamion Christian, and was elevated to head coach in March when Christian accepted the head job at George Washington.
And so it is...just another day at Saratoga, where people from all walks of life gather for a few glorious hours to forget about the real world outside the gates of the historic oval.
