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Valentine wins four at Warrenton point to point
Trainer Richard Valentine may be onto something: taking his horses to the gym for an afternoon workout. As a secret weapon, the new Equigym horse exerciser he installed at Whitewood Farm in The Plains proved potent at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point: Valentine saddled four winners from five starters at the Airlie course Saturday.From foxhunters' winner Professor Maxwell to open timber feature winner High Watermark, extra fitness provided the boost for Valentine's runners to shrug off late race challenges to win by a collective 20 lengths.
Valentine said the state-of-the-art machine – designed to exercise five unmounted horses at one time, separated into enclosed, mobile spaces while moving both directions on a 68-foot circle at the walk, trot and canter – provided an extra base of fitness to his contingent, all making their 2008 debut. Valentine also credits the innovative – and patented -- "Tapeta" synthetic surface he placed underfoot, so called after creator Michael Dickenson's Maryland farm.
Feature timber winner High Watermark could be poster-boy for the new training regime, Valentine said. Away since October, 2006 due to a suspensory pull, the leggy son of Miner's Mark "needed a bit of extra work," for his '08 comeback, Valentine said. "The Equigym is [proving] perfect for bringing horses back from injury."
Stable jockey Calvin McCormack kept High Watermark well within striking distance of early leader Barzulu (Paddy Young) for much of the three miles. High Watermark joined the pacesetter at the final fence, proving best, by two lengths, in the run-in. "He was brilliant," McCormack enthused about the comeback score. "Just brilliant."
Another of Valentine's powerful contingent, maiden hurdle winner Bee Charmer, an Irish-bred grandson of Danzig and Slew O' Gold, made his winning jumps debut, seven lengths clear at the wire. Valentine said the graded stakes-placed gelding (second in the grade 3 Sycamore last fall at Keeneland) is actually headed back to the flat track later this spring. McCormack called Bee Charmer a "superb, professional athlete. Full of class."
Conversely, though McCormack thinks highly of restricted hurdle winner Surprizer Phew's speed and jumping ability, he thinks less of his temperament: Surprizer Phew was wild in the saddling enclosure before dumping McCormack before the start of his race. "He just whipped around," McCormack explained. "He was lit up." McCormack kept hold of the reins, was boosted back up and off and running, extending for an eight-length score.
Bee Charmer and Surprizer Phew were both previously trained on the flat by Kentucky Derby winning trainer -- and Olympic show jumper -- Michael Matz.
Warrenton joint-master and race director Al Griffin Jr. cheered his own Hidden Key (Paddy Young) to victory in the novice timber. Half-brother to Olympic three-day event medalist Three Magic Beans, Hidden Key was champion 3-year-old over hurdles in 2003, but has been plagued since by minor injuries, said trainer Doug Fout. It was a real family victory for Fout: his late father, Paul, trained dam Hidden Capital on the flat, and he said his mother Eve, who died last year, always thought the athletic chestnut would be great over timber. "She was right," Doug Fout said. Hidden Key led wire-to-wire.
Over hurdles, it was sort of an early Mother's Day for open winner Analyze. The Kentucky-bred broke her hurdle maiden at Airlie in 2006, but an injury put her out of training for a full year. Rather than "lose" time with the strapping bay, Maryland-based trainer Jazz Napravnik (a former pony racer whose sister Rosie is leading jockey at Maryland's pari-mutuel tracks) decided to breed her. Analyze had a colt by Shadow Show last spring, but failed to get back into foal. Again, rather than "lose" time with the nascent broodmare, Napravnik put Analyze back into training, to the big mare's delight, Napravnik said. Analyze won her '08 debut on the flat last week at Blue Ridge as a warm-up for Warrenton.
Analyze, like High Watermark, was sired by Miner's Mark.
Napravnik and jockey Melanie Williams also partnered with Tatjana's Salute to win the $2,000 Virginia-bred turf.
Warrenton native Bedford Rogers is recovering from a nasty spill in the novice rider flat race. Rogers sustained multiple broken ribs when mount Sussex County bobbled badly while racing in contention just 3/8ths of a mile from home. Rogers was struck by several horses in the tightly bunched field as he came off.
Results
Owner-rider timber. 3 miles. Time: 7:02 1/5. 1. Professor Maxwell, o/Lucy Stable, r/George Hundt Jr.; 2. Assembly, o/r Matt Hatcher; 3. Chinese Whisper, o/r Jim Whitner.
Foxhunter's timber. 3 miles. Time: 7:04 4/5. 1. Royal We, o/Tad Zimmerman, r/Teddy Zimmerman. 2 started, 1 pulled up.
Maiden hurdle. 2 miles. Time: 4:01 3/5. 1. Bee Charmer, o/Whitewood Stable, r/Calvin McCormack; 2. Area Limits, o/Over Creek Stables, r/Carl Rafter; 3. World Away, o/Brigadoon Stable, r/Paddy Young. 12 started, 1 off course.
Restricted hurdle. 2 miles. Time: 4:07 4/5. 1. Surprizer Phew, o/Gill Johnston, r/Calvin McCormack; 2. Liverpool Gloves, o/Kinross Farm, r/James Slater; 3. Bullet Dancer, o/Bruce Smart, r/Liam McVicar. 11 started, 1 pulled up.
Amateur-novice hurdle. 2 miles. Time: 4:00. 1. Just A Prince, o/Indian Run Farm, r/Jake Chalfin; 2. Jimmie Echo, o/Moffett-Schickedanz Stable, r/Nick Carter; 3. Church Ghost, o/r Jake Dunning. 5 started.
Open hurdle. 2 miles. Time: 4:09 3/5. 1. Analyze, o/Flying Horse Farm, r/Melanie Williams; 2. Leaves of Autumn, o/Bruce Smart, r/Liam McVicar; 3. Brands Hatch, o/Claytonville Stables, r/Jeff Murphy. 6 started.
Novice timber. 3 miles. Time: 6:42 1/5. 1. Hidden Key, o/Al Griffin, r/Paddy Young; 2. Music To My Ears, o/Whitewood Stable, r/Calvin McCormack; 3. Haddix, o/Perry Bolton, r/Carl Rafter. 7 started, 1 pulled up.
Open timber. 3 miles. Time: 6:42 4/5. 1. High Watermark, o/Jackie Ohrstrom, r/Calvin McCormack; 2. Barzulu, o/Brigadoon Stable, r/Paddy Young; 3. Irish Laddie, o/Irv Naylor, r/Willie Dowling. 6 started, 1 pulled up.
Novice rider flat, first division. 1 3/4 miles. Time: 3:02 1/5. 1. CR's Deputy, o/Barracuda Stable, r/Michele Penman; 2. Humdinger, o/Kinross Farm, r/Rachel Gray; 3. Antonio Star, o/John Pettibone, r/Nick Carter. 9 started.
Second division. Time: 2:59 1/5. 1. Dr. Ramsey, o/Mary Fleming Finlay, r/Nick Carter; 2. Sabotage, o/Mrs. Cary Jackson, r/Allison Chubb; 3. He's Got The Fever, o/Eric Rizer, r/Shawn Woodson. 8 started, 1 lost rider, 3 off course.
Virginia-bred flat. Purse: $2,000. 1 1/8 miles. Time: 2:08. 1. Tatjana's Salute, o/Jalin Stable, r/Melanie Williams; 2. Xtra Smart, o/Alix White, r/Carl Rafter; 3. Run The Light, o/Kinross Farm, r/Chris Read. 9 started.
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