Good Samaritan goes from turf to dirt to win Jim Dandy

The one thing that has been consistent within the Three-Year-Old Division in 2017, has been to expect the unexpected and when Good Samaritan upset the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners in the $600,000 Jim Dandy (G2), the unexpected had once again happened. Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing were expected to dominate the Saratoga prep race for the Travers, but the best they could do was to finish third and fifth respectively while the winner powered down the stretch to a rousing victory by 4 ¾ lengths.

Good Samaritan had run every one of his six races prior to the Jim Dandy on the turf and Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had been thinking about running this son of Harlan’s Holiday on the dirt for a long time, but circumstances just kept it from happening. Today, on July 29, which also happened to be Mott’s birthday, there was nothing left to get in the way. Jockey Joel Rosario rallied the WinStar Farm homebred from last to first to continue Mott’s uncanny record of almost always winning a race at Saratoga on his birthday.

"Elliott Walden [President/CEO of WinStar Farm] had been trying to get me to run him on the dirt ever since the Breeders' Cup last November,” said Mott. “We were going to do it earlier in the year and we missed some of the Triple Crown prep races and we decided to wait until after the Belmont Derby. We knew for sure he would run on the grass and we decided to do it after that. He was laid up; he needed a little time. He needed a couple months off and when he came back, it was too late for him to make any of the important prep races. When we were ready to run, we made our first race on Derby day, but obviously it wasn't the Kentucky Derby, we weren't ready for that. 

"We decided to continue on the grass for another race and point toward the Belmont Derby, which he ran very good there, but after he finished that race up, Elliott thought it was time to get him to the dirt. We actually discussed waiting for the Travers for his first race [on the dirt]. Last week, we came to the conclusion we should try this race. Initially, it was going to be the Travers and then the way this was coming up it looked like we were going to have a decent pace in this race and the horse was doing so well that we decide to make this choice.”

Heading to the starting gate the 1.10-1 favorite Always Dreaming was visibly hot with his rider John Velazquez using his whip to wipe the sweat from the Kentucky Derby winner’s neck. When the gates opened Always Dreaming went straight to the lead and secured his position on the rail, which had been a winning tactic on the main track all day long. They quickly opened up a lead that widened to 3 ½ lengths after a half-mile. The Preakness winner, Cloud Computing, was in second a length ahead of Pavel while Good Samaritan were fifth and last nine behind the pacesetter. The fractions were slow – 24.13 and 48.53 and at that point Cloud Computing moved to close the gap on the leader.

As the field hit the stretch with a furlong to run and the mile completed in 1:38.23, the expected battle between the Derby and Preakness winners appeared to be set as they were only a head apart, but they came up empty down the final straight. Rosario guided Good Samaritan six-wide around the turn, but was still only a half-length behind the top two and he was moving best of all. There was no question about the win spot while the other four were spread across the track. Giuseppe The Great closed to get second and Always Dreaming fought to hold third. Cloud Computing lost a photo finish to Pavel for fourth place, leaving the Preakness winner in last place.

Mott added, "I couldn't be more pleased with the way he ran. It was a terrific race for him. The pace was a little bit slower than I thought it would be, I was a little concerned when they were going down the middle of the backside and they hung up the slow fractions, I was a little concerned about that. They did start to pick it up leaving the half-mile pole, he ran into a very slow pace and ran well.”

Good Samaritan took home $360,000 for his victory in the Jim Dandy and that increased his total earnings to $767,616. His career record moved up to 7: 3-2-1.

For Rosario, it was his first win in the Jim Dandy and for the birthday boy, Mott, this was his fourth victory in the Travers prep, but his first since he won in 1998 with Favorite Trick.

In the mutuel department, the 8-1 Good Samaritan paid $19.20, 5.60, and 3.50 across the board. Guiseppe The Great completed a $2 exacta of $145 and with Always Dreaming next, the trifecta returned $355.50.

Look for the winner to stay on the main track, explained Mott, "You saw him coming through the stretch. He looks like he was good enough to get it done today. He looked pretty good. We'll certainly nominate for the Travers and we'll talk about it. I don't see why we wouldn't give it a try."