$450,000 colt to take on Independence Hall in the Jerome

If trainer Gary Contessa glances at race probables and sees four or five horses capable of beating his entry, he tends to look elsewhere in the condition book. But if there’s a single big name to defeat, he’s not going to dodge the challenge.

“I never worry about one horse,” Contessa said Sunday. “That horse is liable to have a bad day. That horse is liable to not give his best effort.”

That’s the hope for Contessa as he puts a recent $450,000 purchase for DJ Stable on target to face top 2020 Kentucky Derby hopeful Independence Hall in the Jan. 1 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Laddie Liam, who won the Maryland Juvenile Futurity by 4 1/2 lengths earlier this month, then fetched six figures when he walked through the Fasig-Tipton auction ring. A day later, he arrived to Contessa’s Belmont Park barn, training up to Sunday’s first work for new connections.

A Maryland-bred son of Golden Lad, Laddie Liam breezed 5/8 of a mile over the Belmont training track in a bullet 1:02.02 before galloping out 3/4 of a mile in 1:15 3/4 on Contessa’s watch.

With Laddie Liam getting company from a stablemate, “I had my rider on walkie talkie, and when he got to the eighth pole, I said, ‘Just talk to him a little bit,’” Contessa said. “And I mean, in the blink of an eye, he opened five on that filly, and he just cruised to the wire.”

Contessa left the sale thinking of Laddie Liam as a stakes prospect later in the winter at Aqueduct. The colt's mannerisms have resulted in what’s likely to be a quicker return to the races.

“When he was in the ring, the bidding war seemed to go on forever, and the horse just kind of gazed out of the ring and watched — didn’t turn a hair,” Contessa said. “That’s how he’s been since the day he got in my barn.

“He is such an easy horse to train and such a pleasure to watch train that I’ve originally reversed my thoughts on him. Now I believe, God willing, we can make the Jerome at Aqueduct.”

Overall, Laddie Liam is 3-0-2 in five starts with earnings of $128,556. His original owner, Joseph Besecker, turned quite a profit when parting with a colt he originally purchased in December of 2018 for $14,500. A year later at the same mixed sale, Laddie Liam set an all-time record for that auction as Besecker dispersed his Thoroughbred holdings.

Leonard Green, head of DJ Stable, has also campaigned in the last year the likes of champion Jaywalk and Saratoga Derby winner A Thread of Blue.

“I knew he would be expensive,” Contessa said of Laddie Liam, “and Mr. Green being the logical man that he is, said, ‘You know, Gary, we go to the 2-year-old sales and spend four or $500,000 for a 2-year-old that hasn’t even gone to the races yet.’

“So, here’s a horse that’s a stakes winner, and he’s a prospect for us. We already know what he is, and we can already judge his performances.”

In the 1-mile Jerome, the new connections stand to find out much more. The expected race favorite Independence Hall is 2-for-2 and enters off a breakout 12 1/4-length victory in the Nov. 3 Nashua Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.

The Jerome will award its Top 4 finishers Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 10-4-2-1 scale. A one-turn event, it precedes the Withers (G3), Gotham (G3) and Wood Memorial (G2) on New York’s trail to Churchill Downs.