BC Qualifier Leigh Court 'Very Happy' After TCA Win

A Sunday morning check-in with Ruth Schmidt, assistant to Woodbine-based trainer Josie Carroll, about how Leigh Court came out of yesterday’s win in the $200,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) led to a discussion about the stellar day of racing at Keeneland that included the victory by Wise Dan in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1).

Leigh Court is just fine, said Schmidt, who also has a connection to the Keeneland-based reigning two-time Horse of the Year.

In 2011, when Schmidt was at Saratoga with two horses for Carroll – the year’s Canadian champion 3-year-old filly, Inglorious, and future 2-year-old stakes winner Indian Evening – she was stabled next to Wise Dan’s trainer, Charlie LoPresti and became friends with LoPresti and his wife, Amy. Schmidt suggested to the trainer that he send Grade 1 winner Turallure, a son of Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando, to Woodbine for the Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1).

“Oh, I don’t even have a passport, Ruth,” she said was LoPresti’s response. “I said, ‘Charlie, you can get your passport in no time and you can come up. The turf course is amazing. It’s a lot of money. We’ll look after you. Everything will be fine.’”

Turallure went to Woodbine and won the Mile. The next two years, Wise Dan went to Woodbine and won the Mile. Last year, Wise Dan took up residence in Leigh Court’s stall while the filly was on R&R. Schmidt even galloped Wise Dan while he was in Toronto.

“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” she said. “He’s just all class; he just oozes class.”

Perhaps Wise Dan left some good mojo behind in his borrowed Woodbine stall because Leigh Court has been a much-improved racehorse since her break. The TCA marked just the second race of 2014 for the 4-year-old daughter of Grand Slam who spent nearly 10 months off at breeder and owner Eugene Melnyk’s Winding Oaks Farm in Ocala, Fla.

“A lot of it was just mental maturing,” said Schmidt, who described Leigh Court as a little quirky and opinionated.

The filly returned to the races Aug. 24 and won the seven-furlong Seaway (G3) on Polytrack by 2½ lengths.

“She has changed so much,” Schmidt said. “She’s very, very happy and had been training extremely well. That first race back was very impressive.”

So too was the TCA, which marked Leigh Court’s first start on dirt since early 2013 at Fair Grounds. The 5-1 choice in the field of six, Leigh Court sat off a rapid pace, took the lead in the upper stretch and won by three lengths.

Schmidt said Charlie LoPresti called her right after Leigh Court’s victory and she was able to see the trainer and his wife before Wise Dan’s performance at his home track.

Meanwhile, Carroll had flown to Lexington in time to send out Leigh Court, and she left for the airport right after the race to return to her Woodbine base, where yesterday she had two wins and a second. One of those wins came with Melnyk’s homebred Lukes Alley in the Durham Cup (G3).

Schmidt said Leigh Court is scheduled to return to Woodbine tomorrow and train there for a possible start in the DraftKings Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) on Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.

Santa Anita for the Breeders’ Cup also is the next stop for Wise Dan.

 

Source: Keeneland Communications