Effinex Continues Breeder's Ride of a Lifetime in 2016 Stephen Foster
On Saturday night, Effinex will continue the ride of a lifetime for breeder and veterinarian Dr. Russell Cohen when the 5-year-old competes in the 35th running of the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) as the odds-on morning line favorite.
“I still can’t put my arm around the entire thing and how cool it is,” Cohen said. “At the end of the day after every race, I always run down to make sure that he’s fine because he’s irreplaceable to me. There was a point in my life which was pretty difficult and it remains such, and he represents a big part of my life so it’s very cool to see him competing and running in these monster races and winning some of them.
“He’s special for a multitude of reasons. First of all, I’m a student of the game and I am very passionate about the sport. I love these animals, I protect them and I try my best. We all do. The other part of it is what it means to the family and the essential part to where my family gets involved.”
Cohen, 56, bred Effinex for Tri-Bone Stables, which is owned by his mother Bernice Cohen. The horse’s fourth dam is Best In Show, who was voted 1982 Broodmare of the Year and produced 1982 Kentucky Oaks winner Blush With Pride. Cohen purchased Perfect Pair a granddaughter of Best In Show, who he bred to E Dubai to produce multiple stakes winner What A Pear, the dam of Effinex.
“In my humble opinion (Best In Show) is the best broodmare that ever graced the earth,” Cohen said. “Every time I breed a horse, any mare that I have has a ton of pedigree. They’re all direct descendants from a famous matriarch. When you have the female family and you have the basic DNA, it’s just a puzzle. Many times, they isn’t a monster, but you take a shot. If you understand that, you move the odds in your favor dramatically. It’s pretty close between that family and La Troienne and I actually prefer this one. It’s extremely active as long as you play those games and get the family’s puzzle figured out. I have high hopes from a pedigree perspective.
“In the La Troienne family, there are a ton of sires that come out of it but in my humble opinion there are some better fillies that have come out of that. This family is a progenitor of sires. The first three, four dams there are 40-plus sires out of this family so in that regard I always try to get a good colt and truth be told until now I haven’t got a colt that could get out of his own way. I’ve had the fillies that really could run, but I’ve never had a colt that could run. With every horse that I breed, the hope is that they become a monster.”
Effinex has certainly proven himself to be a monster. Last year, the New York-bred son of Mineshaft won three graded stakes: the Excelsior (GIII) at Aqueduct, the Suburban (GII) at Belmont Park and he capped his 4-year-old campaign at Churchill Downs in the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI). Perhaps Effinex’s biggest highlight last year occurred when he finished second behind Triple Crown winner and 2015 Horse of the Year American Pharoah in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Keeneland.
But it was a March 23, 2014 race at Aqueduct against winners that convinced Cohen that Effinex was special.
“At that point, I knew that he could run. He made fun of the other horses so it was pretty clear,” Cohen said. “Any maiden win does not tell you anything, it’s the first time that they run against winners and the first time he ran against winners he beat them off by about six or seven lengths. I pushed him early on and early in his career. He had shin issues. I could have changed the way I had dealt with him with procedures and medication but I don’t do that. I just gave him the time and I pushed him for the Wood Memorial. Mineshaft babies are not going to run as 2-year-olds or early 3-year-olds. You’d be lucky if they started coming around at the end of their 3-year-old year and they get good at 4. We follow his pedigree and have been patient.”
The word “Effinex” is a German word that means “integrity and efficiency”, but could also be a reference to a certain person in his life.
“The name signifies everyone’s experience if you’ve ever had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, a husband or a wife,” Cohen said. “Find me someone who doesn’t have an Effinex, and that’s how some people interpret it. To me it’s the German word meaning ‘integrity and efficiency.’ Other people have looked at it in other regards, but I find it humorous.
“I’m a huge fan of the game, especially when you get a talented horse that can win some big races. I’ve had them with fillies who have won some big races, but at this point in the game the horses that have won some of these monstrous races, I’m pretty taken back by. I’m pretty humbled by the entire experience.
“There are people that have emailed me and texted me and told me that they have an Effinex – men and women both. I hear some of the stories and they are comical. I think if anything else I bring some humor into the game and that’s a bonus and his name has made some people laugh, probably upset a couple, but it’s a name of a horse, get over it it’s funny. This is a very typical business and I try to find humor in everything and in every part of this game. The moment he was born from now, it has been good fun.”
Effinex is trained by Jimmy Jerkens, who Cohen referred to as both “a great horseman and conditioner.”
“Jimmy has the infrastructure to send a horse to the moon and that’s what occurred here,” Cohen said. “I’ve been a veterinarian at the tracks now for many years and have worked for the majority of guys that I know can train or can’t train, who’s real or who’s not real. I worked for (Jimmy’s late father and Hall of Fame trainer) Allen (Jerkens) for many years and then I worked for Jimmy and the athletes I saw him training with early on, he outgrew everybody. As far as I’m concerned he’s the constant horseman and conditioner, veterinarians are tertiary at best unlike any other situations where they’re almost always required. My philosophy is that no veterinarian can get in the way of a good horse and I don’t have that issue with Jimmy. I don’t have any medication issues and the horse is just at that point in his career where he’s maturing now.”
Effinex has been out of his normal element in his two career starts this year. He kicked off his 5-year-old campaign in the Santa Anita Handicap (GI) on March 12 finishing third beaten 4 ¾ lengths behind Melatonin before turning the tables on that rival by a length in the April 16 Oaklawn Handicap (GII).
“He could run on broken glass,” Cohen said. “He could get on planes, trains, buses – it makes no difference to him being able to ship in his last couple of races.”
Cohen is not opposed to racing Effinex next year for a 6-year-old campaign should he stay healthy.
“At the end of this year that will be discussed a little further,” Cohen said. “Right now we go race-by-race and hope for the best. Whatever is in the horses best interest will be done, he comes first and everything else is miles secondary. My fortune in this business has come from some of the smart people that I have surrounded myself with and from a pedigree side and I have been range around me of very smart people. They’ve won every single one of these races; they’ve owned some of these races. Some friends of mine own farms and I have a great group around me.”
The Stephen Foster Handicap field from the rail out (with jockeys, assigned weights and morning line odds): International Star (Florent Geroux, 116 pounds, 6-1), Bradester (Joe Bravo, 116, 5-1); Effinex (Gary Stevens, 122, 1-1); Majestic Harbor (Corey Lanerie, 118, 5-1); El Kabeir (Ricardo Santana Jr., 115, 12-1); Are You Kidding Me (Julien Leparoux, 118, 10-1); and Eagle (Brian Hernandez Jr., 117, 6-1).
Source: Churchill Downs