Math Wizard's trainer makes Penn Derby upset a popular one

In interviews with NBC and TVG and then a group of reporters Saturday at Parx Racing, trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. spoke through tears and the noise echoing from his phone: ping, ping, ping.

While Math Wizard’s stunning Pennsylvania Derby (G1) upset meant fewer winners at the betting window, this turned out to be a popular victory nonetheless, as horse racing gained a new star in the 32-year-old native of Barbados making his first Grade 1 starter a winner.

“People give racing a bad rap,” Joseph said after Math Wizard hit the wire a neck in front of Mr. Money, “but this is the greatest game. The only thing I can describe to this feeling is my kids. When I see my kids smile, that’s the only thing that compares in life to these horses.

“That’s how good racing is. These horses get so much care. The people work so hard. People who have bad things to say about racing have to come see. A lot of effort goes into it. They get treated better than most humans.”

The trainer constantly thanked his team and credited his owners Saturday. But when it came to talking about Math Wizard, a 3-year-old son of Algorithms claimed for $25,000 back in January, the tears typically started streaming.

“A lot of people think we improved the horse a lot,” Joseph said. “We got him at the right time. The guy before (trainer Paul Kopaj), he actually improved him a lot, too, but we just got him at the right time. It’s unfortunate for him, but a blessing for us. We’re just thankful.”

Math Wizard had actually yet to win for Joseph until Saturday, but he had run consistently in a variety of situations, surprising when fourth in the Wood Memorial (G2), finishing a close second in the Ohio Derby (G3) and hitting the board again in the Indiana Derby (G3).

Joseph admitted he had a tired horse for that Indiana Derby, and connections turned around quickly to try the West Virginia Derby (G3), finishing sixth on Aug. 3. The Math Wizard camp as a result wasn’t sold on shipping for the Pennsylvania Derby until after the entry deadline.

“This is my home track,” said John Fanelli, who co-owns Math Wizard with Collamele Vitelli Stables, Bassett Stables, Ioannia Zoumas and Wynwood Thoroughbreds. “They asked us (to run), but we wanted to.”

It was a matter of making sure Math Wizard was “feeling himself.” Then on Tuesday — after a short field of seven had assembled — morning line favorite Maximum Security defected due to a colic scare.

“The worst case scenario would be we don’t come and it cost us a couple thousand dollars,” Fanelli said.

Reflecting on the decision to enter, Joseph said, “If you’re going to get anywhere you’ve got to take chances.” Earlier in the week, he’d noted that had the race drawn on Wednesday, as is normal for Saturday stakes, it would have been after Maximum Security’s ailment arose, enticing more contenders to run at Parx.

“Everything worked out perfect,” Joseph said. “We entered on Monday to see what would happen. Then the horse scratched.

“Initially, John wanted to put him on a van. I said, ‘John, we need to see how he comes out of the work.’ On Sunday, he worked in 1:01, but he galloped out a mile in like 1:40, and I didn’t know how much that was gonna tax him.

“…I talked to John for two and a half hours on Monday telling him not to come to the race. And then something happened — we hung up, and he called me back. He was like, ‘I just found out there’s a plane…on Thursday.’

“And that made me feel much better, because it gave me two more days to see what kind fo energy he had. From then, he was a different horse.”

And now Joseph now has a different career track given this feel-good racing story.

Horse Racing Nation Senior Writer Matt Shifman contributed to this report.