Royal Posse tunes up for possible start in Evan Shipman
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NYRA
Michael Dubb, Bethlehem Stables and Gary Aisquith's multiple stakes winner Royal Posse tuned up for a possible start in the $100,000 Evan Shipman for New York-breds August 21 with a sharp five-furlong breeze Sunday morning.
Under jockey Kevin Navarro, Royal Posse was timed in 1:00.22 over the Oklahoma training track, second-fastest of 16 horses at the distance. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said he got the 6-year-old gelding in 1:13 for six furlongs and out seven furlongs in 1:28.
"He went very nice. I really liked the way he went," Rodriguez said. "We put some bar shoes on him because one of his feet was bothering him a little bit after his last race. He's been training good and he looks good.
"That was a very good work for me to see him do that," he added. "I think the track was a little fast. I worked another horse in 48 [seconds] and I didn't expect that horse to go in 48. It was good."
Royal Posse had his four-race win streak at Saratoga snapped when seventh in an optional claiming allowance July 23. He is 5-for-8 lifetime at the Spa with one second, winning the Evan Shipman in 2015 and 2016 and the Alydar in 2016.
Claimed for $20,000 May 31, 2015 at Belmont Park, Royal Posse has eight wins and six seconds in his first 14 starts for Rodriguez, capped by a second straight victory in the Claiming Crown Jewel in December that put him over $1 million in career earnings. He has earned $704,875 in purses since being claimed, but is 0-for-5 in 2017 with a third in the Flat Out May 7.
In addition to the Evan Shipman at the 1 1/8 miles Royal Posse relishes, Rodriguez is considering returning the son of Posse to the claiming ranks for the first time since he joined the trainer's barn. He said there is a race for a $40,000 tag the same weekend as the Evan Shipman.
"I thought he was too close to the pace [last time], but maybe he's tailing off a little bit, too. We'll probably give him another chance, or we may run him for [$40,000]," Rodriguez said. "Maybe we lose him, but it's part of the game. He's made a lot of money for us. If they don't claim him and he doesn't run good, maybe we just retire him. I think for 40 he will still be very competitive.
"Maybe he needs a little pick-me-up," he added. "He's hasn't told us that he can't run; we just have to pick the right spot. I want to see if we can win with him again. He's been so good to us."
Under jockey Kevin Navarro, Royal Posse was timed in 1:00.22 over the Oklahoma training track, second-fastest of 16 horses at the distance. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said he got the 6-year-old gelding in 1:13 for six furlongs and out seven furlongs in 1:28.
"He went very nice. I really liked the way he went," Rodriguez said. "We put some bar shoes on him because one of his feet was bothering him a little bit after his last race. He's been training good and he looks good.
"That was a very good work for me to see him do that," he added. "I think the track was a little fast. I worked another horse in 48 [seconds] and I didn't expect that horse to go in 48. It was good."
Royal Posse had his four-race win streak at Saratoga snapped when seventh in an optional claiming allowance July 23. He is 5-for-8 lifetime at the Spa with one second, winning the Evan Shipman in 2015 and 2016 and the Alydar in 2016.
Claimed for $20,000 May 31, 2015 at Belmont Park, Royal Posse has eight wins and six seconds in his first 14 starts for Rodriguez, capped by a second straight victory in the Claiming Crown Jewel in December that put him over $1 million in career earnings. He has earned $704,875 in purses since being claimed, but is 0-for-5 in 2017 with a third in the Flat Out May 7.
In addition to the Evan Shipman at the 1 1/8 miles Royal Posse relishes, Rodriguez is considering returning the son of Posse to the claiming ranks for the first time since he joined the trainer's barn. He said there is a race for a $40,000 tag the same weekend as the Evan Shipman.
"I thought he was too close to the pace [last time], but maybe he's tailing off a little bit, too. We'll probably give him another chance, or we may run him for [$40,000]," Rodriguez said. "Maybe we lose him, but it's part of the game. He's made a lot of money for us. If they don't claim him and he doesn't run good, maybe we just retire him. I think for 40 he will still be very competitive.
"Maybe he needs a little pick-me-up," he added. "He's hasn't told us that he can't run; we just have to pick the right spot. I want to see if we can win with him again. He's been so good to us."
* * *
Monday's $100,000 Saratoga Dew will feature a rare match up between siblings, with half-sisters Jc's Shooting Star and Jcs American Dream set to square off in the day's feature race for New York-bred fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.
Jcs American Dream, a 6-year-old mare by Catienus, and Jc's Shooting Star, a 5-year-old by Miracle Man, are both out of the Quiet American dam American Passage and were both bred in the Empire State by Miracle Man Racing Partners LLC, managed by Jeff Pearl, the breeding operation behind Pearl's ownership group Shooting Star Stable.
Shooting Star owns David Donk-trained Jc's Shooting Star and campaigned Jcs American Dream through four seasons of racing before she was claimed in December 2015 by James Riccio and sent to trainer Michelle Nevin.
The mares represent the first foray into the breeding business for the owners, an endeavor that began with a $50,000 claim at Saratoga in August 2007. Pearl and a few partners claimed Miracle Man that summer, a 5-year-old stakes-placed son of Yankee Victor, but an injury ended his racing career two starts later and the partners had to come up with Plan B.
"We got into this business almost by accident," said Pearl. "We had claimed a horse to run and when he wasn't going to run anymore, we were asking ourselves, 'Well, what're we going to do with him?' We really liked his breeding so my two partners and I decided to keep him and breed him.
"The first crop wasn't that good," he said. "We were sort of at the mercy of whoever would give us mares, so we decided to go out and purchase a few mares. We had big thoughts but short pockets."
One of the mares they bought was American Passage, in foal to Catienus, for a bargain price of $1,700 at the 2010 Keeneland breeding stock sale.
"She was a very good investment," said Pearl. "She was an older mare, like 16, and she was in foal to Jcs American Dream at the time. I bought the mare to breed to Miracle Man and that's Jc's Shooting Star, who's been really good. It's been a real eye-opener and the New York-bred program has just been great."
Jc's Shooting Star, who drew the rail in the Saratoga Dew and has been installed as the 5-2 second-choice, and Jcs American Dream, drawing post 2 and 3-1 on the morning line, have gone on to amass combined earnings of more than $700,000.
Looking for her first win since an optional claiming race on the turf in May of 2016 at Belmont, Jc's Shooting Star broke her maiden at the Spa in the 2015 $200,000 Fleet Indian for New York-breds and finished third in last year's Saratoga Dew. Overall, she's finished in the money in 17 of her 27 career starts, which have come on both turf and dirt.
"She's only got three wins but she's raced through a lot of bad luck," Pearl said. "The last time she was on the dirt on a dry track was when she ran in last year's Saratoga Dew, but she loves Saratoga. We always thought she'd be really good. Miracle Man passed away a couple of years ago and the reason we bought her [dam] was to breed to our stallion; unfortunately, this is the only one we got, but she's by far been our best horse."
Source: NYRA Communications
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