Tannery Pulls Upset in sheepshead Bay
A ground-saving ride from jockey Luis Saez helped Tannery overcome soft turf, stiff headwinds and odds of 10-1 to score her first American victory in Saturday’s 55th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay at Belmont Park.
A Group 3 winner in Ireland, Tannery came to the United States last fall and was winless in four starts, including a third in the Grade 1 Garden City in her stateside debut and a fourth-place finish on May 1 in the 1 ¼-mile Owsley overnight stakes, in which she flattened out after fanning wide on the turn.
Saturday, Saez kept the 4-year-old daughter of Dylan Thomas tucked along the rail in seventh behind pacesetter Minakshi’s opening fractions of 24.25, 50.23 and 1:16.45. Continuing to save ground on the far turn, with favored Hessonite unable to sustain her three-wide bid for the lead, Saez began moving Tannery up along the rail, and the filly eagerly dove through an opening on the inside in the stretch and went on to a one-length triumph.
“Last time when I rode her [in the Owsley], I knew she needed the race,” said Saez of Tannery, who is owned by Richard Santulli and trained by Alan Goldberg. “I felt today that I could win. My filly was coming out on the first turn because the wind was so strong. I saved ground and I found a hole on the inside, and I rode her strong. Thank God, she won.”
Her winning time was 2:20.17 for 1 3/8 miles over an inner turf course rated soft.
“We try to have our horses fit, but with her first start of the year being 1 ¼ miles, I didn’t expect her to be completely ready,” said Goldberg by telephone. “She came out of that race great, and I thought she’d handle the conditions today.”
Tannery, now 5-3-1 from 15 career starts with earnings of $311,962, returned $22.60 for a $2 win bet. In Ireland, she was winless in four starts as a 2-year-old, broke her maiden in a handicap in her second start at three and won three of her next four outings, including the Victor McCalmont Memorial Stakes at Gowran Park, the Martin Molony Stakes at Limerick and the Group 3 Kilboy Estate Stakes at the Curragh.
Anjaz, who missed the break, rallied from eighth to finish second, with Minakshi holding for third. Completing the order of finish were Julie’s Love, Mystical Star, Hessonite, Strathnaver and Starformer.