GRANTVILLE, Pa.--Michael Matz saddled Stern Chaser to win the $100,000, 1 1/16 mile Lyphard Stakes at Penn National on May 31, and Graham Motion saddled The Grey Wizard (Ire) to win the G2, $250,000, 2 mile Belmont Gold Cup at Saratoga on June 6.
Stern Chaser (Photo by Bill Denver)Stern Chaser was bred by Gregory and Caroline Bentley and is owned by their Runnymoore Racing, and she won the turf race for fillies and mares 3 and up by 3/4length.
"She's a nice horse that the Bentleys raised," said Matz. "We also had the half-sister, In a Spin, in the same race, but she got blocked at he head of the stretch and finished fifth."
"When she was young, she broke a splint bone behind, so we gave her time," said Matz of the 5-year-old mare. "This was her first race back off the lay off."
"I told Paco (Lopez, her jockey) that her best races are when she comes from off the pace," siad Matz. "So Stern Chaser was on the lead the whole way. It's fine when that works out,, but you get upset when it doesn't. I guess she was just too fresh off the lay off."
"We'll look for another Pa-bred stake for her," said Matz."
Matz also had another winner, Caroline Forgason's homebred Selassie, who won the $15,000, 1 mile maiden Claiming race by 3 lengths at Presque Isle on May 28.
MOTION had to watch the rerun of the tightly contested Gold Cup to be sure that Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and The Estate of Albert Frassetto''s The Grey Wizard had really won the Gold Cup.
"That was cool,” said Motion. “He’s a little bit of a tough horse to watch. I was never sure he was going to get there, to be honest. This is what he wants to do, and he’s very good when he gets to do it.”
The 5-year-old gelding had to go four and five wide through the final turn and stretch and got up in the last jumps to win by a head.
This win qualifies him for the Melbourne Cup in Australia this fall, and Motion said it was tough with the shipping and quarantine and getting handicapped properly, but that he loved international racing and is thinking about it.
Motion saddled Wetheimer and Frere's homebred Dataman to win the $102,000, 1 1/16 mile Cliff Hanger Stakes on the turf by 1 length at Monmouth on May 25.
Motion also had three allowance winners, five Maiden Special Weight winners and a Maiden Claiming winner over the past three weeks.
Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables and The Estate of Brereton Jones' Pallotta Sisters won a $41,375, 1 mile Allowance Optional Claiming race on the turf by 2 lengths at Delaware park on May 29.
Alpha Delta Stables' homebred Inchon won a $41,000, 1 mile Allowance Optional Claiming race on the turf by 1 1/2 lengths over Twist 'n Twirl, also trained by Motion, at Delaware Park on May 30, and Shamrock Farm's Thegirlfromireland won a $48,600, 1 1/8 mile Allowance on the turf by 1/2 length at Laurel on June 1.
Alpha Delta Stables' homebred Dynamism won a $40,000, 1 1/16 mile Maiden race by 4 3/4 lengths at Delaware Park on May, 23, Isabelle de Tomaso's homebred Speightfulelection won a $48,725, 5 1/2 furlongs Maiden race on the turf by 3/4length at Monmouth on May 25 and Flaxman Holdings' homebred Carina Nebula won a $30,000, 1 mile Maiden race by 1/2 length at Presque Isle on May 29.
Newstead Stables' Marian Cross won a $40,375, 5 furlong Maiden race on the turf by 1/2 length at Delaware Park on May 30, Alex G. Campbell's homebred Hit the Road Brat won a 1 mile Maiden race on the turf by 1 1/2 lengths on May 31 at Laurel, and Newcal Stable's hombred Jhirsch won a $45,000, 1 1/16 mile Maiden Claiming race on the turf by 6 3/4 lengths at Belmont on May 25.
KERI BRION saddled Blue Streak Racing and Richard Spiesman et al's Planet Clare to win a $50,000, 1 mile Maiden Special Weight by 4 lengths at Parx on May 22.
"Plant Clare got the job done like a true professional in her second start," said Brion.
JACK FISHER saddled Northwoods Stable's homebred Mission North to win a $52,835, 1 mile Maiden Special Weight on the turf by 5 1'2 lengths at Laurel on June 2.
RICKY HENDRIKS saddled Winflower's King Mendelssohn to win a $6,200, 1 1/16 mile Maiden Special Weight on the turf by 1 length at Penn National on June 6.
BERNIE HOUGHTON had two allowance winners, both at Penn National; Dianne Stern's homebred Foxy Junior in a $37,680, 1 mile and 70 yards Allowance Optional Claiming by 1 1/4 lengths on May 24 and Melissa Houghton's homebred Houghton Shuffle in a $36,000, 1 1/16 mile Allowance Optional Claiming by a neck on May 31,
BILLY MEISTER saddled his own Incontrovertible to win a $13,358, 1 mile Claiming race by 3 1/2 lengths at Penn National on May 23.
