Bob Le Beau has what it takes to win A.P. Smithwick

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – With the new configuration for steeplechase racing at Saratoga – removing the last fence in the stretch for safety reasons – it may prove beneficial to look for horses with good flat-racing form when handicapping Thursday’s Grade 1, $125,000 A.P. Smithwick.

Bob Le Beau certainly fits the bill, having won his last two starts on the flat, including a 1 1/2-length victory going 1 1/2 miles at Parx on July 10. Add in the fact that Bob Le Beau won the Grade 1 New York Turf Writers Cup here last summer, and you have the makings of a major player.

Trainer Elizabeth Voss believes Bob Le Beau prefers longer distances than the 2 1/16 miles of the Smithwick, a race in which he finished fourth last year.

“I think he likes the longer distances better, but the fact they’ve taken out this last fence is only going to help him more,” Voss said Monday. “He takes a little while to get his momentum going. Without the last fence, it’ll help him at the shorter distance.”

Voss’s other concern is that Bob Le Beau has to carry the high weight of 158 pounds, spotting 2 to 16 pounds to his nine rivals.

“He’s not very big,” Voss said. “You never like to carry that much weight.”

Trainer Jack Fisher has entered three in the Smithwick, led by Schoodic, who is coming off a one-length victory in the National Hunt Cup at Radnor in May. Last year, Schoodic finished second, beaten 7 1/2 lengths by Bob Le Beau, in the Turf Writers. Schoodic was in receipt of two pounds from Bob Le Beau that day. He gets 10 pounds on Thursday.

Fisher said the last fence being removed “probably hurts him because he’s a pretty good jumper.”

“He doesn’t have the flashiest of flat-turf form,” Fisher said.

Fisher said he is bringing Danny Mullins, one of the top European steeplechase jockeys, to ride Schoodic because regular jockey Paddy Young is injured.

Fisher also runs Scorpiancer, who won two hurdle races last fall but is winless in three starts this year.

“Scorpiancer would probably like the longer distances, but he is quick enough, and his jumping improved every time I’ve run him,” Fisher said.

Overwhelming won a steeplechase allowance here last summer but comes into the Smithwick off form. Fisher said he likes Overwhelming getting in with 144 pounds and at the 2 1/16-mile distance, and that “he’ll enjoy not having that last fence.”

Demonstrative, the champion steeplechaser of 2014, is a two-time winner of the New York Turf Writers Cup and has a 3-3-1 record from nine jump races at Saratoga. Trainer Richard Valentine is hoping this race serves as a prep for Demonstrative to get to the Turf Writers, which is run at 2 3/8 miles.

“I think he’ll find the distance a bit short, especially with the last fence being taken out,” Valentine said. “I think it’s important steeplechasing exists in Saratoga. If we have to take the last fence out for safety reasons, I think that’s most important.”