Brion to run three in A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A year after she swept the two Grade 1 steeplechase stakes here, trainer Keri Brion will look for more Saratoga success Wednesday when she sends out three of the seven runners in the Grade 1, $150,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase.
Brion won last year’s Smithwick with Baltimore Bucko and the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard (nee New York Turf Writers Steeplechase) with The Mean Queen, who would go on to earn the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion steeplechase horse.
Brion said The Mean Queen is gearing up for her seasonal debut – which may happen in the Sheppard – but said the Smithwick, at 2 1/16 miles over National fences, was likely too short for her anyway.
Brion said the distance of the Smithwick and the fact it’s run over a traditional flat track plays in favor of all three of her runners – Iranistan, French Light, and Historic Heart.
In 2018, Iranistan finished second in the Smithwick and third in the New York Turf Writers. In 2020, he won two handicaps over this course. In April, Iranistan won the Grade 2 Temple Gwathmey Hurdle, beating Snap Decision, a multiple Grade 1-winning jumper. In the Group 1 Iroquois, a three-mile race won by Snap Decision, Iranistan missed a jump and didn’t complete the course.
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“I just throw it out,” Brion said. “He was being ridden midpack, he likes to be up close. We were trying to get him to settle for three miles, and he missed a jump which is uncharacteristic for him and he blew the whole race.
“His record since I’ve gotten him, we got him back off injury, is really good,” Brion added. “I expect a huge run from him. He’s won multiple times at Saratoga, and that’s a big deal.”
Jack Doyle rides Iranistan.
Last year, French Light finished second to Baltimore Bucko in the Smithwick and third to The Mean Queen in the Sheppard. French Light is coming off a victory against three horses in the Queens Cup Novice Steeplechase at Charlotte on April 30, his only start of the year.
“He loves Saratoga, he loves a flat track. He races his best when he’s fresh, which is why he’s had only one run this spring,” Brion said. “He seems like he’s really, really fast, has a quick turn of foot. This trip and distance suits him the best. We’ve had this race circled for him from the beginning of the year and tried to bring him in as fresh as we could.”
Harrison Beswick rides.
Brion said her stable rider, Parker Hendriks, had his choice of which of her three horses to ride and chose Historic Heart. The 5-year-old gelding had two wins and a second before he wound up being eased in the Grade 1 Iroquois where the distance was definitely too far.
“He’s a sharp, speedy type,” Brion said, noting that three miles “was never going to be what he wanted to do. I’m excited to get him around Saratoga, a fast, speedy track. He reminds me a lot of Winston C, who won the Smithwick for Jonathan [Sheppard] in 2019.”
Redicean won the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes here in 2019 and had dropped 12 straight before winning the Grade 2 David Semmes Memorial by 54 lengths on May 7. Redicean is trained by Leslie Young who also sends out Pistol Whipped, second to Snap Decision in the Grade 1 Iroquois. Pistol Whipped is the 158-pound highweight under Thomas Garner.
Down Royal, an 8-year-old mare, ran second to The Mean Queen in the Margaret Currey Henley Stakes in 2021 and has been in good form ever since, albeit against less quality than she meets Wednesday.
Chief Justice is another facing better than he’s met of late.
The Smithwick goes as the first of 10 races Wednesday. First post is 1:05 p.m.