Happy My Way can end Orseno drought with Vosburgh win
ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been 14 years since Joe Orseno has won a Grade 1 race. In 2000, training for Frank Stronach, Orseno won the Preakness and two Breeders’ Cup races.
As he prepares Happy My Way for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Vosburgh Stakes at Belmont Park, Orseno is starting to flash back to those glory days.
“This is probably the best feeling I’ve had going into big races since the Stronach days,” Orseno said. “This horse is doing everything right. He’s training beyond my expectations.”
Happy My Way will have to do everything right Saturday in order to win the Vosburgh against a field laden with early-speed types. The Vosburgh is a six-furlong race that offers a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, to be held Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.
Happy My Way will have to deal with the speed of Zee Bros, Dads Caps, defending Vosburgh winner Private Zone, and Ribo Bobo early, then hold off the expected late charges of dual Grade 1 winner Palace and Coup de Grace. Salutos Amigos completes the field.
Happy My Way, a 4-year-old gelding by Wilko, won the Grade 3 Maryland Sprint on Preakness Day and, after a freshening, ran second to Palace in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Sartoga. Orseno said his horse might have been a tad short for that race but won’t be for this one. He had a strong five-furlong work in 58.59 seconds Sept. 18 and has trained forwardly since, according to Orseno.
“My horse is doing well,” said Orseno. “He’s training great. When they’re acting and feeling like this, they usually run their race.”
Key contenders
Happy My Way (Last 3 Beyers: 104-104-105)
* Though Happy My Way has done his best work lately on the lead, Orseno insists that the horse can rate if need be. Happy My Way starts in post 6 – outside Dads Caps but inside Ribo Bobo and Private Zone, who won this race on the lead last year.
“Paco [Lopez] always told me this horse does not have to be in front. This horse is okay stalking,” said Orseno, who will have Joe Bravo up Saturday. “We let him use his speed because in the other races, he’s been faster than the horses he’s been in with.”
Palace (Last 3 Beyers: 101-107-99)
* Coming off two Grade 1 wins at Saratoga – as well as a win in the Grade 2 True North here – he has vaulted to the top of the sprint division.
* Trainer Linda Rice easily could have skipped this race to await the Breeders’ Cup Sprint but said her horse is doing too well to leave in the barn.
“The bottom line: It’s here in my backyard. It’s a Grade 1. It’s a good purse. How do you walk away from that when your horse is training well?” Rice said. “You overthink these things, [and] next thing you know, you’re on the bench for something.”
Private Zone (Last 3 Beyers: 88-108-81)
* Private Zone won last year’s Vosburgh in 1:08.02, the fastest of 10 Vosburghs run at the six-furlong distance.
* Has made just one start this year – the Turf Monster Handicap, in which he finished fourth, beaten three lengths.
* Though trained by Doug O’Neill, Private Zone stayed in the Northeast and will run Saturday in the name of Alfredo Velazquez before shipping back to O’Neill in Southern California.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 8 Ribo Bobo. Trainer Jason Servis is 23-8-3-4 with a $5.63 ROI over the past year in dirt sprints following a layoff of between 61 and 180 days. Click for more details. – Dan Illman