Highland Chief upsets Man o' War giving jockey McCarthy his first Grade 1

Highland Chief took advantage of a paceless race, a bit of rain, and a horrible start from odds-on favorite Yibir to post a 19-1 upset in Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War Stakes at Belmont Park.

Put into the race early by Trevor McCarthy, Highland Chief overtook the pacesetting Abaan turning for home and was able to fend off late runs from Gufo and Yibir to win the Man o’ War by one length. Gufo, second in last year’s Man o’ War, was second by a neck over Yibir, the 1-2 favorite who didn’t break with the field, spotting his competition at least three lengths.

Easter, who like the winner is trained by Graham Motion, finished fourth, with Abaan fading to last. So High scratched.

The victory was the first in a Grade 1 for jockey Trevor McCarthy, a result made more meaningful in that it came for Motion, for whom McCarthy galloped horses when he was 15 years old.

“He taught me how to breeze horses and really just everything about racing,” McCarthy, who turns 28 on Monday, said to NYRA’s Maggie Wolfendale in a post-race interview. “Him and my father have been two big credits to my career. To win my first Grade 1 for him in such a prestigious race, it means the world to me.”

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Motion called it “really special” to put McCarthy on his first Grade 1 winner.

“He gave this horse a great ride, he’s got tremendous work ethic, he rides every horse so enthusiastically,” Motion said. “I give him a lot of credit. I’m thrilled to be able to ride him in a Grade 1 on a horse that had a chance.”

The scratch of So High, though a longshot, was significant because he appeared to be the speed of the race.

It then looked as though Abaan would be able to get loose on the lead under Luis Saez. But Highland Chief had shown some speed in Europe when he was running in group stakes at 1 1/2 miles. He broke poorly in his U.S. debut, which resulted in a ninth-place finish in a second-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles at Aqueduct on April 19.

Saturday, Highland Chief broke sharper, albeit a step to the right. Still, McCarthy had Highland Chief forwardly placed and kept him right off of Abaan’s flank through pedestrian splits of 25.35 for the quarter, 51.84 for the half, and 1:17.60 for six furlongs.

Approaching the top of the lane McCarthy sent Highland Chief after Abaan and that horse offered little resistance. Highland Chief made the lead at the three-sixteenths pole and had enough to hold off Gufo and Yibir.

Highland Chief, a 5-year-old son of Gleneagles owned by Mrs. Fitriani Hay, covered the 1 3/8 miles over turf labeled firm - despite a mid-day shower - in 2:17.04 and returned $40.40 as the longest shot on the board.

Motion said he was going to run Highland Chief in this race or next Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Louisville at Churchill Downs. Motion said when this race came up with a short field, he had to take a shot. He also thought with a better break, Highland Chief could be a factor.

“If he broke okay, he was going to be handy and just off the leader,” Motion said. “We did talk about that.”

McCarthy said he bided his time before asking Highland Chief for his best.

“I made an early move on him just to try and get away from Yibir if he was going to come running,” McCarthy said. “He was so handy early I didn’t want to take much out of him. He’s got a little bit of a breathing issue but that didn’t seem to bother him at all today.”

A bad break and the rain, which did take some of the firmness out of the course, did bother Yibir.

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“We intentionally [do] not want him to be as slow out but his run style is to come off the pace,” Appleby told NYRA publicity. "Unfortunately, we had rain here last night and rain again today and it’s just on the slower side of where he likes to hear his feet rattling. For his acceleration, it just blunts it slightly.

“Take nothing away from the winner, he held decent form back in Europe in his 3-year-old career there and he had to be respected. We ran our race, but in an ideal world if you asked me what I’d like to have had, it would be no rain."

Appleby said Yibir would return to England for the near-term but would likely make his next U.S. start in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

Christophe Clement, trainer of Gufo, said he felt Joel Rosario moved earlier than he would have preferred but had to go at that point because that’s when Yibir was making his move.

“He ran a very game race and ran all the way to the end,” Clement said. “Congrats to the winner, who out finished us.”