Joseph excited to saddle first Breeders' Cup starter

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mongolian Groom, a 25-1 winner of the Awesome Again, isn’t the only horse who earned his way into the Breeders’ Cup Classic with a big upset in a Grade 1 last month.

Math Wizard won the Pennsylvania Derby at 31-1, after which trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and the owners of the 3-year-old Algorithms colt decided to try to stun the racing world again.

“This will be an even more difficult task,” Joseph said by phone prior to a Tuesday departure from his South Florida base. “Our horse doesn’t have the numbers to match up with some of the best in there; he’ll have to find some improvement. But we thought he deserved a chance.”

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Prior to the Sept. 21 Pennsylvania Derby, Math Wizard had gone winless in six starts after Joseph claimed him for $25,000 for John Fanelli and the Collarmele Vitelli Stables from a January race at Gulfstream Park. His best efforts in that span included a second behind Owendale in the Ohio Derby and a third behind Mr. Money in the Indiana Derby.

For Joseph, his first-ever Breeders’ Cup starter further punctuates what has been a breakthrough year. A 32-year-old native of Barbados, Joseph began training in the U.S. in 2011, posting modest numbers with a small Gulfstream stable until he began attracting more clients a couple of years ago. He won 35 races in 2017; 57 in 2018; and a career-high 76 so far this year.

“It’s a great feeling to be in the Breeders’ Cup,” he said. “It’s very fulfilling. I’ve got a very hard-working team and the results are showing.”

In preparing at Gulfstream for the Classic, Joseph said he replicated a three-breeze pattern he used for Math Wizard prior to the Pennsylvania Derby, sending the colt three furlongs, then a half-mile, then five furlongs.

“He’s done everything we asked,” Joseph said. “The hard part is mostly over now. We just need him to travel well and stay on his feed.”

Math Wizard is pegged on the early DRF morning line at 20-1, sharing the second-longest price in a field of 11 with War of Will. Mongolian Groom, trained by Enebish Ganbat, is listed at 10-1 off his win over the Classic favorite McKinzie (7-2) in the Awesome Again.