Keeneland: Mulling a different path for Wise Dan
LEXINGTON, Ky. – There are moments when Charlie LoPresti can hardly believe it.
“What’s happened to me, having all these great horses the last few years, it’s unbelievable,” LoPresti said. “Especially this one.”
LoPresti was marveling at his good fortune on a chilly recent morning at Keeneland, where on Friday he will treat local fans to another appearance by Wise Dan, the reigning two-time Horse of the Year. Wise Dan will make his 7-year-old debut as a heavy favorite in the Grade 1, $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile, the same race LoPresti used as a launching point last year en route to another storybook season.
To put the greatness of Wise Dan into perspective: Since the inception of the Eclipse Awards in 1971, only seven horses have been voted Horse of the Year twice or more, with Wise Dan, bred and owned by Morton Fink, being the latest.
“Sometimes I look back and just can’t fathom how great this run has been,” said LoPresti, who also has won graded stakes in recent years with Successful Dan, Turallure, and Here Comes Ben. “You look at the names of the other horses who’ve been Horse of the Year more than once – Secretariat and all the rest – and it just blows your mind.
“We’ve been extremely fortunate that he’s stayed as sound and as good as he has for this long. I’m humbled beyond words.”
John Velazquez, the Hall of Famer who has served as the primary rider for Wise Dan since they won the 2011 Clark Handicap together at Churchill Downs, punctuated LoPresti’s sentiments.
“He’s been a great horse for the last two years, and we’re all hoping to have another big year with him,” he said. “He’s a very special horse. That’s really the only way to describe him.”
LoPresti and Fink both said in January at the Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park that they intend to branch out in races other than turf events at or about a mile in 2014, assuming Wise Dan continues to perform at his customary high level.
Fink, reached Tuesday by phone at his Chicago home, backed off only slightly on that point, saying: “We haven’t really firmed up anything. I want to see him run once. It was a rough winter. Charlie and I have said we may show up in places we didn’t show up the last two years, but you can’t assume anything. Let’s see how he does Friday, and then we’ll go from there.”
LoPresti said the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs could follow the Maker’s 46 Mile, as was the case last year, “and then after that, everything is fair game,” he added, specifically mentioning the Stephen Foster, Arlington Million, and the pair of Grade 1 dirt handicaps at Saratoga, the Whitney and Woodward. All are outside of what has become the Wise Dan box.
As for the 2014 end game, there have been intimations that the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita will finish the year, as opposed to the BC Mile, which Wise Dan has captured to conclude both of his Horse of the Year campaigns.
“All I’m really worried about right now is getting him to this race in good shape and coming out of it fine,” LoPresti said. “We’ve got plenty of time to worry about the rest of the year.
“I know some people have been critical about our schedule the last couple of years, and that’s fine. We understand what they’re saying, but we’ve done right by our horse all along. If the opportunities present themselves for us to branch out this year, I’m certainly not opposed to it, and neither is Mr. Fink. In the meantime, we just need to take things a day at a time and take care of Wise Dan the way he’s taken care of us.”