Keeneland: Wise Dan in Fayette among five winners for Leparoux
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Oh brother, Charles Lopresti did it again. And so did Julien Leparoux.
One year after closing the 2010 Keeneland fall meet by winning the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes with Successful Dan, Lopresti sent that gelding’s younger half-brother, Wise Dan, out to win Saturday’s 53rd renewal of the $150,000 Fayette before a crowd of 17,320 on closing day of this year’s fall meet.
Julien Leparoux rode Wise Dan to the four-length victory, his fourth win on the card. Leparoux then won the nightcap aboard Voodat for his fifth win, making this the second time in eight days that Leparoux won five races on a single Keeneland card. He also did it on Oct. 21.
Taking command approaching the quarter pole , Wise Dan ran away from the field in the stretch. Ioya Bigtime, last for the opening six furlongs, rallied to get second by one-half length over Workin for Hops. He was followed in the order of finish by Eighttofasttocatch, Jimmy Simms, Anak Nakal, Decisive Moment, General Quarters, Mission Impazible, the 2-1 favorite, and Future Prospect.
Like Successful Dan a year ago, Wise Dan was making his first attempt at 1 1/8 miles. And like Successful Dan, Wise Dan passed the distance test with aplomb.
A bit headstrong in the beginning of the race, Wise Dan settled into third position early under Leparoux, stalking the pace of Future Prospect and Decisive Moment, who dueled through fractions of 23.76 seconds for the quarter and 47.19 for the half-mile.
General Prospect came up inside of Wise Dan down the backside, but Wise Dan was content to wait.
Around the far turn, Wise Dan went after the leaders, put his head in front at the quarter pole and gradually pulled away in the stretch with help from three taps of Leparoux’s left-handed stick.
Wise Dan, a son of Wiseman’s Ferry owned and bred by Morton Fink - the same owner and breeder of Successful Dan - covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.72 and returned $7.60 as the 5-2 second choice.
The win was the seventh from 13 starts for Wise Dan, who had won the Presque Isle Mile two starts back, but had yet to win beyond that distance.
``That was a big question,’’ Leparoux said about the distance. ``He’s not an easy ride, he’s pretty tough. When I rode him, he’s pulling in 45; today in 47 I put him behind [Future Prospect] and he relaxed pretty good and he finished.’’
Lopresti said Wise Dan’s emphatic victory opens up several new options for the gelding moving forward.
``He’s really learning to relax,’’ Lopresti said. ``He wasn’t hard on the bridle sitting off of those fractions. This is the kind of horse I was hoping to have all along. He was just immature and he’s now figuring things out.’’
Lopresti said he would consider the Grade 3, $100,000 River City at 1 1-8 miles on turf on Nov. 19 for the Grade 2, $500,000 Clark Handicap at 1 1-8 miles on dirt on Nov. 25 for Wise Dan’s next start. Both races are at Churchill Downs.
Last year, Successful Dan finished first in the Clark, but was disqualified to third for interference. He hasn’t run this year, but is expected to return in 2012.
``He got even for big brother [losing] at Presque Isle _ he won that race _ maybe he’ll get even this year if he goes to the Clark,’’ Lopresti said.