Merry Maker comes flying to take Lonesome Glory
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- Merry Maker, who lingered at the pack of the back for the first two miles and all 10 fences of Thursday’s Grade 1 Lonesome Glory Stakes at Aqueduct, came with a furious rally under Parker Hendriks to win the $150,000 race by a half-length over L’Imperator.
It was 5 1/2 lengths back to Barbados in third as trainer Arch Kingsley Jr. sent out the 1-2-3 finishers in 2 1/2-mile race. Snap Decision, the 1-2 favorite, led until the top of the stretch, but faded to fourth as the 162-pound highweight, conceding 20 to 22 pounds to the field.
Snap Decision was followed by his Jack Fisher-trained stablemates City Dream and Proven Innocent. Restitution, who applied some pressure to Snap Decision early, finished last. Cibolian, also trained by Kingsley, scratched.
Of finishing 1-2-3 in a Grade 1, Kingsley said, ”It doesn’t get better.”
Kingsley said all three of his horses were late-running types, but he didn’t want Snap Decision, the most accomplished horse in the field, to get away with an easy lead. So he had jockey Stephen Mulqueen keep L’Imperator relatively close to the pace, though Restitution, under Bernard Dalton, was doing enough to keep Snap Decision honest.
Meanwhile, Hendriks had Merry Maker in the back until the field jumped over the 10th fence. With the final half-mile on the flat, Hendricks rallied Merry Maker into contention wide around the turn and he was in close proximity turning for home.
L’Imperator had overtaken Snap Decision, but Merry Maker overtook L’Imperator late to get the victory. Merry Maker, a 6-year-old Irish-bred son of Malinas, covered the 2 1/2 miles in 4:41.02 and returned $33.80.
For Hendriks, 19, it was his first Grade 1 victory. Hendriks said that Taylor Kingsley, the assistant to her father, told Hendricks he’d want to ask Merry Maker earlier than he may prefer.
“After we jumped the last, I went for them,” Hendriks said. “I knew the horse to beat was Snap Decision and I could see he was fading and L’Imperator, who I had ridden previously … stopped a little bit and my guy kept grinding to the wire. He was all guts and all heart to get it done today.”
The victory for Merry Maker was just his third in seven starts. He had finished third in the Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes and fourth in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard this summer at Saratoga.
Kingsley said that Merry Maker had run down, or suffered minor abrasions, in his front ankles in the Sheppard.
“I never had that happen with one of my jumpers,” Kingsley said. “I have to believe that probably took a little bit away from him.”
Kingsley will now point Merry Maker to the Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills, N.J., on Oct. 21.
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