Therapist 'most likely' will target Kentucky Turf Cup, Maker says
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Therapist and Catnip, first and second Saturday at Monmouth Park in the Grade 1, $600,000 United Nations Stakes, could both make their next start at Kentucky Downs, but not in the same race.
Therapist, at age 8, captured his first Grade 1 and has won three of five since trainer Mike Maker claimed the gelding for owner Michael Dubb for $50,000 in January. He won the Grade 2 Pan American with a 95 Beyer Speed Figure on April 1 and ran better than that Saturday, firing home with a 34.86 final three furlongs to win the 1 3/8-mile contest by 1 1/2 lengths, going away.
In the first 39 starts of his career, Therapist raced beyond 1 1/16 miles only twice and never had been farther than 1 1/8 miles, but like so many older horses before him, he has been transformed since Maker claimed him and stretched him out in distance. The Pan American came over 1 1/2 miles and Therapist, by Freud, clearly feels at home at these longer trips. The 100 Beyer he earned Saturday was just his second triple-digit speed figure, the other, a 102, having come in October 2020.
Therapist will stick to long-distance racing and “most likely” will be aimed toward the Kentucky Downs Turf Cup over 1 1/2 miles on Sept. 9, Maker said in a text message on Sunday. Maker said the same race is the probable target for 9-year-old Red Knight, winner of the Grade 1 Man o’ War earlier this year and a fast-closing third as the 5-2 second choice in the United Nations. Red Knight might need 1 1/2 miles for his very best and could not reach the top two finishers despite turning in a field-best 11.41 final furlong.
The Kentucky Turf Cup carries a possible total purse of $1.7 million, $400,000 of which is available only to Kentucky-breds. While Therapist and Red Knight both are New York-breds, they still would be running for $1.3 million in purse money.
Catnip clocked 11.99 for his final furlong, holding second from Red Knight after racing closest to runaway pacesetter So High, who faded to seventh. Catnip, the surprising 6-5 favorite, didn’t radically stop in his first try beyond 1 1/8 miles, but might excel, trainer Michael Stidham said, at distances between one mile and 1 1/8 miles. With that in mind, 4-year-old Catnip likely will make his next start in the $2 million Mint Millions over one mile Sept. 2 at Kentucky Downs. The Arlington Million on Aug. 12 at Colonial Downs is a less-likely possible target, Stidham said.
Stidham and Godolphin won the $400,000 Monmouth Cup on Saturday with heavily favored Proxy, who had to fight back after giving up the lead in upper stretch, if only momentarily, to upstart Whelen Springs. Proxy eventually drew clear to win by more than two lengths, his 96 Beyer several points off his top. Proxy won the Grade 1 Clark last fall and is expected to return to Grade 1 competition in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 2 at Saratoga.
While Stidham’s charges are going back to his base at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, Shotgun Hottie, who ran the race of her life in winning the Grade 3, $500,000 Molly Pitcher, is headed to Saratoga after spending the last couple months at Monmouth. Her trainer, Cherie DeVaux, left Shotgun Hottie under the care of trainer Dan Ward at Monmouth, where Shotgun Hottie finished third in the Serena’s Song Stakes before winning the Ladies Secret last month and jumping up a level in the Molly Pitcher, her first graded-stakes victory. A 4-year-old by Gun Runner who has been with DeVaux only this season, Shotgun Hottie went from an 83 Beyer in May to a 94 in the Lady's Secret and a career-best 98 on Saturday. DeVaux said that could earn the filly a shot in a Grade 1 race like the Personal Ensign on Aug. 25 at Saratoga.
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