Twelve Volt Man caps big day for Joseph with victory in Claiming Crown Jewel
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. and the betting public thought Girolamo’s Attack was the horse to beat in the $125,000 Jewel, the richest of nine Claiming Crown races decided Saturday at Gulfstream Park. But in the end, it was Joseph’s “other” horse who proved best.
Twelve Volt Man rallied in the final strides to run down Hanalei’s Houdini and upset the 1 1/8-mile Jewel while giving Joseph his third Claiming Crown winner on the card.
Jockey Paco Lopez registered five victories on the 11-race program, four of those wins coming in Claiming Crown races.
Twelve Volt Man, one of only two 3-year-olds in the field of 10, raced mid-pack during the early stages of the Jewel under Edwin Gonzalez. Twelve Volt Man advanced to closer contention on the second turn, angled inside Hanalei’s Houdini at the top of the stretch, and appeared destined to be second near midstretch before digging down for one more final burst to catch the leader in the shadow of the wire.
Hanalei’s Houdini readily gained command while fanned well out to the middle of the track by Lopez entering the stretch, appeared to still be in control through midstretch, but could not last. It was another 7 3/4 lengths back to Mo Hawk, the early pacesetter, who was third.
“You come into these race and can easily run thirds and fourth and go home with no wins,” an elated Joseph said in the winner’s circle after the Jewel. “I was thankful after we won the first, then the second one happened and we got a hard beat in the third one. It was a fantastic day. It’s great winning these kinds of races. Thank God all the horses showed up.”
Twelve Volt Man paid $23.60 to win and covered the 1 1/18 miles in 1:49.92.
Twelve Volt Man had beaten older horses during the recently concluded fall meet.
“I believed this horse had a sneaky chance, but at the sixteenth pole I thought he was going to be second when Paco left him again,” Joseph said. “I kind of gave up. He beat older horses today and the time was good, 1:49 and change, although now we have to face proper older horses if we move up to stakes company. But this was a starter allowance, so he still has his two-other-than allowance condition, so we’ll go after that first.”
Girolamo’s Attack finished a tiring seventh as the 6-5 favorite. He was coming off a pair of overnight handicap wins. Joseph thought he was compromised by the trip Saturday. He was shuffled back near the inside during the early stages of the Jewel, which marked his first start around two turns
“He doesn’t like to be in behind dirt and he was never able to work out a trip from there,” Joseph said.
Lopez’s four Claiming Crown victories came aboard Blue Steel ($9.40) in the Iron Horse for trainer Jeff Hiles; Payntdembluesaway ($5.60) for Jane Cibelli in the Distaff Dash; Miles Ahead ($4.60) for Eddie Plesa Jr. in the Rapid Transit; and Mid Day Image ($8.20) in wire-to-wire fashion for Luis Carvajel Jr. in the Emerald.
Other Claiming Crown winners here Saturday included Sweet Willemina ($18.60) in the Glass Slipper and Bad Beat Brian, ($10.20) in the Canterbury.
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Miles Ahead, winner of the Grade 3 Smile Sprint here earlier in the year, was particularly sharp, edging clear to a 1 1/4-length decision under confident handling by Lopez in the Rapid Transit. He completed the seven-furlong distance in a rapid 1:21.99 over the fast track. The victory was the ninth from just 19 career starts for the 4-year-old son of Competitive Edge, increasing his 2021 earnings to more than $240,000.
“My only concern was that I had given him about 30 days vacation from his last race to this race and sometimes they are not as tight as you’d like to see them,” said Plesa, whose wife, Laurie, is among the owners of Miles Ahead. “But we trained him a little harder than I normally would and I felt he was in good condition to win today. Races like the Claiming Crown are the bread and butter of horse racing and it’s great to see them have a day like this for these horses.”