Whisper Not will need to harness speed in Shoemaker Mile
ARCADIA, Calif. – Will he tear away and set a blazing pace, or will he have a patient journey? That is the strategic question involving Whisper Not in Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf at Santa Anita.
Whisper Not led by as many as 10 lengths in a one-mile allowance race on turf at Santa Anita on March 6, holding on to win by 1 1/4 lengths. In the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile on turf at Golden Gate Fields, Whisper Now followed a fast pace, closing from fourth to get his first stakes win by a head.
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“He’s got a lot of natural speed,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “I don’t know if he’ll rate as good as he did. If he makes the lead and doesn’t go too fast, I think he’ll be okay.
“It’s a big race.”
The $300,000 Shoemaker Mile has a first-place purse of $180,000, but also offers the winner a berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
That is the sort of race Baltas and the horse’s owners would like to have on Whisper Not’s schedule. The same goes for the people behind Say the Word and Smooth Like Strait, two other leading contenders in the Shoemaker Mile.
Whisper Not, a 4-year-old British-bred colt, has not been worse than third in five starts since arriving in California from England last fall. Baltas said that Whisper Not’s training involves as much mental preparation as physical. He saw aspects of both in a five-furlong workout in 1:01 on May 23.
“He’s a horse that shows a lot of talent,” Baltas said. “The last work was very strong. I’m not sure he’s completely settled down. He went quick last time in the beginning of the work.”
Whisper Not is likely to set the pace under jockey Geovanni Franco.
“If they let us have the lead, we’ll take it,” Baltas said.
Smooth Like Strait could be the beneficiary if Whisper Not sets a fast tempo.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Smooth Like Strait won the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile on turf against 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 for his fifth stakes victory. This year, Smooth Like Strait has suffered two heartbreaking losses in Grade 1 stakes.
In the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 6, Smooth Like Strait led by a half-length with a furlong remaining and was beaten a head by Hit the Road. In the Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 11, Smooth Like Strait set a slow pace and finished third by a neck behind Colonel Liam and Domestic Spending, who dead-heated for first.
“I had the lead three or four strides before the wire,” jockey Umberto Rispoli recalled on Saturday.
Rispoli has ridden Smooth Like Strait to three stakes wins and has been aboard the colt for his last five starts. He rides him again on Monday.
“We are trying to win a Grade 1 with this horse, and I think he deserves that,” Rispoli said. “He’s always a fighter. He gives you everything in every race he’s running.
“My horse comes out of a tough and quality race.”
The Shoemaker drew a field of seven, but is expected to have six starters. Raymundos Secret, supplemented on Friday for $6,000, is scheduled to be withdrawn in favor of a stakes appearance in June, trainer Phil D’Amato said on Saturday.
The stakes winners Crossfirehurricane, Next Shares, and Restrainedvengence will be longshots. Crossfirehurricane, a two-time stakes winner in Ireland last year, will have his first start in the U.S. on Monday. He is trained by McCarthy.
Say the Word won the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes on turf at Keeneland on April 17 for his second stakes win, both at 1 1/2 miles. Leading rider Flavien Prat rides Say the Word, who is trained by D’Amato.
“He’ll be rolling late,” D’Amato said. “He’s really sharp. We wouldn’t think of doing it unless he was on top of his game.
“I don’t think it will be ultra-tough race on him. If he doesn’t get there, we can regroup.”