Stayers' Watch: Gallant Fox Handicap · 1.01.09

The final stayers’ race of the year was the Gallant Fox Handicap, run on Aqueduct’s winterized Inner Dirt Course on Dec. 31. Named for the second winner of the American Triple Crown (and arguably one of the greatest), the ungraded Gallant Fox was run at 1 5/8 miles, for a $75,000-added purse.

I have been remiss in not giving due notice to Delosvientos. Earlier this year he won the Brooklyn Handicap, but his win in that venerable stayers’ contest was in addition to scores in two ungraded stakes at 12 furlongs that I had overlooked: the May 15 Fit to Fight at Belmont Park, and the Sept. 21 Point Given at Monmouth Park (where he set a new track record). All three wins were on good ol’ dirt. He didn’t race in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon because his trainer Giuseppe Iadisernia is a Seventh-Day Adventist, a Christian denomination which forbids work on a Saturday (the day of the Marathon).

That three-month layoff, along with the 124-pound high-weight, didn’t seem to bother Delosvientos. The 5-year-old gelding was sent straight to the front by jockey Eddie Castro, and never looked back. Even a snowstorm couldn’t prevent him from lengthening his lead to 11 1/4 lengths by the time he hit the wire. Lord Kipling finished second, Canela third. Time on the fast track: 2:49.33.

Champion Stayer Award standings — FINAL:

  1. Champs Elysees — 26
  2. Grand Couturier — 20
  3. Delosvientos — 18 (18)
  4. Big Booster — 16 (10)
  5. Church Service — 16 (8) [see note below]
  6. Herboriste — 13
  7. Warning Zone — 12
  8. Interpatation — 11
  9. Muhannak — 10 (10)
  10. Da’ Tara — 10 (10)
  11. Marsh Side — 10
  12. Conduit — 10
  13. Dancing Forever — 10

Turf stayers Champs Elysees and Grand Couturier top the standings — as might be expected, as grass racing is where stamina is still considered a desirable asset in North American racing. The continuing lack of high-level dirt/synthetic stayers’ races meant that impressive performances by Delosvientos, Big Booster, and Church Service on those surfaces did not translate into points for those horses. Trainer Giuseppe Iadisernia revealed the obvious after Delosvientos’ Gallant Fox win: “The only trouble with him is finding longer races on the dirt.”

I’ll wrap up Stayers’ Watch 2008 in a future post.

[Note: The previous points-total of 18 (10) for Church Service were based on an error of addition, which has now been corrected.]

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What do you think?

  1. Thank goodness. This was the FIRST year since I have followed that loss of stamina based races that showed an INCREASE in these marathons on dirt. Maybe the business is finally waking up to the fact that the only way to know where stamina sires come from is to give them a forum to show their stuff

    — Dr. TImothy Yatcak · Jan 5, 09:52 AM · #

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