Howard Wolowitz turned back Yellow Card for a one-length victory in the Grade 1, $2 million Franklin-Simpson Stakes on Saturday's big card at Kentucky Downs, in a time that barely missed a recently set course record. The race was the first Grade 1 contested at the Franklin, Ky., track.
The Franklin-Simpson, for 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs on the European-style turf course, represented a major opportunity for its entrants to update their pages. While the race drew a full field, only a handful of the runners had previously been even graded or group stakes-placed, and only Evade, who ultimately finished fourth, had even raced at the Group 1 level before - that being in Europe, where more top-level opportunities exist throughout the year for turf sprinters.
While Howard Wolowitz ($8.12), sent away as the post-time favorite, will thus have to prove himself against stiffer competition in the future, he is a lightly raced runner who seems upwardly mobile. An April foal, Howard Wolowitz, named after a character on 'The Big Bang Theory,' was unraced as a juvenile. The Munnings colt finished eighth in his debut on the Gulfstream Park dirt for Jose D'Angelo and Gold Square LLC, then won by 7 3/4 lengths the next time out on Gulfstream's all-weather track in June. In his first career stakes try, he finished fourth in the Mahony Stakes on Aug. 11 at Saratoga, but was beaten just more than a length after being steadied in the final sixteenth.
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"I really was very confident in him - he is a nice horse," D'Angelo, who won his first Grade 1, said of stepping up to the level. "He is hard to train; he has his own personality, like his name. So, I was pretty sure that the more ground for him and the long stretch was going to help him."
In the Franklin-Simpson, Howard Wolowitz, with Irad Ortiz, Jr. in the irons, got a much clearer trip, sitting about four deep in the clear in the full field of 12, while racing in fifth early. Meanwhile, a keen Joe Shiesty had tugged his way past General Ledger for the early lead, ticking off an opening quarter in 21.88 seconds and the half in 44.29 around the sweeping far turn at Kentucky Downs.
Joe Shiesty and the tracking Apollo Ten began to make a retreat approaching the stretch, and, as the field straightened away, Howard Wolowitz briefly grabbed the lead. Yellow Card, who rallied from seventh, moved in near tandem on the outside and put his head in front, but Howard Wolowitz, while brushing with his foe, turned him back for a length victory. John Velazquez, aboard Yellow Card, claimed foul, but there was no change by the stewards.
"He made the lead kind of a little early," Ortiz said. "He kind of looked around. So I corrected, got a hold of him. The horse was coming outside and I wanted him to feel him a little bit, because he put his ears up like he felt a little weird when he made the lead. He felt that one, like he wants to fight. So I hit him a couple of times and he responded really well and drew away.”
The final time on the firm turf was 1:14.20. That just missed the course record of 1:14.19 set by Ag Bullet just a week ago, on Aug. 31.
Yellow Card was seventh by three-quarters of a length over second choice Mansa Musa, who was another half-length clear of Evade, who made a decent move while coming between and inside horses in his first start in the U.S. They were followed, in order, by Please Advise, Bear River, Hedwig, Smokey Smokey, General Ledger, Apollo Ten, Vote No, and Joe Shiesty.
D'Angelo said he would like to go on to the Breeders' Cup with Howard Wolowitz. While the Franklin-Simpson was not a "Win and You're In" event for the Breeders' Cup, Kentucky Downs management had pledged to cover expenses should the winning connections wish to travel to Del Mar.
Earlier on the card, Simply In Front was just that at the wire, overcoming a slow start for a half-length score over a game Pipsy in the sister race, the Grade 2, $2 million Music City Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting on the turf.
This was the first graded stakes score for Simply In Front ($14.62), who is trained by Eddie Kenneally for Colebrook Farms. The filly had flirted with success at Woodbine, finishing second in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes last year, and second in the Grade 3 Colleen Stakes in July. Both those races were at a mile. On paper, Simply In Front was cutting back to 6 1/2 furlongs in the Music City, but that distance often feels a bit longer at Kentucky Downs due to the undulating turf course.
Simply In Front also found herself taking the overland route, covering even more ground, in the Music City. The filly hesitated at the start, and, while she never lost touch with the field, she found herself last of 12 in the opening strides, and then wide throughout to keep a clear path.
“Really slow - she kind of fell asleep a little bit there," jockey Luis Saez said of the break. "But we know they have a lot of speed and she always came with a big turn of foot, and she did today."
Simply In Front came six wide into the long stretch, and began making up ground in earnest once straightened away. She poked a head in front of Pipsy, who had taken the field through an opening half in 46.32 seconds, near the furlong grounds. Pipsy valiantly fought on after making all the running, but Simply In Front edged clear to her final margin.
The time for the 6 1/2 furlongs was 1:16.01.
Pipsy held second by three-quarters of a length over a rallying Vive Veuve.
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