JC / Railbird

2007 MassCap

Brass Hat Wins MassCap

You could feel the excitement as post time approached. “It’s been too long,” Larry Collmus told the crowd as the field for the first Massachusetts Handicap since 2004 was loaded in the gate for the 1 1/8 mile race.

The bell rang and a cheer went up from the 19,191 fans packing the grandstand. Fairbanks, the 3-5 favorite, bobbled at the break and longshot Fire Striker went to the front, setting slow fractions of :24.45 and :49.37 through the first half. Stalking Fairbanks took the lead at the six furlong mark; Brass Hat, never far behind, moved into contention at the top of the stretch, eventually drawing away to a 3/4 length win and returning $10.20 to his backers. Dr. Pleasure was third, Evening Attire fourth. The final time for the race was 1:49.72. “I love this game!” cried Brass Hat’s groom as he ran towards the track to lead his charge into the winner’s circle.

Owner Fred Bradley couldn’t have been happier with the win: “The horse ran a hell of a race,” he said. “We’ll be back next year, if the horse is sound.”

Brass Hat, unsaddled, heads to the test barn.

Winning jockey Willie Martinez being interviewed after the MassCap.

Watch the replay:

More: “Brass Hat shines in MassCap” (BRIS), “There’s no quit in Brass Hat” (Boston Herald). Brass Hat earned a Beyer speed figure of 98 for the win.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on September 22, 2007 / Tagged 2007 MassCap

MassCap Day Notes

Jockey Richard Migliore talks with TVG’s Christina Olivares.

Asked after winning the Moseley Handicap aboard Afrashad ($2.40) if he’d learned anything about the track that would help him ride Fairbanks in the MassCap, jockey Richard Migliore replied, “The track’s very honest. Today, it seems like you can come in from any path, any position.” Fairbanks, starting from post position four, is the 6-5 favorite 25 minutes to post. There was a minus show pool of $40,386 on Afrashad and entry-mate Council Member, who ran second.

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Bridgejumpers are out in force on the Godolphin entry of Afrashad and Council Member for race nine, the Moseley Handicap, which is also returning to Suffolk after a two-year hiatus today. Approximately three minutes to post and the show pool on #1 is $89,036, dwarfing every other on the board. The win pool is $19,459; the place $8978. [The show pool on the entry attracted $153,929 in wagers from a total pool of $163,630 (Boston Herald).]

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Talk about an upset: 55-1 Massachusetts-bred Reprized Strike, scoreless since June 2006 when he won the Rise Jim Stakes over a muddy Suffolk track, jumped up to win race eight, the Waquoit Stakes, by approximately three lengths [3 1/2 lengths, officially], paying $112.60. The exacta with favored De Roode paid $716. It was the second win of the day for rider Clifford Dooley, who brought home longshot Shell Creek ($43) in race three.

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The all stakes pick four kicked off in race seven, the Collegian Stakes, which was won by 8-5 favorite On the Vineyard ($5.20). Southern Rainbow was second, Bootleggin Gent third. “He was the best horse today,” said jockey Willie Martinez of On the Vineyard. “My grandmother could have ridden him … on the turn it was only a question of how far I thought I could win by.” Martinez rides Brass Hat in the MassCap.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on September 22, 2007 / Tagged 2007 MassCap

MassCap Day at Suffolk

It’s MassCap day at Suffolk Downs and there’s a buzz in the air, an excitement around the grandstand unlike anything since the last running of the Massachusetts Handicap in 2004. I arrived about half an hour before the track opened and watched the crowd grow to dozens. By opening time, there was an impatient gang of fans pressing against the doors. Someone called, “Two more minutes!” and another, “Open the doors or we’ll knock them down!” At 11:00, it seemed likely they would when people began rattling the doors and pounding on the glass. A chant went up: “Open the doors! Open the doors! Open the doors!” Security heeded and the crowd surged in, then politely sorted itself into neat lines to pay the $2 admission into the freshened facility. There’s new paint, a grandstand gift shop, a playground and picnic area on the apron, a spiffy new stakes barn, and the best thing of all: A positive vibe on the frontside and the backstretch.

Photos from around the track this morning:

Brass Hat naps in the stakes barn on Saturday morning.

View of the field for Saturday’s first race from the catwalk.

Big stakes, big hat.

Posted in Suffolk Downs on September 22, 2007 / Tagged 2007 MassCap