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.
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.
MassCap Entries
A field of eight was drawn today for Saturday’s Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs:
| PP | Horse | Jockey | ML |
| 1 | Dr. Pleasure | Velasquez | 6-1 |
| 2 | Palladio | Do Ramos | 12-1 |
| 3 | Who What Win | Bridgmohan | 15-1 |
| 4 | Fairbanks | Migliore | 7-5 |
| 5 | Shuffling Maddnes | Rojas | 12-1 |
| 6 | Fire Striker | Krigger | 30-1 |
| 7 | Evening Attire | Espinosa | 5-1 |
| 8 | Brass Hat | Martinez | 5-2 |
Fairbanks, making his first start since setting the pace and finishing fourth behind Lawyer Ron in the Woodward, looks like a legitimate favorite with his early speed and triple-digit Beyers, one scored winning the Tokyo City Handicap at Santa Anita last March, but morning line second favorite Brass Hat brings back class, veteran Evening Attire can’t be overlooked in his third attempt to take the MassCap, and Palladio — shipping in from Woodbine and with three wins at the 1 1/8 mile distance — is an intriguing upset proposition.
TVG will broadcast live from Suffolk Downs beginning at 1:00 p.m.; post-time for the MassCap is 5:23 p.m. There’s an all stakes pick four on the card, starting with race seven, the Collegian Stakes. I’ll be at Suffolk all Saturday, and if all goes as planned, posting throughout the afternoon.
Free PPs are available from DRF.
34 Nominated to MassCap
Leading Horse of the Year candidate Lawyer Ron tops the list of 34 nominations to the Massachusetts Handicap (PDF), which will be run for the first time since 2004 on September 22. Also nominated: Grasshopper (second to Street Sense in the Travers), King’s Bishop winner Hard Spun, Magna Graduate, Brass Hat, and Evening Attire. Teuflesberg is also in the mix for the nine furlong race, even though he seems better suited to the six furlong James B. Moseley Handicap, which drew 31 nominees (PDF), including Commentator, High Finance, and Weigelia. Unfortunately for Suffolk Downs, Lawyer Ron is more likely to start in the September 30 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Hard Spun to run at Turfway, and Grasshopper might go in the Super Derby (Shreveport Times). Until entries are taken next Wednesday, though, it’s okay to dream.
Related: Steven Crist visited my old home track this week and found reason for cautious optimism.
Mayor Invites Suffolk Casino
Sensing an opportunity in the dispute between the newly-recognized Mashpee Wampanoags of Cape Code and the town of Middleborough over demands that the tribe pay for millions of dollars in infrastructure costs if it wants to build a casino, Boston mayor Tom Menino “gamely invited the tribe today to build its gambling complex at the Suffolk Downs racetrack in East Boston” (Boston Globe). The tribe would have to overcome some hurdles to make that happen, including getting around a Department of Interior rule requiring Indian-owned casinos be located within a 50-mile radius of tribal land.
Menino may get his wish for a casino at Suffolk anyway, regardless of whether or not it’s run by the Wampanoags. According to a report in the Boston Herald:
An administration panel appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick to study the gambling issue is leaning heavily toward the all-inclusive casino model that mixes shopping, entertainment and hotels as well as gambling halls, say industry executives and insiders.
That could be good news for Suffolk — and it would certainly be good news for new owner Richard Fields, casino developer — but bad for Massachusetts dog and harness track owners, long-time proponents of racino-style slots. [Thanks to SS for the Globe link.]
MassCap Monkey
T.D. Thornton, author of the excellent new book “Not by a Longshot,” said many good and interesting things about slots, racing, and great horses in today’s Blood-Horse chat, but this exchange just might be the highlight:
Peabody, MA: When I went to the MassCap when Cigar ran there was a MassCap monkey. He was not there when Offlee Wild won the race. Can you tell management to bring back the monkey?
Thornton: If you ever see one of these Blood-Horse chats and wonder if acquaintances of the guest ever try to sneak through an inside joke or two, this is your proof right here. This is a strange-but-true press box tale from the days of yore at Suffolk, when we actually did hire an organ-grinding monkey to roam through the crowd and entertain the fans on big racing days. We used to have a rather nice (but somewhat batty) old lady who constantly called the track to ask — of all things — when the monkey was going to be back for a repeat performance. It was a riot, because we had just delivered the best horse in the world (Cigar) to the Boston fans two years in a row, and here was this woman, very insistent and earnest, about how the “MassCap Monkey” was the star of the show. Gotta give the people what they want, I guess.
The MassCap will be run this year on September 22 after a two year hiatus. New track owner Richard Fields is offering substantial bonuses to attract a strong field; there’s been no mention of a monkey.
MassCap Coming Back
Reports the Boston Herald today:
In a move that is already generating buzz in racing circles, Fields and his fellow track owners are weighing plans to spend well over $1 million on the event …
“Bringing back the historic MassCap is just one component of our extensive plan to return racing to greatness at Suffolk Downs,” [lead owner Richard Fields] said in a statement.
He and fellow owners, who include Hub concessionnaire Joseph O’Donnell, are now busy hammering out the details of their plan to bring back the MassCap, most likely in September.
The Massachusetts Handicap dates back to Suffolk Downs’ opening in 1935 and was a G2 race until this year; it lost its graded status after being cancelled two years running. Its last renewal was in 2004, when Offlee Wild, Funny Cide, and The Lady’s Groom treated a packed grandstand to a thrilling three-way stretch duel in which Offlee Wild prevailed by a nose.
On This Day …
– “On this day in 1936, Tom Smith, an experienced horse trainer, spied an unlikely looking three-year-old Thoroughbred on the track at East Boston’s Suffolk Downs.” [Thanks to our friend Bill for the link.]
– Trainer John Rigattieri “is on a winning streak not seen at Suffolk Downs since John F. Kennedy was known only as a Harvard student.” The trainer kept the streak alive on Saturday with one win, on Monday with two, on Tuesday with another two, and on Wednesday with an impressive four wins out of the day’s nine races.
Suffolk Draws a Crowd
It was the best opening day since 1998: More than 14,500 people turned out at Suffolk Downs on Saturday to catch the first day of live racing at the track in nearly six months.
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Trainer John Rigattieri returned to his winning ways at Suffolk, with three wins on opening day (four, actually, but Tri Like the Devil was disqualified in the ninth). Favorites dominated, winning seven out 10, as did early speed — seven races were won wire-to-wire and two more by horses near the pace.
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Our good friend Bill at RacingFigures.com is posting Suffolk Downs ratings again this year — mostly for Monday cards, but occasionally for Tuesday (this calendar displays specific dates). The speed ratings Bill did last year were a great supplement to past performances, often identifying horses that ran very well at the track, and the sheets are free to download. Be sure to check out the site: Ratings for several other US tracks, such as Philadelphia and Hollywood, are available as well.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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