Show court rallies to capture A.P. Smithwick
On paper, Monday’s $175,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Handicap (G1) looked to be between Modem and All the Way Jose, two of the top vote-getters in last year’s balloting for champion steeplechaser.
The hot horse, though – and even-money favorite – was Iranistan, a 4-year-old Einstein gelding who had won his three starts over jumps by a combined 271/2 lengths. The other four runners in the seven-horse field were dismissed at double-digit odds.
Alas, it turned out to be one of the outliers who won the day. The Irish-bred Show Court, saving ground in mid-pack the entire way, shot to the front coming off the fourth and final turn, getting the jump on Iranistan and out-finishing that one by a length.
Overwhelming was a distant third, six lengths behind the runner-up. He was followed by Personal Start, All the Way Jose and Modem. Oskar Denarius was eased in the stretch.
“He’s a nice horse, and he was doing really well,” said winning trainer Arch Kingsley Jr. “I couldn’t have been happier. Everything felt just right; I can’t explain it more than that. He’s a horse with a lot of heart, and yet he’s very delicate at the same time.”
Personal Start (10-1) made most of the running, building his advantage to five lengths when the field passed under the
wire for the first time. Iranistan, after dropping back during the middle part of the race, was making a serious bid for the lead, however, drawing to within a half-length on the turn.
In the meantime, Show Court was on the move to the inside. Clearing
the eighth fence with ease, and cutting the corner perfectly, the 9-yearold gelding found himself with a narrow lead. Iranistan continued on gamely but was unable to run down the 14-1 longshot.
“Being one of the few horses who has gone around this track [previously], I thought he was paying a good price,” said jockey Michael Mitchell,
a winner of 4-of-5 starts aboard Show Court, including last summer’s Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes here. “With his speed around the turns and speed over the jumps, he was full of run the whole way, so it was very reassuring to have that horse under you two furlongs out.
“He has speed but it’s only a finite type of speed, so you have to use it well.”
Show Court, who races for Mark W. Buyck Jr, is now 4-for-11 over jumps and 8-for-34 over all. The pot for the Smithwick upped his lifetime earnings to $387,430.
Show Court is a son of Vinnie Roe and a ninthgeneration descendant of the great French stamina influence Tourbillon, whose male line has all but disappeared from flat racing.