Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Hancock looks to ring register
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer John Hancock will run two fillies Friday night in the Debutante Stakes on the final card of the Churchill Downs spring meet. Then he and the horses will make the westward trek back to their home base, Ellis Park, pulling in somewhere around 1:30 in the morning.
“Got my own rig,” said Hancock.
A few hours later, he will jump out of bed like a kid on Christmas morning. Saturday is opening day of the 31-day summer meet at Ellis, where Hancock, 57, has been reveling in his love of horse racing longer than he can remember. His maternal grandfather, Chester Loney, had horses in the same barn Hancock has used since taking out a trainer’s license in 1981.
“I’ve been running around this barn since they were changing my diapers,” Hancock said this week by phone from Ellis in Henderson, Ky.
His Debutante fillies, Amberspatriot and Waki Patriot, are fringe contenders in an exceptionally deep race. Hancock has gone winless at the Churchill meet, but he had 5 wins and 4 seconds from 23 starters in April at Keeneland; three of those winners were 2-year-olds.
It has become standard procedure for Hancock to get his 2-year-olds ready to run sooner than most any American trainer this side of Wesley Ward. His goal is to showcase their ability so that deep-pocketed buyers sit up and take notice.
True to plan, Hancock already has sold two of his Keeneland runners – Flat Drunk is now in California with David Hofmans, and Tigerbeach went to Larry Rivelli in Chicago – and he’s hoping a good performance from either of his Debutante starters will result in another payday via private transaction. Both are already stakes-placed, with Amberspatriot having finished second in the Kentucky Juvenile here during Derby week and Waki Patriot having finished third in the Astoria at Belmont.
“That’s the way we operate – run to sell,” said Hancock. “It’s different than a lot of folks, but we’ve made a good living doing it.”
Hancock has two starters on the Ellis opener and intends to be very active throughout the meet, which ends Sept. 4. Most of the 34 horses in his stable are 2-year-olds.
“I’ve got some on the bench that hopefully can come right in and replace the ones we’re looking to sell,” he said. “There’s always a lot happening in my business.”
Limousine Liberal prepping
With the July 8 Belmont Sprint Championship expected to get such top sprinters as Mind Your Biscuits, Unified, and A. P. Indian, trainer Ben Colebrook thought he’d wait a little longer before sending Limousine Liberal to New York to try the heavyheads again.
Yes, the $350,000 purse for the Grade 2 Sprint Championship is five times bigger than that of the $70,000 Kelly’s Landing here on Friday, a race in which Limousine Liberal figures as a heavy favorite. But Colebrook and his clients Mike and K.K. Ball preferred to prep Limousine Liberal in a lighter spot while pointing him to the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 29 at Saratoga.
“The Vanderbilt is the goal,” said Colebrook. “Running here instead of at Belmont gives us an extra week. Plus, the Belmont race looks like it might be the best sprint of the year so far. We’ll catch those horses a little later on.”
Limousine Liberal, a 5-yearold homebred gelding by Successful Appeal, became the richest horse ever campaigned by the Ball family when his victory in the Aristides increased his bankroll to $832,500. Mike’s parents, the Lexington homebuilders and political operatives Don and Mira Ball, have raced horses as Donamire Farm for some 50 years.
Arguello back in saddle
Fabio Arguello Jr., best known for winning the 1992 Kentucky Oaks aboard Luv Me Luv Me Not, is making another comeback in the saddle.
Arguello, 44, is named on one mount Saturday at Ellis. The Colombia native suffered a serious leg fracture in a February 2014 spill at Sam Houston and actually returned to riding 11 months later but stopped again after two mounts “because it just didn’t feel right,” said Arguello.
◗ Between races Friday night, Churchill will honor the leading owner, trainer, and jockey at the spring meet. Only the owners’ race was still undecided when the final threeday stretch of the meet began Wednesday, with Maggi Moss holding a 10-9 lead over Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Steve Asmussen (record 18th trainer title) and Corey Lanerie (13th jockey title) had theirs locked up.
◗ Friday marks the 43rd night card at Churchill, with the first one having been held in June 2009. The most recent set a record for all-sources handle when $9.4 million was bet on the 11-race Stephen Foster card June 17. The last night program of 2017 is set for Sept. 23, although the lights will be used extensively at the fall meet in November, when the sun sets much earlier.