Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Trainer Gleaves back in New York
ELMONT, N.Y. – A familiar face is back in New York after a long hiatus, and with any luck – and, he hopes, a fast horse – trainer Phil Gleaves can rekindle past glory.
Gleaves, a former assistant to the legendary Woody Stephens who has trained horses on his own since 1985, is stabled in Saratoga this summer for the first time since 2002. Gleaves had moved to Florida in 2002 because he wanted to keep his son Schuyler based in one school system. Now 19, Schuyler just completed his first year of college.
“I felt this was the time I could possibly move back to New York,” said Gleaves, 60, who purchased a home in Ballston Spa with his wife, Amy. “He was extremely supportive of it.”
After the first horse he ran at Belmont, Fortythreeoeight N, was claimed on May 3, Gleaves has nine horses, all 2-year-olds. He will run Rhythmia, a son of Majestic Warrior, in Thursday’s second race at Belmont.
“Nice colt, has done everything right,” said Gleaves, who broke the horse himself in Ocala, Fla., this winter. “We’re just getting the ball rolling, getting races into these horses, see how they fit, where they fit.
“They’re not all going to be superstars, we know that. There’s a couple in there that look good. Hopefully, one or two that could perform well.”
Among the 2-year-olds Gleaves trains is Mineshaft Blues, a New York-bred daughter of Mineshaft who is co-owned by former Daily Racing Form publisher Steven Crist.
As a writer for The New York Times, Crist first met Gleaves in 1984 when he went to chronicle the career of the Stephenstrained Devil’s Bag, who was among the early favorites for the 1984 Kentucky Derby. Crist and Gleaves struck up a friendship and Crist told Gleaves then that if he ever owned a horse, Gleaves would train it.
“Here we are 35 years later,” said Crist, who purchased this filly for $80,000 along with friend Ken Deregt. “It’s a nice coincidence. I never felt I could own a horse when I was still working at the Form. There’s no conflict of interest and it coincided with Phil’s son going off to college. He wanted to move back to New York.”
Gleaves said he will mainly stay with 2-year-olds and hopes to buy some yearlings this summer.
“I’m quite content with my group of 2-year-olds at this moment,” he said. “When you have a barn of unraced 2-yearolds, there’s always that hope there.”
Rugbyman may have a future
As Bob Baffert has shown the last two years, not all talented 3-year-olds make it to the Triple Crown trail.
In Rugbyman, Graham Motion appears to have a 3-year-old that could be an intriguing member of the division this summer. On Sunday at Belmont, Rugbyman overcame a slow start to gallop to a 14-length maiden victory going a mile. Under Jose Ortiz, he covered the distance over a muddy track in 1:36.71 and earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure.
Rugbyman, owned and bred by Alain and Gerard Wertheimer, is by Tapit out of the Grade 1-winning mare Zaftig. He finished second going seven furlongs in his debut at Keeneland, breaking slowly before weaving his way through traffic and then galloping out past the field.
On Sunday he rushed up into second position after the slow break, put away Dominant Strategy, and splashed home an easy winner.
“When he broke so badly I was surprised [in] less than a sixteenth of a mile he made his way to the front,” Motion said. “He tends to be a step slow. I think he drug Jose up there, to be honest.”
One potential next start for Rugbyman could be the Easy Goer Stakes for 3-year-olds on the June 9 Belmont Stakes undercard. Last year, that race was won by West Coast, who would go on to win the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby and be crowned 3-year-old champion.
Motion said he planned to keep Rugbyman at Belmont Park to train with the Easy Goer in mind.
“He gets to run against 3-year-olds, which is going to be hard to do if you ran him in an allowance race,” Motion said. “Without getting too clever about it, there are a lot of reasons to consider it.”
Voodoo Song to Kingston
The resiliency Voodoo Song displayed at Saratoga last summer in winning four races in 43 days was on display again Saturday at Belmont Park.
Voodoo Song, cutting back to seven furlongs after racing around two turns throughout most of his career, fended off the highly regarded and previously undefeated American Guru to win an allowance race by a nose.
Trainer Linda Rice said her only options for Voodoo Song were at seven furlongs or 1 1/2 miles, so seven furlongs was “the obvious choice.”
“I was getting a lot of criticism about it before the race,” Rice said. “I thought Voodoo put in a gutsy effort.”
Voodoo Song, who earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, will be pointed to the $125,000 Kingston Stakes for New York-breds going a mile on turf May 28.
“It’s back a little soon, but he’s done that well before,” Rice said.