Hoffa’s Union goes to Casse after win

A little more than a week ago, the 3-year-old gelding Hoffa’s Union made his debut for trainer Gary Capuano in a 1 1/16-mile Laurel Park maiden race. On Wednesday, following a 15-length victory that earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure, he arrived at the Ocala, Fla., farm of Mark Casse, who will train Hoffa’s Union for his new owners, Gary Barber, Adam Wachtel, and partners.

While the sale was a home run for Capuano and co-owners Harry Loso and Foard Wilgis, it is not easy to part with a potential star.

“It’s a little bittersweet,” Capuano said. “But for guys like us it’s hard not to accept an offer like that. We took a lot of risk off the table.”

This is becoming a familiar tale in the Mid-Atlantic. Hoffa’s Union is at least the sixth top prospect to be sold since November 2017, when Barber and Wachtel bought a majority interest in Still Having Fun from Jim Scott’s Terp Racing. Still Having Fun, who is stabled at Laurel with trainer Tim Keefe, has gone on to win the Grade 2 Woody Stephens and two other stakes.

Our Braintrust made the trip to Casse’s farm in mid-January after Maryland horseman Cal Lynch and his partner Bo Smith sold him to Barber. He is scheduled to run next week in the Grade 2 Rebel at Oaklawn Park.

Other local buys include Cairenn and undefeated Please Flatter Me, who Smart Angle LLC and trainer Mark Reid sold to Sol Kumin and Scott Heider. Please Flatter Me was entered in Saturday’s Busher Invitational at Aqueduct.

Late Night Pow Wow, who is 11 for 12, was sold several months ago to Mike Hall and Sam Ross’s Breeze Easy LLC by Charles Town conditioner Javier Conteras, who continues to train her.

Capuano purchased Hoffa’s Union last May for $11,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale in Timonium, Md.

“He had a little issue when I bought him, and nobody was bidding,” Capuano said. “I bid once and I got him. I thought if we fixed him up and gave him some time he might be fine. And that’s what happened. Once we put him in training he never missed a day.”

After the auction, Hoffa’s Union was sent to the farm.

“We did a minor surgery and then we gelded him,” Capuano said. “He’s a big horse, and we didn’t want him getting too heavy.”

Hoffa’s Union breezed 10 times between Nov. 17 and Feb. 22 before making his debut. His final move was a mile gate work in 1:41.

“We knew if he ran the way he trained he would be tough to beat,” Capuano said. “The more you did with him in the morning, the more he wanted to do.

“I gave him the mile work just to make sure he was where I thought he was. He worked the mile like it was nothing and then galloped out 1 1/8 miles as fast as he worked.”

Hoffa’s Union could make his next start in a major 3-year-old stakes, possibly the Florida Derby or Wood Memorial.

Hoffa’s Union is not the first rodeo for Capuano, who has been training since 1988. In 2004, he bought Unbridled Belle for $4,000 at the Keeneland September sale. Following a 2-year-old debut victory at Laurel, Capuano and owner Paul Fowler Jr. sold her to Team Valor International. Unbridled Belle went on to earn $1.9 million for trainer Todd Pletcher.

“We made a huge score with Unbridled Belle and were happy to see her do well,” Capuano said.

Capuano’s best-known horse was Captain Bodgit. He originally trained the son of Saint Ballado for Phyllis Susini, who sold him to Team Valor after a third-place finish in the 1997 Holy Bull Stakes. With Capuano staying on as trainer, Captain Bodgit won the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial.

He then finished second by a head to Silver Charm in the Kentucky Derby and concluded his career in a thrilling Preakness when he was beaten a pair of heads by Silver Charm and Free House.

Capuano is aware of the number of Mid-Atlantic prospects that have recently been sold.

“It’s good and it’s bad,” he said. “It’s good selling one like this because it will keep the owners in the game. It’s bad because you’re always looking for a good horse that will go places.

“We’ll put the money back into the stable. We just keep going and going.”

Monmouth purses climb

The first condition book of the Monmouth Park meet has been released, and the Jersey Shore track seems poised for a much stronger season than a year ago.

Monmouth will receive a $10 million purse subsidy from the state this year, and the ontrack William Hill Sports Book and sports wagering mobile apps give the facility an additional revenue stream.

The condition book’s opening-day races are similar to a year ago, but the purses are higher. A year ago on opening day, a six-furlong maiden race for 3-year-olds and up had a purse of $36,000. The same race this year is $45,000, a 25 percent increase.

An opening-day $5,000 claimer for nonwinners-ofthree lifetime will be worth $20,000 this year. The same race a year ago had a purse of $15,000. A nonwinners-of-two $20,000 claiming race on turf for 3- and 4-year-olds has a purse of $25,000, up 47 percent from 2018.

The previously released stakes schedule consists of 64 races with a combined value of $7.1 million. Last year, 39 stakes worth $4.3 million were held.

John Heims, the director of racing, recently completed recruiting trips to Oaklawn, Fair Grounds, Tampa, and South Florida. Stall applications for the 61-day meet, which opens Kentucky Derby Day (May 4), close March 16.

“We have more days, more money, more stakes, and we are going to have more horses,” Heims said. “I’m confident the competition is going to be much stronger this year.”

Monmouth is the only track in the Mid-Atlantic that does not benefit in some manner from casino gambling, and it has been difficult in recent years for the track to compete against its neighbors, which have offered higher purses.

“We’ve been at a competitive disadvantage,” Heims said. “This year is the first step in leveling the playing field.”