Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Respect for All gets chance to make news on the track
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Larry Roman didn’t know what he was getting into when he had trainer Rob Atras drop the claim slip for a son of Uncle Mo in the first race at Aqueduct on Jan. 8.
When the horse won by 6 1/2 lengths, Roman thought he got a nice horse at a bargain price. Twenty-four hours later, he had more than that.
The horse in question was named Grape Soda. As it turned out, the name was deemed racially insensitive by The Jockey Club after the previous trainer, Eric Guillot, had announced on Twitter he had named the horse for Ken Rudulph, a Black analyst for Television Games Network, with whom he had been feuding.
The Jockey Club made Roman change the name, and the gelding is now known as Respect for All. On Sunday, Respect for All will run in a starter-allowance race at Aqueduct.
“Normally, you have some pressure when you’re watching your horse run, but now I have so much pressure because all eyes are on this horse,” Roman said. “The heart will be pumping pretty good.”
Roman said he claimed the horse because of his pedigree. Uncle Mo is a top stallion who stands for $175,000 live foal, and the dam, Diplomat Lady, won the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet in 2005.
“I’m not one of the people going to these sales bidding $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 on horses,” Roman said. “For $25,000, it made sense. We’ll know after the race. I’ve been fooled before. Looking on paper, the horse has a reasonable chance.”
Though Respect for All is running back just nine days after he won, Roman said all reports from Atras have been positive.
“What he said is the horse is sound, the horse is a big, goodlooking horse, and he’s galloping well,” Roman said.
In 2019, Roman and Atras claimed a horse from trainer Chad Brown for $30,000. One week later, that horse, Spectator Sport, won a maiden $40,000 claiming race.
On the day Roman changed Grape Soda’s name to Respect for All, he pledged to donate 10 percent of the gelding’s gross earnings to Backstretch Employee Service Team, which aids in taking care of backstretch workers at NYRA tracks.
“I hope they’ll be rooting hard,” said Roman, who plans to be at Aqueduct on Sunday to watch the horse run.
Killybegs Captain retired
At this time last year, trainer John Terranova was preparing to send Killybegs Captain to Florida for his 5-year-old debut in the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. Killybegs
Captain won that race and was then being considered for the $2 million Golden Shaheen at Meydan in Dubai. That race was canceled due to the COVID19 pandemic.
Killybegs Captain was being pointed to the Grade 1 Carter Handicap last June when he came up with an ankle injury.
He has now been retired and will stand stud at Mill Creek Farm in upstate New York.
“He was a beautiful horse – sound horse – he retired sound,” said Tonja Terranova, assistant to her husband, John. “He beat Imperial Hint, he was third to Mitole. He was just a solid race horse; ran short, ran long.”
Killybegs Captain, a son of Mizzen Mast, won 7 races from 26 starts, including the Grade 3 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash in 2018. In 2019, he won the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, beating the multiple Grade 1 winner Imperial Hint. Killybegs Captain’s win in the 2020 Pelican Stakes turned out to be his final race.
Meanwhile, the Terrano vas are making plans for their two current stakes-winning sprinters. Funny Guy, most recently second to Our Last Buck in the Say Florida Sandy Stakes, is being pointed to the Grade 3 General George at Laurel on Feb. 13.
Stan the Man, second to Pete’s Play Call in the Gravesend on Jan. 2, will run in either the Grade 3, $100,000 Toboggan here on Jan. 30, or the General George.
There will an eight-race card Monday at Aqueduct, topped by the $100,000 Interborough Stakes. Saguaro Row, last year’s Interborough winner, will try to improve on her fourth-place finish in the Garland of Roses Stakes here Dec. 6.
She will face a field that includes Portal Creek, runnerup in the Grade 3 Go for Wand, Bella Aurora, Call On Mischief, and Needs Supervision.
Beginning Feb. 1, post time for an eight-race card will be 1:20. First post for nine-race programs will be 1 p.m. Starting Feb. 15, first post will be 1:20 p.m. on eight- or nine-race cards.