Diversify finding success with 8 wins in 10 career starts
When I interviewed trainer Rick Violette for the Evan Shipman Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 21, he was cautionary about his entrant Diversify, who would be an odds-on favorite.
“I just thought I had a really, really good horse last year,” he said.
Diversify opened his career with four straight victories from July 14, 2016, to Jan. 14, 2017.
In his fifth start, the Stymie Handicap at Aqueduct on March 12, he turned in the only bad performance of his career, finishing seventh in a performance that still bothered Violette five months later at Saratoga.
“The Stymie was at a mile and an eighth, and so is the Shipman, and that has me concerned,” he said. “So I don’t know.”
Diversify erased that worry at Saratoga that day, cruising home by more than 11 lengths over a solid field of fellow New Yorkbreds.
Diversify simply floated over the Saratoga track, in an effortless and stylish victory over Governor Malibu, who had raced with the division leaders in 2016 in the Belmont, Jim Dandy and Travers.
At Belmont Park last Saturday, Diversify took things up several notches with a front-running score in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, worth $750,000 at 1 ¼ miles.
In his first appearance in a graded event, the 4-year-old won the 99th edition of the Jockey Club Gold Cup, one of the most prestigious events on the racing calendar.
Diversify sent his career earnings to $775,425 with a record of 8-2-0 from 10 starts.
He also earned a place in the starting gate of the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Del Mar.
Owner Ralph Evans, after the Gold Cup, expressed no hurry to go to California.
He spoke of keeping Diversify in good health and hoped for more years of racing. Three cheers for Mr. Evans! Diversify is a son of Bellamy Road, winner of the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in 2005 by more than 17 lengths, equaling the track record of 1:47 for 1 1/8 miles.
That performance made him the favorite in the Kentucky Derby, in which he finished seventh.
Bellamy Road finished second to Flower Alley in his next start, the Travers Stakes, in his final career performance.
It has been a while since Violette sent out a major winner like Diversify.
Over the years, he has won the Test with Dream Rush, the Hall of Fame with Marquette, the Remsen with Read the Footnotes, the Gotham with Samraat, and the Jim Dandy with Citadeed.
He has been a tireless advocate for owners and trainers in the political arena for decades.
Violette has been battling serious health issues for the last couple years, and it was wonderful to see Diversify bring home a treasured trophy for him.
THE CHAMPAGNE STAKES
The $500,000 event at one mile for 2-year-olds was run for the 146th time at Belmont Park last Saturday and was won by Firenze Fire.
The Champagne is one of only two Grade 1 races in New York for the division, and Firenze Fire won with a late rally over 11 rivals to pay $24.
He was the only graded stakes winner in the field, his other score coming in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga on July 22.
Firenze Fire paid $27 that day, so his backers have done quite well with him this year.
His only loss in four starts came in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga on Sept. 4, in which he was fourth.
He is now headed to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar on Nov. 4.
Second in the Hopeful was Free Drop Billy, who won the Grade 1 Breeders Futurity at Keeneland last Saturday.
You might say Saratoga’s venerable Hopeful Stakes has been a key event this year.