NEWS
Stute savors magical moment with Papa Clem
Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2009 2:49 PM
by Mike Curry
Until Papa Clem won the Arkansas Derby (G2) on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, trainer Gary Stute’s fondest racing memory came vicariously through his father, Mel.
That changed in less than two minutes, when Papa Clem outfinished multiple graded stakes winner Old Fashioned to stamp himself a contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). With one powerful late charge, the Smart Strike colt simultaneously secured his first career stakes win and bagged enough graded stakes earnings to cement a spot in the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field. (To view a video of the Arkansas Derby, click here.)
For Gary Stute, Papa Clem will be his first Derby starter and a chance to write his own classic script. Mel Stute conditioned 1986 Florida Derby (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Snow Chief, who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby but rebounded to post a four-length win in the Preakness Stakes (G1).
“My dad trained Snow Chief, who I thought could do anything. When he went to the Kentucky Derby I thought he had a legitimate shot, but he disappointed,” Gary Stute said. “Then he went to the Preakness and did so well. Up until [Saturday], the Preakness was the happiest day of my life.”
Papa Clem finished second in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) to leading Derby hopeful Pioneerof the Nile and followed with a runner-up finish to another top classics threat, Friesan Fire, in the Louisiana Derby (G2). (To view a video of the Louisiana Derby, click here.)
Gary Stute considered both the Illinois Derby (G2) and the Arkansas Derby for Papa Clem’s final Kentucky Derby prep. He said when Win Willy defeated previously unbeaten Old Fashioned in the Rebel Stakes (G2) on March 14, he knew the right path to Louisville went through Arkansas.
“He has done everything so perfect here at Oaklawn. He just doesn't want to get beat,” Stute said of Papa Clem, a homebred campaigned by Bo Hirsch, the son of late Oak Tree Racing Association co-founder and President Clement L. Hirsch. “He has a ton of heart.
"When I saw Old Fashioned get beat in the Rebel, I knew we had a shot. I was going to go to the Illinois Derby, but why go for $500,000 when you might get a million?”
A little more than 600 miles away, General Quarters fulfilled an unlikely dream for owner and trainer Tom McCarthy, a former high school principal who will ship his one-horse stable the short shot down Interstate 64 from Lexington back to his base in Louisville for the first jewel of the Triple Crown.
Claimed for $20,000 by McCarthy out of his career debut in May 2008, the Sky Mesa colt shook free in the stretch of the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) and held off Lane’s End Stakes (G2) winner Hold Me Back by 1 1/2 lengths. (To view a video of the Blue Grass Stakes, click here.)
The connections of Hold Me Back were pleased with his performance, and he emerged from the Blue Grass in good condition on Sunday.
"He came out of the race in good order," said Leana Willaford, assistant to Racing Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. "He’s hungry as always. It was a good race for him, and he’ll be ready to come back in three weeks. We couldn’t ask for him to be any better this morning."
The Giant’s Causeway colt has three wins and one second in five career starts. Mott trains Hold Me Back for WinStar Farm, whose vice president and racing manager, Elliott Walden, said the colt will be pointed to the Kentucky Derby.
“I don’t see why not,” Walden said. “We’re very pleased with the effort, but we’ll let the horse tell us.
“He ran well, very well. A little wide on both turns, but they went slow up front and he finished strong.”
Al Stall Jr., trainer of Blue Grass Stakes fourth-place finisher Terrain, was not ready to commit to the Kentucky Derby despite sufficient graded stakes earnings to ensure a spot in the field.
"We’ve got the luxury of earnings, three weeks time, and we don’t have to ship," Stall said. "The Derby is a possibility, but I don’t want to put a percentage on it. We will just see how things go.”
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
