NEWS
Whatsthescript back to racing after standing in California
Posted: Thursday, July 08, 2010 3:08 PM
WHATSTHESCRIPT
Benoit & Associates photo
by Jeff Lowe
Whatsthescript (Ire), a multiple graded stakes winner who was retired last fall and introduced as a stallion at Tommy Town Thoroughbreds for the 2010 season, will return to racing on Saturday in the $100,000 Battlefield Stakes at Monmouth Park.
The six-year-old Royal Applause (GB) horse has recorded three workouts at Aqueduct with new trainer Gary Contessa, beginning with a six-furlong move in 1:14.60 on June 23.
Listed with a $4,000 stud fee at owners Tom and Debi Stull’s Tommy Town in Santa Ynez, California, Whatsthescript finished eighth in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) on November 7 for trainer John Sadler in his most recent start.
Tom Stull said Whatsthescript covered about 30 mares, mostly from their own broodmare band, while he recovered from a minor soft tissue injury.
“These synthetic tracks here on the West Coast are bad for soft tissue injuries so we decided to bring him back in the East, where he could train on dirt,” Stull said. “We thought we would give it a shot, and he behaved very well and trained super aggressively on his own at our ranch, which has a regular dirt track. He just loves to train.”
Whatsthescript finished third in the 2008 Mile after posting victories in the American Handicap (G2) and Del Mar Mile Handicap (G2). He has earned $907,964.
“A lot of times, horses just don’t run after they breed, whether it’s mares or whether it’s stallions,” Contessa said. “It will be interesting to see how he does, but he’s been the consummate professional and done everything right for me at Aqueduct. If nobody told me he bred mares, I would have never known.”
The Battlefield, at one mile on the turf, also drew New York-bred stakes winners Banrock and Minnie Punt. Whatsthescript has the outside post in a field of nine.
“He’s not 100% ready, but he’s right where you want a horse coming off a layoff, a solid 80%,” Contessa said. “If he can get a trip, he can beat those horses.”
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer
