Surprising Soul Pulls Lonesome Glory Surprise

Wendy Hendriks' Surprising Soul runs best when he is fresh, and after a four-month holiday he pulled a 17.60-to-1 surprise Sept. 19 when he set all the pace in Belmont Park's $150,000 Lonesome Glory Handicap (NSA-G1) and stole away to a 3 3/4-length victory.

With Ross Geraghty aboard, the Perfect Soul 7-year-old was never seriously challenged after the first 100 yards and ran the Lonesome Glory's 2 1/2-mile distance in 4:34.41 on firm turf. Bred in Ontario by Charles Fipke, Surprising Soul returned $37.20 on a $2 win bet.

Two veteran longshots, Harold "Sonny" Via's Hinterland and Buttonwood Farm's All the Way Jose, filled the other two top spots. Hinterland, 43.25-to-1, made steady progress to finish second by 3 1/4 lengths over 48.25-to-1 All the Way Jose, who won the 2017 edition of the Lonesome Glory and has been winless since.

All the Way Jose's stablemate, Winston C, encountered some late traffic issues, struck a beacon nearing the homestretch while in tight, and finished fourth as the .90-to-1 favorite.

Trained by Jonathan Sheppard, Winston C dominated Saratoga Race Course's A. P. Smithwick Memorial (NSA-G1) and the New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (NSA-G1) over the summer.

The year's other grade 1 winner, Bruton Street-US's Scorpiancer, showed little and finished fifth, a length behind Winston C, and Bruton Street-US's Moscato was eighth in a nine-horse field.

Ricky Hendriks, who trains Surprising Soul for his mother, recorded his second straight Lonesome Glory win after the victory of Rosbrian Farm's eventual Eclipse Award winner Zanjabeel last year.

The win broke an extended dry spell for Hendriks, who was contending for the trainer championship late last year and was denied the title by a late surge from Jack Fisher, who trains Hinterland, Scorpiancer, and Moscato.

Geraghty, last year's leading steeplechase jockey by purse earnings, credited Hendriks with scaling back on Surprising Soul's racing schedule. In 2017, Surprising Soul won two early races and then tailed off at the end of a seven-race season.

Last year, Surprising Soul made three starts and won two stakes, Radnor Hunt Races' National Hunt Cup (NSA-G3) and Saratoga's Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes before a second in a division of the Far Hills Races' Foxbrook Champion Hurdle. Those three starts were worth $97,500 in earnings.

The Lonesome Glory was Surprising Soul's third start of the year, following a fourth in the Carolina Cup in late March and a second to Scorpiancer, beaten a length, in the May 11 Calvin Houghland Iroquois (NSA-G1) in Nashville.

Geraghty took advantage of a field with little early lick and sent Surprising Soul to a two-length advantage after All the Way Jose chose not to press him too closely.

The frontrunner jumped well while Winston C occupied his usual spot at the back of the field. He lost some ground over the next-to-last fence and took an inside route on the final turn before bouncing off the beacon while inside Scorpiancer, losing some ground, and resuming his challenge.

By then, Surprising Soul opened 4 1/2 lengths at the furlong pole and sealed a grade 1 victory for his mother. The $90,000 first-place purse increased Surprising Soul's 2019 earnings to $119,500.