Say the Word Last to First in Hollywood Turf Cup
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Say the Word wins the Hollywood Turf Cup at Del Mar
Say the Word could see them all as the field hit the stretch run in the Hollywood Turf Cup (G2T) Nov. 26 at Del Mar and that clear view was just the way jockey Kent Desormeaux and trainer Phil D'Amato wanted it.
Say the Word, a 6-year-old More Than Ready gelding, rallied from last of seven with a sweeping move into the lane and was in full flight to win by one length over stablemate and pacesetter Acclimate . He paid $13 for a $2 bet.
Friar's Road raced right in front of Say the Word and rallied along with the winner to finish third. The odds-on favorite, Rockemperor , reported fifth as his late bid stalled out mid-stretch.
Say the Word came into the Hollywood Turf Cup as the winner of just one of six previous 2021 races. D'Amato, who saddled the exacta, said that was largely a matter of circumstances.
"He's just kind of been one of those horses that's been riddled with traffic trouble this past year," D'Amato said.
Desormeaux said he had the solution, which involved following Friar's Road and jockey Umberto Rispoli, through most of the 1 1/2 miles.
"A lot of credit is due to Phil, right here, because he said he can't figure out how to get him to turn off," Desormeaux said of his mount. "I said I'll just do the European style and just shove him up somebody's tail and he just galloped around the racetrack.
"And the inside joke for me is that my peers always ask me who's my star. And what that means is I'll put a star by the horse that I think that is going to carry me to like 70 yards from the wire. And Umbi (Rispoli) had the star today."
Jockey Kent Desormeaux (left) and trainer Phil D'Amato after Say the Word's win in the Hollywood Turf Cup
D'Amato called Desormeaux "a trainer's dream" because he doesn't need detailed instructions.
"He did exactly what he said. He followed Umberto around there and at the top of the lane he angled out and didn't get him in trouble, let him stretch his legs, and he got the job done."
Of watching Acclimate get caught after doing all the early work, D'Amato said, "It's so bittersweet. I love that horse so much. He gives it his all, all the time. And to get beat the way he did, his day will come."
Say the Word, out of the Giant's Causeway mare Danceforthecause , was bred in Ontario by Sam-Son Farm. He races for a partnership of that entity and Agave Racing Stable. He is the first foal out of the mare and is a half brother to grade 2 winner Rideforthecause. Danceforthecause has a Street Sense yearling filly and foaled a Twirling Candy colt this year.
The gelding spent most of his career east of the Mississippi with trainer H. Graham Motion, racing from Florida and Louisiana north to Woodbine. He finished sixth in the 2018 Queen's Plate and reached the high point of his career with an upset victory in the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes Presented by Pattison (G1T) at Woodbine Oct. 18, 2020.
He finished third in the 2020 Hollywood Turf Cup in his first trip to California and returned to train on the West Coast early in 2021. He shipped back east to win the Elkhorn Stakes (G2T) at Keeneland in April—his only previous win of this year's campaign.