Casa Creed Charges Home in Fourstardave
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Casa Creed wins the Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga Race Course
As arguably the most well-known and successful practitioner of sports talk radio, Mike Francesa has covered or discussed every major sporting event in the United States.
Maybe the world.
Yet there's something about winning a horse race, especially a grade 1 stakes, that brings out the kind of smile he would flash whenever his beloved New York Yankees won the World Series.
At Saratoga Race Course Aug. 13, euphoria abounded as Francesa and his racing partner Lee Einsidler celebrated yet another top-level by their 6-year-old Jimmy Creed horse Casa Creed as he wiped away any doubts about his abilities at a mile on turf by winning the $485,000 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) over the classy mare Regal Glory before a crowd of 38,629.
"It's been unbelievable," said Francesa, who races with Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott under the banner of JEH Racing Stable, named for his children Jack, Emily, and Harrison. "Lee and I had a lot of heartache with High Oak . He won the Saratoga Special (G2) last year and we thought he was a Kentucky Derby (G1) horse, but then he (fell) in the Fountain of Youth (G2) and hasn't run back.
"He'll run next year but that shows you the differences in the game. You get all this happiness with Casa Creed and heartache with High Oak. That's the game and why the wins are so sweet in horse racing. They are like nothing else in sports."
In handing Regal Glory her first 2022 loss in four starts and snapping her four-race win streak (3 in grade 1s), Casa Creek showed an old yet new dimension.
At 3, Casa Creed won the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (G3T) at a mile and raced twice in the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T), yet he finished third in the last two editions of the Fourstardave.
Mott's belief that six-to-seven furlongs are best for the Jimmy Creed horse is best reflected in victories in the last two runnings of the six-furlong Jaipur Stakes (G1T), the most recent of which earned him a free spot in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T).
Now, after taking the "Win and You're In" Fourstardave, he also has a free spot in the Mile, creating a very pleasant dilemma for the connections after Casa Creed won for just the third time in 14 tries at a mile on turf.
Casa Creed rallies outside of rivals on his way to victory in the Fourstardave
"We'll talk about that," said a non-committal Mott about which Breeders' Cup race seemed best for the 6-year-old. "We've already started to hash it out."
Plotting a strategy for the Fourstardave was the key to victory Saturday as the game plan was for jockey Luis Saez to sit back and make one run with the half-brother to grade 3 winner Chess's Dream , just as he would in a sprint.
"Tip him out and run them down," Einsidler said. "It's not that hard, Bill. It's hard getting up at 5 in the morning."
Francesa, who was never shy about voicing an opinion on his famed "Mike and the Mad Dog" radio show on WFAN, also saw the merit in a patient ride, like the ones in his previous 2022 starts that resulted in a second Jaipur win and a fifth in the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint Sponsored By Azizi Developments (G1), and a second by a neck in the $1.5 million 1351 Turf Sprint Cup (G3) in Saudi Arabia during a winter stay in the Middle East.
"People thought because he was in a sprint he had to be up close, but that's not the way for him to run at a mile," Francesa said. "He has a great kick. I thought if he could be patient and make one run he could win, and he did, beating a great filly. For breeding, it was big to get him a grade 1 at two turns."
The pace in the Fourstardave was set by Get Smokin , who led in the mile test through fractions of :24.01, :47.94, and 1:11.24 on firm turf with Juddmonte's Masen chasing in second.
On the final turn, Peter Brant's Regal Glory, the 1-2 favorite, launched her move three wide. Those three were lined across the track in mid-stretch, yet outside of them, the one moving fastest was Casa Creed ($10.40), who was last early but swept by them in the final furlong and crossed the wire ahead by 1 1/2 lengths in a time of 1:34.20 as the third choice in the field of five.
"He's in great form and won two grade 1s since coming back (from the Middle East), so scrap that theory that they can't travel and do good," Mott said.
Casa Creed's connections enjoy the Fourstardave trophy presentation
The Chad Brown-trained Regal Glory, who was bidding to become the third female winner of the Fourstardave in four years, was second by a half-length over stablemate Masen, a son of Kingman . The daughter of Animal Kingdom kept alive a streak of females finishing first or second the last four years, which was built on two wins and a second by Got Stormy in the Fourstardave.
"She just didn't have what it took to win," Brown said.
Bred by Silver Spring Stud out of the Bellamy Road mare Achalaya , Casa Creed is the first of her six foals. She also has a 2-year-old Distorted Humor colt, a yearling Omaha Beach colt, and a 2022 Authentic filly.
He was bought for $105,000 from the Kelli Mitchell consignment at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and has won seven of 27 starts with earnings of $1,703,308.
Saturday's all-sources handle was $29,775,150.