War Like Goddess Faces Gufo, Other Males in Joe Hirsch

When the New York Racing Association moved the Flower Bowl Stakes (G2T) from the Belmont Park fall meet to Saratoga Race Course, it created a void in the filly and mare turf division.

As it turns out, it also generated an intriguing battle of the sexes in the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T) Oct. 8 at the Belmont at the Big A meet.

Without a fall top-level turf stakes for fillies and mares in New York, trainer Bill Mott was faced with a couple of options for his grade 1-winning mare War Like Goddess . 

One was sending the 5-year-old daughter of English Channel  to Canada for Saturday's E.P. Taylor Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine against females, but Mott passed on that, leaving the longer Joe Hirsch at Aqueduct Racetrack as the final Breeders' Cup prep for George Krikorian's stretch-running mare.

"We considered the E.P. Taylor at a mile-and-a-quarter, and it's a grade 1, but I like the distance of the Joe Hirsch at a mile-and-a-half. I thought that suited her better," Mott said.

In facing six males Saturday, the Joe Hirsch will be a fitting Breeders' Cup prep for the mare bred by Calumet Farm. Mott said if all goes well, the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) at 1 1/2 miles against males on Nov. 5 at Keeneland will be the next start for the produce of the North Light  mare Misty North  instead of the 1 3/16-mile Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T).

"We're going to the Turf if we go to the Breeders' Cup," the Hall of Fame conditioner said. "The Filly & Mare Turf is too short for her."

Bought for $30,000 by H N D Bloodstock from the Hemingway Racing and Training Stables consignment at the 2019 Ocala Breeders' Sales' June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age, the $1.3 million earner is coming off a second by a neck in the Sept. 3 Flower Bowl to Virginia Joy , a race in which she was compromised by traffic issues and a slow pace. It was the 5-year-old's first loss in three starts since closing out last year with a third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

"She's training very well, and I'm very happy with her," Mott, a four-time Joe Hirsch winner, said about the winner of eight of 11 starts, all of them against females.

Should War Like Goddess improve her record to 5-for-5 at 1 1/2 miles with a victory Saturday, she would join some rather exclusive company. The last female to win the Joe Hirsch was the brilliant All Along, who prevailed in 1983 when the stakes was last contested at Aqueduct and was known as the Turf Classic. The list of distaff victors also includes April Run, Anifa, and Waya.

As for the guys, trainers Christophe Clement and Chad Brown will both send out two starters in Saturday's staying test. 

Clement's duo features Otter Bend Stables' Gufo , a grade 1 winner at 3, 4, and now 5, and the grade 1-placed Soldier Rising , a 4-year-old who is exiting a third behind the victorious Gufo in the Aug. 27 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga.

"I'm excited to see the two of them perform Saturday," Clement said.

Gufo, a son of Declaration of War , followed up his Sword Dancer win with a nose loss to Red Knight  in the Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) at Kentucky Downs. He is 9-4-5 from 20 starts with earnings of $2,169,030.

"Gufo is coming off a very good race. He's very solid. Even his bad races are good races," Clement said. "(Owner) Dr. Stephen Cainelli is a wonderful man and has been rewarded for being a sportsman and keeping him in training."

Soldier Rising, a gelded son of Frankel  owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables, and Michael Caruso, has been a gem of consistency for Clement. He has finished no worse than third in eight of nine starts since moving from Europe to the United States as a 3-year-old.

"He's very consistent, and he should like the distance," Clement said.

Brown, a three-time Joe Hirsch winner, entered 2021 Joe Hirsch winner Rockemperor  and United Nations Stakes (G1T) winner Adhamo . Both horses ran in the Sword Dancer with Adhamo eighth and Rockemperor ninth on good turf.

Adhamo, a son of Intello , races for Madaket Stables, Dubb, Louis Lazzinnaro, and Caruso, while Rockemperor, a Holy Roman Emperor  6-year-old, runs for Madaket Stables, Dubb, Wonder Stables, Michael Kisber, and Caruso.

"I really like Solider Rising off that last race and Christophe has been very high on him," said Sol Kumin, who heads Madaket Stables. "I don't think Adhamo liked the soft turf in the Sword Dancer. We thought about training up to the Breeders' Cup, but Chad's plan is to run Saturday and if he likes the ground he'll be competitive. It will depend on the ground for Rockemperor because he does not like soft ground."

The field also includes Alex G. Campbell Jr.'s Bye Bye Melvin  (Uncle Mo  ) and John M. B. O'Connor's grade 2 winner Astronaut  (Quality Road  ).

Entries: Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. (G1T)

Belmont at the Big A, Saturday, October 08, 2022, Race 8

• Grade IT
• 1 1/2m
• Turf
• $500,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 4:20 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Bye Bye Melvin (KY)	Feargal Lynch	126	H. Graham Motion	8/1
2	2War Like Goddess (KY)	Jose Lezcano	123	William I. Mott	7/5
3	3Adhamo (IRE)	Dylan Davis	126	Chad C. Brown	6/1
4	4Astronaut (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	126	Thomas Albertrani	30/1
5	5Rockemperor (IRE)	Javier Castellano	126	Chad C. Brown	10/1
6	6Soldier Rising (GB)	Manuel Franco	126	Christophe Clement	6/1
7	7Gufo (KY)	Junior Alvarado	126	Christophe Clement	2/1