It took Richard Mandella 23 years to return to the Haskell Stakes (G1) but it was well worth the wait.
It was back in 2000 that the Hall of Fame trainer won the Haskell with Dixie Union and since then he could never find a good enough reason to travel cross-country to the Jersey Shore for Monmouth Park's centerpiece stakes for 3-year-olds.
Then Jim Bernhard bought a horse for his wife, Dana, as a birthday present.
"It was the gift that keeps giving," he said.
That was followed by Bernhard buying historic Pin Oak Stud in Kentucky this past November.
"Some people put the cart before the horse," Bernhard said. "I bought the horse before the farm."
Next, he turned that initial horse, a $350,000 son of Candy Ride named Geaux Rocket Ride , over to Mandella.
"We did what we needed to do to be successful," said Bernhard, who now owns 77 horses, "and we were successful."
Indeed they were.
In fact, Mandella's return to Monmouth was extremely successful as Geaux Rocket Ride catapulted Mandella back to the winner's circle at Monmouth in the $1,017,500 race after an absence of more than two decades. The victory muddled an already contentious 3-year-old male division with a convincing 12-1 victory over Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Mage in front of a crowd of 35,286 who contributed to a Haskell Day all-sources record handle of $21,359,580 on New Jersey's premier day of racing.
After missing the Santa Anita Derby (G1) and the Triple Crown due to a fever and a high white cell count on the day of California's major Kentucky Derby prep, Geaux Rocket Rode made up for lost time by taking charge in the final eighth and powering to 1 3/4-length victory that painted him as one of the top 3-year-olds—but not a leading contender for the blockbuster division showdown in the Aug. 26 Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.
While savoring the victory, Mandella said Geaux Rocket Ride would head back to California and was unlikely to return east for the Mid-Summer Derby at the Spa.
"I don't like the idea of bringing him here, bringing him back to California, and coming back for the Travers," Mandella said. "We pushed him to this point and we don't want to keep pushing. The Travers doesn't seem like the right thing to do."
While skipping the Travers will take Geaux Rocket Ride out of the running for a $1 million BetMakers bonus for a 3-year-old who can sweep the Haskell, Travers, and Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), he did secure a free spot back home in the Classic through the Breeders Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In.
"That's another step up and we'll have to see what happens," Mandella said about the Nov. 4 race at Mandella's base at Santa Anita Park.
Meanwhile, the Travers was on the tip of the tongue of Mage's connections who are hopeful that a runner-up finish in the Haskell will have their son of Good Magic razor sharp for the Midsummer Derby after estimating him to be 85% ready for the Haskell after a two-month layoff since a third in the May 20 Preakness Stakes (G1).
"We're over the moon," co-owner Ramiro Restrepo said. "Sometimes you get a win without winning and that's the feeling today. We tried to be transparent about his conditioning and they had too much horse for us. Hats off to Mr. Mandella."
The role of favorite in the Haskell went to Zedan Racing Stables' Arabian Knight , trainer Bob Baffert's hope for an unprecedented 10th Haskell win.
A 6-5 favorite with jockey John Velazquez, the undefeated son of Uncle Mo had not raced since taking the Jan. 28 Southwest Staeks (G3) but he seemed highly capable of controlling the pace and the race.
As it turned out, he was able to sit just off 61-1 longshot Awesome Strong before moving to the front on the backstretch after a half-mile in :47.11.
Mike Smith and Geaux Rocket Ride ($27.40) were about two lengths behind in third on the backstretch and then launched a strong, three-wide move on the final turn. Winner of the June 4 Affirmed Stakes in his last start, Geaux Rocket Rode powered past a tiring Arabian Knight entering the stretch and then responded and pulled clear when Mage drew alongside him in mid-stretch to complete the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.52, a time .47 faster than the older grade 1 winner Proxy 's clocking in the Monmouth Cup (G3) earlier on the card.
"There is no better man to have this horse than Mr. Mandella," Smith said. "He's only going to get better. We saw that today. This was the deepest Haskell field I have seen in a long time. For him to perform like that is a credit to Mr. Mandella and his whole team. Of course, Geaux Rocket Ride deserves all the credit, too."
Twenty-three years later, Mandella was delighted to be back in New Jersey and taking home the $600,000 winner's share of the purse.
"I'm 72," he said, "and I thought I am not going to let this get away from me. I'm going to go again."
Mage, the 4-1 second choice owned by OGMA Investments, Restrepo, Sterling Racing, and CMNWLTH, and trained by Gustavo Delgado, finished two lengths ahead of Arabian Knight.
"It's quite possible the long layoff caught up to (Arabian Knight)," said assistant trainer Jim Barnes, who saddled Arabian Knight for Baffert. "He was just third best today."
Winchell Thoroughbreds' Extra Anejo , making his stakes debut, was another two lengths back in fourth.
Bred in Kentucky by OXO Equine out of the Uncle Mo mare Beyond Grace , Geaux Rocket Ride was purchased from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale.