Look Back: Heavenly Prize Dominates 1995 John A. Morris

In conjunction with Tom Hall's Throwback Thursday features in BloodHorse Daily, BloodHorse.com each Thursday will present corresponding race stories from the pages of the magazine. This week is a recap of the 1995 John A. Morris Handicap (G1) (now the Personal Ensign Stakes) won by Heavenly Prize. The story, part of a race report written by Bill Finley, carried the subhead "Heaven on the Hoof" and appeared in the Aug. 26, 1995 issue of The Blood-Horse.



Heaven on the Hoof

While some may argue who the best horse in the country is, Thunder Gulch or Cigar, there's no doubt who the best older filly is. Already an Eclipse Award winner, Heavenly Prize is starting to win her races with devastating ease. She knocked out seven opponents quicker than Mike Tyson flattened that tomato can in his comeback fight, winning the Aug. 20 John A. Morris Handicap (G1) by 8 1/2 lengths over Forcing Bid.

Ogden Phipps homebred Heavenly Prize was always good, but she was second in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1), lost her 1995 debut, and was an unimpressive winner of the June 18 Hempstead Handicap (G1). Since then, however, she has turned it up a notch, first with an 11-length win in the Go for Wand (G1), then with a repeat performance in the John A. Morris.

"She's really turning into an awfully, awfully good horse," said winning trainer Shug McGaughey. "She really matured over the winter and you can see it in her size and strength. She's as good a one as I've ever been around."

McGaughey has watched the Ogden Phipps homebred filly develop through the year and knew that she was about to run another powerful race.

"I was confident," he said. "I was a little nervous before the Go for Wand because her Hempstead was not as good as I had hoped. Maybe that was my fault—I had been babying her. When she left the barn today, it was clear that she wanted to come over here and run."

Heavenly Prize tends to take her time in the early part of her races, then she explodes. Jade Flush led the Morris field through an opening half-mile run in :48.11, while jockey Pat Day allowed Heavenly Prize to settle into sixth. She started to gather momentum approaching the far turn and kept rolling like a train. She had drawn to within 1 1/2 lengths of the leaders at the top of the stretch and kept right on going, easily drawing away to another impressive victory.

"I could tell she didn't like the dirt in her face, so I eased her out on the backside," Day said. "She started running on better then. At the three-eighths pole, she started lengthening her stride and picking it up and, because she was carrying 127 pounds, I didn't want to restrain her from running. I didn't anticipate being on the lead at the head of the stretch, so I didn't really ask her. I just kept her momentum going."

Heavenly Prize paid $2.30 and completed the 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:04.16. Over a surface that was comparable to the one faced by Thunder Gulch the day before (in the Travers Stakes [G1]), she ran 0.46 seconds slower than he did. The win was Heavenly Prize's fourth straight in a grade 1 event.

McGaughey, still intent on keeping Heavenly Prize and stablemate Inside Information apart until the Breeders' Cup Distaff, has toyed with various schedules for Heavenly Prize and even considered running her on the grass in the Beverly D. Stakes (G1T) or against males at some point. His current plans are to run Inside Information in the Ruffian Handicap (G1) and Heavenly Prize in the Beldame Stakes (G1) before finally letting the two meet in the Breeders' Cup.

Addendum: Heavenly Prize ran second, 13 1/2 lengths behind Inside Information, in the 1995 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park.