Connections Believe Jerkens Stakes Fits Firenze Fire
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher
Firenze Fire was alone at the wire in the Dwyer Stakes July 7 at Belmont Park
Trainer Jason Servis says it was rather simple to convince Ron Lombardi that it made sense to skip the $1 million Betfair.com Haskell Invitational (G1) at Monmouth Park.
Oh, there was a phone call—or two—but in the end Lombardi put aside his bucket list of owning a starter in his home state of New Jersey's richest and most important race and was happy to run his grade 1 winner Firenze Fire in the Aug. 25 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Presented by Runhappy (G1) at Saratoga Race Course for half the purse money.
"I would have loved to run in the Haskell, but it wasn't the right thing to do, time-wise, with three weeks rest after a big win, and distance-wise, at a mile and an eighth." Lombardi said.
In eschewing the two-turn Haskell and pointing toward the $500,000 Jerkens at seven furlongs—and like the Haskell restricted to 3-year-olds—Servis kept Firenze Fire at a one-turn distance that the bay colt seems to relish. All five of the Poseidon Warrior colt's wins have come at one turn, including last year's Champagne Stakes (G1) and his nine-length romp in the July 7 Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Belmont Park.
"I think a mile or seven furlongs or maybe even six furlongs will be his forte," said Lombardi, who races Firenze Fire under the ownership banner of Mr. Amore Stable and also bred the colt, out of Langfuhr mare My Every Wish, at his Florida farm.
Facing eight rivals, including the speedy Amsterdam Stakes (G3) winner Promises Fulfilled, in a grade 1 sprint stakes at the Spa will hardly be a snap, yet it will pose a much different challenge than the one Firenze Fire faced in the winter and spring.
Lombardi, who has spent the bulk of his roughly 10 years as an owner playing the claiming game, came down with a serious case of Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) fever after Firenze Fire beat Good Magic by a half-length in the Champagne to give him first grade 1 victory as an owner.
A 20-length loss behind the victorious Good Magic in the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) was a disappointment, but a decades-old dream of seeing one of his horses in the Run for the Roses remained etched in Lombardi's mind, especially after finding out his colt's chances were compromised by an elevated temperature.
With 10 points to Firenze Fire's credit in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series from the Champagne, Servis mapped out a path to Louisville on the first Saturday in May that revolved around running in all four of New York Racing Association's monthly 3-year-old preps. A win in the Jerome Stakes started the quest and a fourth in the Wood Memorial Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) completed the journey and left Lombardi's runner with 39 points, enough to secure a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate.
Lombardi's maiden trip to the Kentucky Derby as an owner resulted in an 11th place finish by Firenze Fire and afterwards Servis mapped out a revamped campaign for the remainder of the year.
"We didn't have the luxury of giving him some rest all winter because we were trying to get Kentucky Derby points," Servis said. "We were under the gun to get to the Derby. It was one of the things Ron had requested so it was great that it worked out. Once it was over, we took a step back and let the horse tell us what he wants to do."
Servis' plan called for giving Firenze Fire a little more than two months off and the multiple graded stakes winner responded to the freshening with a career-best effort in the Dwyer over a field that included Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) starter Mendelssohn, who was a distant third.
"After the Dwyer. it wasn't that hard to pass on the Haskell because it was only three weeks later. We know he's better when he's fresh. We gave him nine weeks off for the Dwyer and you saw how that turned out," said Lombardi, whose colt has earned $834,100. "He did what he needed to do to get us to the Derby and he fulfilled my dreams. Now I have to respect him and do what's right for him."
On Saturday Firenze Fire will again be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., who was aboard for all three of the homebred's three graded stakes wins and (through Aug. 22) has a 10-win lead (40-30) over Javier Castellano for the Saratoga jockeys' title with 29 of the meet's 40 days in the book.
"Irad has been riding terrific at Saratoga," Servis said. "I have a lot of confidence when he rides for me and I've won a lot of races with him."
Like Firenze Fire, Promises Fulfilled also ran in the Kentucky Derby and the son of Shackleford set the early pace in the 1 1/4-mile classic before retreating to 15th, nearly 40 lengths behind the victorious Justify.
Owned by Robert J. Baron and trained by Dale Romans, Promises Fulfilled was then third in the Woody Stephens (G2) before he rebounded with a victory in the Amsterdam, his first triumph since a 2 1/4-length score in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park March 3, when he beat Travers favorite Good Magic.
"This race is going to be a little bit tougher (than the Amsterdam), but that was a pretty awesome performance," Romans said about the colt bred in Kentucky by David Jacobs and sold for $37,000 at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. "He's done nothing wrong since then and he's trained well every day, so I think we'll see another big effort out of him."
Romans also will also send out West Point Thoroughbreds' Seven Trumpets, the Dwyer runner-up, in Saturday's grade 1 stakes, which was formerly known as the King's Bishop before it was renamed last year in honor of the legendary Hall of Fame trainer who passed away in 2015.
The rest of the field includes Telekinesis, Engage, who was second in the Amsterdam, Givemeaminit, Gidu, Still Having Fun, and Funny Duck.
Saratoga Race Course, Saturday, August 25, 2018, Race 6Entries: H. Allen Jerkens S. Presented by Runhappy (G1)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Promises Fulfilled (KY)
Luis Saez
121
Dale L. Romans
8/5
2
2Telekinesis (ON)
Javier Castellano
117
Mark E. Casse
20/1
3
3Engage (KY)
Jose L. Ortiz
119
Chad C. Brown
4/1
4
4Givemeaminit (LA)
Julien R. Leparoux
117
Dallas Stewart
30/1
5
5Seven Trumpets (KY)
Robby Albarado
117
Dale L. Romans
15/1
6
6Gidu (IRE)
John R. Velazquez
117
Todd A. Pletcher
10/1
7
7Still Having Fun (MD)
Joel Rosario
121
Timothy L. Keefe
6/1
8
8Firenze Fire (FL)
Irad Ortiz, Jr.
121
Jason Servis
5/2
9
9Funny Duck (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
119
George R. Arnold, II
30/1
