Mr Havercamp Returns With a Victory in Forbidden Apple

There are times when the best decisions are the ones you do not make.

When trainer Catherine Day Phillips heard about the rain that pelted Saratoga Race Course July 11, she pondering scratching Mr Havercamp out of the following day's $150,000 Forbidden Apple Stakes (G3T) at the Spa.

Her reasoning? In his previous start, Mr Havercamp was 13th and last in the Dec. 15 Fort Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park over a soaked course labeled good.

"He was training well, and the timing was perfect," Day Phillips said. "And then when I saw rain in the forecast for Saratoga, I tried to talk everybody out of it, but obviously it worked out the way it was supposed to."

By sticking with the best-laid plans, Day Phillips and owners Sean and Dorothy Fitzhenry were rewarded when Mr Havercamp rolled to the lead in the stretch and posted a half-length victory over yielding turf in the 5-year-old gelding's first start in about eight months.

"There was rain on top of the grass that day at Gulfstream," Day Phillips said. "He was swimming and couldn't get his feet under him. The meet just started here, and the surface is in fabulous shape."

Mr Havercamp, named for a character in the movie "Caddyshack," won the Play the King Stakes (G2T) last year at Woodbine over yielding turf, which helped convince his connections to give him one more chance on something other than a firm course in the July 12 one-mile stakes at the Spa.

"Before the (Fort Lauderdale) when they were warming up, (jockey John Velazquez) thought he'd win," Sean Fitzhenry said. "Then they opened the starting gates, and it all changed."

Day Phillips hoped to wheel back Mr Havercamp in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) following the Fort Lauderdale, but instead he was given a rest and she pointed the homebred son of Court Vision for a summer campaign.

"(The Fort Lauderdale) was a bit of a disaster, so we stopped on him and sent him to Ocala (Fla.) for a bit of break and brought him back at his own pace," Day Phillips said. "This horse is so special to me that I almost felt guilty putting him in such a tough race today."

Day Phillips had the Ontario-bred in prime condition off the layoff as the son of the Medaglia d'Oro  mare Tennessee Lamb won for the eighth time in 13 starts and increased his earnings to $673,886.

Sent off at odds of 13-1 ($29.60), he covered the mile in 1:37.50 under jockey Junior Alvarado.

"I dreamed about being here for a long time," Fitzhenry said as he stood in the winner's circle.

Three Diamonds Farm's Hembree, a son of Proud Citizen, rallied from seventh to take second by a head over Shadwell Stable's Qurbaan, a son of Speightstown  who was sent off as the 2-1 favorite.

The Forbidden Apple also marked the 5-year-old debut of Saratoga-loving Voodoo Song, who came into the race with five wins in six starts at the Spa and won the one-mile Fourstardave Handicap (G1T) at the New York track last year. Owned by Barry Schwartz and trained by Linda Rice, the homebred son of English Channel  was second behind the pace-setting Gidu for the first six furlongs but faded to eighth in the field of 10.

"Linda and I are probably the only two people who aren't disappointed," Schwartz said. "He's been off nine months and definitely needed a race. He was carrying a lot of weight. He had been working once a week, and Linda said she has to get the weight off, so a race will help. I didn't expect him to win. I was hoping to have him run and come back good, and he seems to have come bouncing back, but the rider (Jose Lezcano) said he was really tired, which makes sense. He'll run up here again for sure. I was hoping to run in the Fourstardave (Aug. 10), but after this, unless he really picks it up, I don't know how he can."

After the way things worked out Friday, Day Phillips has another big decision ahead of her. While improving on last year's second-place finish in the Sept. 14 Ricoh Woodbine Mile Stakes (G1T) is the major goal for Mr Havercamp, she's uncertain whether the gelding will run next in the Fourstardave or the Aug. 24 Play the King.

"You have to think about it," she said about the Fourstardave. "It might be in the cards."

Even if it rains.

Video: Forbidden Apple S. (G3T)

Daughter of Lea Wins First Open Juvenile MSW

Day 2 of the 40-day meet saw the first open 2-year-old maiden special weight race of the meet, and it added to an auspicious start for first-year sire Lea  as Vast overcame some greenness to prevail by a half-length over Good Shabbos in a 5 1/2-furlong test for fillies.

A homebred for Adele B. Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm, which stands Lea, the Bill Mott-trained Vast was the second winner for her sire from just seven starters.

A half sister to stakes winner Sower, Vast is a daughter of the Seeking the Gold mare Enth.

"They told me she was very quick, and she showed me that as soon as we left the gate. At the five-sixteenths, she started to wander a little bit and was moving sideways," Alvarado said. "I wasn't sure if she was going to figure out what she had to do, but from the three-sixteenths to the wire, she was another filly. She put it all together and finished with a nice, beautiful run."

Gold Square's Good Shabbos, a daughter of Munnings  who lost by a nose in her June 1 debut at Monmouth Park, finished a head in front of Gatsas Stables and John Gaspar's Pure Wow, a daughter of The Factor , for second.

The final time was 1:04.67.

Video: Race 5 (MSW) at SAR on 7/12/19

Saratoga Honors Mariano Rivera

In the words of master of ceremonies John Imbriale, Saratoga became Yankee Stadium North Friday when impending Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Mariano Rivera was honored after the third race, which was named the Mariano Rivera Hall of Fame.

Rivera, who owns Major League Baseball's career record for saves with 652, was the closer on four New York Yankees teams that won the World Series. This year, he became the first player ever inducted into the Hall of Fame by a unanimous vote and will be inducted July 21 at Cooperstown, N.Y.

The ceremony, which included a video tribute to the legendary Yankee, quite fittingly took place in Saratoga's winner' circle and ended with Rivera calling out to the large number of fans watching to join him in Cooperstown.

"Come up," he said about his induction. "It's something we all should celebrate. It's not about me, it's about New York. Remember, you guys are the greatest fans in baseball, period."