The Week in Review: Page McKenney, Racing’s Blue Collar Hero

[Wandering Eyes]

The biggest news in racing last week was the decision to pull Audible (Into Mischief) from the GI Belmont S. The decision was made by trainer Todd Pletcher, who said he wasn’t happy with the way the horse was training. Audible is a $500,000 purchase at the 2-year-old sales and, now, will not be facing Justify (Scat Daddy), a $500,000 purchase at the yearling sales and a horse going for the Triple Crown in the $1.5 million Belmont. Both are owned by a collection of owners led by WinStar Farm and the China Horse Club, two of the sport’s most prominent and richest owners. Then there were the reports that the goliath Coolmore is going to step in and pay $60 million for the breeding rights for Justify, a development WinStar has said is still up in the air.

Those are head-spinning numbers and further evidence that the sport has never been more skewed toward the wealthiest, most prominent breeders and owners. They have the most money, they buy the best horses, they hire the best trainers, they seem to win all the major races. This is America. Nothing wrong with that.

Then again, isn’t is nice to see the little guy with the over-achieving horse do some good every once in a while? That’s owner Adam Staple and his gelding Page McKenney (Eavesdropper).

The story begins way back in 2013 when Staple, then a poker dealer at the Las Vegas casinos, decided to claim a horse. Trainer Mary Eppler saw something she liked in Page McKenney and claimed the horse on behalf of Staple for $16,000. It certainly wasn’t about the pedigree. Sire Eavesdropper now stands in Libya. Yes, Libya.

Whenever you claim a horse for $16,000, you’re not expecting much, and Staple was perfectly happy when Page McKenney went on to win a $25,000 claimer and a starter allowance.

He was just getting started.

Page McKenney won a Pennsylvania-bred stakes race at Penn National in August 2014. It was his first of 14 stakes wins, and two of them are graded wins. He has 22 wins overall. The latest came Saturday at Monmouth in the GIII Salvator Mile. Sent off at 7-1, he won by a half-length over Shaft of Light (Smart Strike). His career earnings now stand at $1,870,940.

“There are so many big owners now and with all these big powerhouses doing these partnerships, it’s harder and harder for the little guy to fit in and win graded races,” said Staple. “You don’t want to think you’re the last of a dying breed, but sometimes I feel that way. When you win with a horse like this, you really do think, ‘Hooray for the little guy.’ It really is a special thing.”

Page McKenney earned $354,400 in 2017, but finished the year with an eighth-place finish in the GIII Harlan’s Holiday S. Off that race and with the horse having turned eight, Staple began to wonder if the run was over. Instead, the gelding started off 2018 with a win in a restricted stakes at Gulftstream and then finished a competitive fourth in the GII Gulfstream Park Hardacre Mile S. The Salvator Mile was not an easy field, but Page McKenney was clearly best.

“Every time you think it’s winding down and then you see it’s not over yet,” Staple said. “He’s been training so well and has no physical ailments at all.”

Page McKenney has never started in a Grade I race and has made only seven starts in graded company. Staple says he sometimes regrets not trying the toughest level of competition at least once, but says that Eppler has managed the horse perfectly and that’s a primary reason Page McKenney is still going strong at age eight.

“Mary has been trying not to do over do it with him,” he said. “For him to maintain his form for this long, you just shake your head and realize it’s just part of the whole insanity of this story.”

The Salvator Mile is part of the Mid-Atlantic Thoroughbred Championship (MATCH) Series and there are bonuses given to the point leaders in each division. The GIII Philip H. Iselin S. is next on the MATCH schedule, so that is likely where Page McKenney will go next. With the money he’s made with Page McKenney, Staple has bought some other horses, but none have turned out to be anything like the star of the stable. With Page McKenney now eight, Staple realizes the run can’t last much longer. When it ends, he knows his life is going to change.

“You can’t stop worrying that things are going to start winding down and if the rest of the barn isn’t performing especially well, all of that is going to make a big difference,” he said. “I’m still an average middle class guy and that gives you a different perspective on life. Losing a horse like this affects someone like me a lot more than the WinStars or Coolmores of the world. They can always move on to the next great horse. I can’t. It really forces you to reflect on life and how, for me, it won’t be long until things are back to normal.”

A Big Day for Accelerate

With Justify rightly grabbing all the headlines this year, with Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) dominating in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational and with West Coast (Flatter) considered the leading active older horse in the country, Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) has flown under the radar this year. But it’s time to take him seriously and, if Justify does not win the Belmont, as a possible Horse of the Year candidate. He turned in a 111 Beyer when cruising to an easy 4 1/4-length win in the GI Gold Cup at Santa Anita. The field may not have been what he will see in a GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it was far from soft. It included City of Light (Quality Road), who had just beaten Accelerate in the GII Oaklawn H., and the vastly improved Dr. Dorr (Lookin at Lucky) from the Bob Baffert stable.

Accelerate has never been better and runs his best races at a mile-and-a-quarter, which bodes well for his chances in the Classic.

As a side note, it looks like this may have been the last ever Gold Cup, which used to be the Hollywood Gold Cup. All indications are that Santa Anita will move the GI Santa Anita Handicap to the same date on the calender as that race very much to needs to get away from the GI Dubai World Cup, a race it has little chance of competing with.

The Battle of the Brothers

Here’s a rarity: Little brother Brother Chub (Hey Chub) got the better of his big brother Chublicious (Hey Chub) in Saturday’s John J. Reilly Handicap at Monmouth for New Jersey-breds. The 6-year-old won by 2 1/2 lengths over the 7-year-old. Both are out of the mare Sassy Broad and were bred by Joe-Dan Farm. It was the fourth straight win for Brother Chub.

 

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