5/16/08 - Student Council Grinds Out 'Special' Win
by Tom LaMarra
Courtesy of the Blood-Horse
Millennium Farms’ Student Council, who hadn’t hit the board in four starts since his victory in the Hawthorne Gold Cup (gr. II) last September, rallied from off the pace in the mud to win the grade I, $250,000 Pimlico Special (SEE VIDEO) May 16 at Pimlico Race Course.
With Shaun Bridgmohan riding for trainer Steve Asmussen, Student Council was reserved early in the seven-horse field as Centaur Farms’ Gottcha Gold set moderate early fractions after breaking on top at the outset of the 1 3/16-mile Special. Student Council was last early at the rail, gradually moved up on the outside on the backstretch, fanned wide at the top of the lane, and had the momentum in the final eighth of a mile.
Gottcha Gold, with Chuck Lopez in the saddle, held the lead until the final few jumps. Student Council got up to win by a neck.
The fractions were :23.87 for the first quarter-mile, and :47.46 for a half-mile.
Gottcha Gold, with only mild challenges, picked up the pace with six furlongs in 1:11.39, and a mile in 1:36.17. Student Council needed everything he had to get up to win in 1:54.87, more than two seconds off the track record for 1 3/16 miles on a sealed track.
It was 5 3/4 lengths back to the third-place finisher Sir Whimsey, ridden by Edgar Prado.
Bridgmohan said he had watched earlier races on the program and was hopeful the Special would set up for late runners. He never had ridden Student Council in a race.
“I had seen him run, and I didn’t want to take him out of his game,” Bridgmohan said. “Around the (final) turn, I had so much horse. He was asking me to give him somewhere to go.”
Ro Parra, who owns Millennium Farms near Lexington, Ky., said Student Council’s trip to Japan last fall for the group I Japan Cup dirt may have been a mistake; he checked in eighth. Parra said the trip took something out of Student Council, who needed a lot of time to recover.
Parra said Asmussen had him ready. “Steve was pretty confident the horse would run big,” Parra said.
Sent off as the fourth choice in the field of seven, Student Council paid $16.40, $6.60 and $4. The $2 exacta with Gottcha Gold ($4, $3) paid $63.60, and the $2 trifecta with Sir Whimsey ($3.40) returned $302.80. The $1 superfecta with fourth-place finisher Temporary Saint paid $731.10.
The 2-1 choice Grasshopper, who vied with Gottcha Gold for favoritism, rallied on the far turn but flattened out in the lane and finished fifth. Ryan's for Real and Xchanger trailed.
Student Council, a 6-year-old horse by Kingmambo out of the Kris S. mare Class Kris, now has eight wins in 27 starts. Last summer, he won the $1 million Pacific Classic (gr. I) on the Del Mar Polytrack. The Pimlico Special victory, worth $150,000, increased the millionaire's earnings to $1,307,731.
5/16/08 - Student Council regains top form in Pimlico Special
Courtesy of the Thoroughbred Times
Trainer Steve Asmussen had not started a horse at Pimlico Race Course since Curlin's victory in the 2007 Preakness Stakes (G1), but his stable returned with style on Friday when Student Council chased down Gottcha Gold to win the Maryland Lottery Pimlico Special Handicap (G1).
Student Council snapped a series of four straight unplaced finishes since his consecutive wins in the Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap (G2) last August and September, respectively. Dismissed at odds of 7.20-to-1, he was the only Grade 1 winner in the field of seven.
The victory was especially significant for owner Ro Parra because he grew up in Lexington Park, Maryland, and attended, by his estimate, at least 15 editions of the Preakness.
"All from the infield, never from the grandstand," he said. "This is the first time I've been to Pimlico and watched a race from the grandstand."The Pimlico Special also marked the first time Parra was able to be there in person when one of his horses won a Grade 1 race.
Asmussen was not at Pimlico on Friday.
Parra said Student Council struggled to recover from an eighth-place finish in the Japan Cup Dirt on November 24 at Nakayama racecourse. He finished fifth in the San Antonio Handicap (G2), sixth in the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita Park, and came into Friday's race off a seventh-place finish in the John B. Connally Turf Handicap (G3) at Sam Houston Race Park on April 5.
"We were disappointed in the Santa Anita Handicap," Parra said. "We thought we were going to win the race. It's taken a while, but Steve had him ready. I spoke to [Asmussen] about an hour before the race and he said, 'Smile when you get in the winner's circle.'"
Ridden for the first time by jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, Student Council rated in last place through the first half mile before he gradually reeled in Gottcha Gold, who set a moderate pace with fractions of :23.87, :47.46, 1:11.39, and 1:36.17 through one mile.
Student Council caught Gottcha Gold inside the sixteenth pole and won by a neck in 1:54.87 on a muddy track.
Gottcha Gold, the second choice at odds of 2.10-to-1, finished 5 3/4 lengths clear of Sir Whimsey in third. Mineshaft Handicap (G3) winner Grasshopper finished fifth as the 2-to-1 favorite.
Student Council captures Pimlico Special
Courtesy of the Daily Racing Form
By David Grening
Under Shaun Bridgmohan, Student Council rallied from well off the pace and was able to run down front-running Gottcha Gold to win the Grade 1 Pimlico Special by a neck at soggy Pimlico. Gottcha Gold finished 5 3/4 lengths ahead of Sir Whimsey, who was followed by Temporary Saint, Grasshopper, Ryan's for Real, and Xchanger.
A. P. Arrow, the morning-line favorite, and Wanderin Boy were both scratched after displaying colic-like symptoms.
Student Council, owned by Ro Parra's Millennium Farms and trained by Steve Asmussen, broke a four-race losing streak in the Pimlico Special. He had won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic last summer at Del Mar and the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup in September. He skipped the Breeders' Cup Classic to run in the Japan Cup Dirt, where he finished a well-beaten eighth.
Parra said he didn't want to retire Student Council on that note and opted to bring him back as a 6-year-old.
"I'm sure glad we made the decision to keep him in training," Parra said after the race.
Gottcha Gold, under Chuck Lopez, set fractions of 23.87 seconds, 47.46, and 1:11.39 while being chased by Xchanger and Temporary Saint.
Bridgmohan had Student Council in sixth position and toward the outside down the backside. Student Council launched his bid entering the far turn and came into the stretch five wide. Student Council wore down Gottcha Gold with about 20 yards to go. Student Council, a 6-year-old son of Kingmambo, covered the 1 3/16 miles in 1:54.87 over a muddy track and returned $16.40.
"It seemed like he had enough pace in there - all I did was find him a spot for him to run," Bridgmohan said. "They were bunching up [at the quarter pole], so I opted to take him to the outside just to find somewhere to go."
While disappointed he didn't win, Eddie Plesa, trainer of Gottcha Gold, said he was happy with his horse's performance.
"No excuses," Plesa said. "Listen, he finished second in a Grade 1 race, that means a lot to us. I don't think Chucky could have ridden a better race. He was exactly where he wanted to be. The only thing was that horse came and got him."
The biggest disappointment was Grasshopper, the 2-1 favorite, who made a mild move around the far turn but flattened out under Robby Albarado.
"He was there for him, and when he called on him he was just a little bit flat," trainer Neil Howard said.
