The $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) packed far more emotion than the typical grade 2 turf stakes, and that was not necessarily for the best of reasons.
As the field raced around the final turn in the July 30 test over the inner turf course, gasps from the crowd arose when the heavy 1-2 favorite, Godolphin’s 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T) winner Rebel’s Romance appeared to clip heels, dumping jockey Richard Mullen and running off. Rebel’s Romance was caught by an outrider and was moving fine afterwards. Mullen was conscious and alert and had movement in all of his extremities but was taken to Albany Medical Center for evaluation.
That startling turn of events then segued into what promises to be one of the more uplifting moments of the 40-day Saratoga Race Course meet when the 9-year-old gelding Channel Maker , the 2020 Eclipse Award winner as the champion turf male, posted a front-running two-length victory for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in the 1 3/8-mile event while making his 54th career race and marking the seventh year in which the gallant Ontario-bred son of English Channel has earned a stakes victory.
“He’s something special,” said Adam Wachtel, part of the ownership group that also includes Dean Reeves’ Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Randy Hill’s R. A. Hill Stable, and Gary Barber. “Maybe I’ve had some more talented horses, but he’s the best horse I’ve ever owned. Think about it. A stakes winner at 2,3,4 and now 9. Who does that? Bill (Mott) does it. It’s a special win for all of us. It means a lot. We couldn’t be more proud owning a horse like this.”
The victory was the first for the gelding bred in Canada at Tall Oaks Farm since the July 8, 2022 Grand Couturier Stakes at Belmont Park, a stretch of seven straight graded grass stakes efforts in which he was unplaced. Questions arose about the ability of the four-time grade 1 winner to compete with the top distance grass runners, but Mott and the owners saw nothing that indicated Channel Maker had lost his desire to run.
Channel Maker with jockey Manuel Franco win the Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
“There’s been a lot of pressure,” Wachtel said. “People were saying, ‘Why don’t you retire him already.’ But he looks like a 4-year-old. He loves to race and loves to train and we won’t pull the plug until our trainer tells us.”
Mott said 9-year-old still has the same love for racing and training as he did in 2017 when he was Canada’s Sovereign Award winner as the champion 3-year-old male.
“He’s the happiest horse going to the track. He doesn’t hesitate. He has his ears up. He comes back happy and he’s dappled from one end to the other. If there’s something wrong, they don’t look like him,” Mott said. “He’s doing well. He loves to train. He’s been with us since he was a 2-year-old. He’s never left the barn or gone to a farm. He’s never been away from the track.”
Mott credited Wachtel with the decision to run in the Bowling Green where there was the expectation of a more moderate pace than the son of the Horse Chestnut mare In Return had been facing. That task also became easier when the likely pacesetter, Barber and Kinsman Stable’s Strong Quality was scratched,
That left a field of nine with little pace in the race and jockey Manny Franco was able to keep Channel Maker in front by a half-length through six furlongs in a slow 1:16.16.
“I liked the situation we were in when he made the lead and was galloping in front. That was great,” Mott said. “We haven’t been able to do that in a while. We got a good pace scenario and the old man came through.”
With the race reduced to a five-furlong sprint to the wire and the favorite eliminated and The Grey Wizard , the 5-1 second choice, and the grade 1-placed Soldier Rising knocked out of contention in the final turn incident, Channel Maker had enough speed left to open a clear lead at the eighth pole and cruise under the wire in 2:15.21 over good turf.
Competing for the final year in New York, where 10-year-olds cannot race, Channel Maker paid $32.40 to win. It was his 10th victory, to go along with six seconds and five thirds, and lifted his earnings to $3,890,358.
Andrew Farm, For The People Racing Stable, and Windmill Manor Farm’s Verstappen (War Front ) was second by a head over Courtlandt Farms’ Never Explain (Street Sense ).
Soldier Rising, who crossed the wire sixth, ran for purse money only after he was mistakenly scratched by Equibase prior to first race post time Sunday and the stewards suspended wagering on him.
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