Chelsea Durand Photo

Shoot the Nickel ready to fire in $135K Atlantic Beach

by Keith McCalmont

Shoot the Nickel will take to the lawn for the first time in the afternoon in Friday’s $135,000 Atlantic Beach, a six-furlong outer turf sprint for juveniles, at Belmont at the Big A.

Trained by Adrianne DeVaux for Al Gold’s Gold Square LLC., the Violence dark bay provided the 26-year-old conditioner her first winner with her first starter last out in a local six-furlong restricted maiden optional-claiming sprint on September 28.

Shoot the Nickel, sent to post at odds of 6-1 under returning rider Katie Davis, pressed the pace from second position through splits of 22.76 seconds and 46.28 over the good and sealed main track. He dropped back slightly at the quarter-pole but responded to encouragement from Davis to re-engage and take command at the sixteenth pole en route to a game neck win in 1:11.14. The winning effort registered a field-best 77 Beyer Speed Figure and sent an emotional DeVaux to the winner’s circle for the first time.

“I am not one to wear my emotions. I could be having the worst day ever and I'll put a smile on and go out,” said DeVaux, who previously worked with her sister, trainer Cherie DeVaux, as well as with conditioner Chad Summers. “The tears of joy after the race were just all my emotions coming out that day.

“Al called me that morning and he was very excited for me,” added DeVaux. “He said he expected me to be more excited. But I said, ‘it's a normal day and I've saddled hundreds of horses, this is no different.’ It didn't really set in until I was saddling the horse that all the pressure is on me now.”

Shoot the Nickel, a $50,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase, debuted for Summers with a distant last-of-8 effort in the Listed Tremont in June during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. He did post a half-mile breeze in 50 flat over the Oklahoma training turf in August, but had worked extensively over the Belmont Park dirt training track towards his successful return.

“The horse has been a project mentally to get back into racing and to make it an enjoyable thing he wants to do,” DeVaux said. “Physically, he's always been a nice horse.”

DeVaux said she’s always considered the strapping Shoot the Nickel to be a turf horse – his pedigree would back up that assessment being out of the stakes-winning Unbridled's Song mare C.S. Incharge, who is a half-sister to Grade 3-winning turfer Sweeping Paddy.

“I always joke that he's a venti in a Starbucks cup - he's huge,” said DeVaux, with a laugh. “I taped him the other day and he's right under 17 hands at 2-years-old. He has the shape of a longer distance horse. He has a long body; huge stride and his pasterns are longer like you'd look for on a turf horse. He has a big pancake foot on him which I think helped him get over that sealed track that he won on. He looks exactly what you'd expect an older turf horse to look like, except he's two.”

DeVaux said she was pleasantly surprised that Shoot the Nickel was able to win in a sprint given his profile.

“I didn't expect him to have the turn of foot that he did. He's very happy to just cruise around there,” DeVaux said. “He does have a high cruising rate when he's training - he's not just loping along. He's got himself fit just by how big his stride is and how quickly he does everything. Now, going on the turf, at least we know he can handle the six and the turf is just the next thing we add and change. We're all in on this learning curve together.”

DeVaux said Shoot the Nickel has exited the maiden score in good order, including two maintenance works under Rodrigo Ubillo as well as a swift half-mile breeze under Davis in 48.48 on October 18 over the Belmont dirt training track.

“Katie got on him for a quicker work and she said he really wants to do it a lot more now,” DeVaux said. “The third work back he had Rodrigo on for an easy maintenance work and he said it was the exact same work he's had every time he's breezed him.”

Davis retains the mount from post 6.

Joseph Grant, Yellow Moon Stable, Can Do Racing and Leonard Ficarelle’s graded stakes-placed New York-bred Epitaph [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche] will enjoy class relief after finishing a pacesetting third last out in the Grade 3 Futurity on October 4 here. The six-furlong outer turf sprint contested over firm Big A footing offered a “Win and You’re In” berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint.

Epitaph, a Country House gelding, set splits of 22.38 seconds and 45.36 under pressure from Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher trainee Mentee, who wrested command inside the three-sixteenths and went on to score by 3 1/2-lengths in a rapid 1:08.82. Epitaph chased on gamely to the wire but was nipped for place by a nose to Gate to Wire. Both Mentee [Juvenile Turf] and Gate to Wire [Juvenile Turf Sprint] are now Breeders’ Cup bound for Pletcher.

“He hung in there. He barely got beat for second by a horse that will be one of the favorites at the Breeders' Cup,” Contessa said. “He tries hard, he's fast and when you have a horse with speed, you're dangerous - and he has speed, for sure.”

Epitaph has worked back twice over the Oklahoma dirt training track, including a three-eighths effort in 36 flat on October 23.

“I'm pleased with the way he's trained and the way he's coming into this race. I think this will be a good spot for him,” Contessa said.

Bred by NK Racing, the $15,000 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale purchase made a winning debut in August at Saratoga Race Course, leading at every point of call to score by one length at odds of 12-1 in a state-bred maiden sprint over firm turf.

R.A. Hill Stable’s New York-homebred Super Swift [post 1, Eric Cancel] made a winning debut here on September 29 in an off-the-turf state-bred maiden tilt.

Trained by George Weaver, the Vekoma colt exited post 1-of-10 under Irad Ortiz, Jr. and tracked from third position before angling out for the stretch run and switching leads late to score by 2 1/4-lengths. He covered six furlongs in 1:11.68 over the sloppy and sealed surface, garnering a 69 Beyer.

Super Swift, out of the stakes-winning Warrior’s Reward mare Super Marina, has worked back twice over the Oklahoma training turf at Saratoga, including a half-mile effort in 49.66 October 18. Super Swift is a half-brother to R.A. Hill Stable’s Russian Realm, who is entered in Sunday’s $250,000 Empire Classic here as part of Empire Showcase Day.

A talented field also includes the stakes-placed Ghostly Rose [post 2, Angel Serpa] for trainer Javier Gonzalez; along with maiden winners Joey Muscles [post 3, Romero Maragh] for trainer Jena Antonucci, Dumb Money [post 4, Luis Rivera, Jr.] for conditioner Gregg Sacco, the Butch Reid, Jr.-trained Colonel Bob [post 7, Ruben Silvera] and Warheart [post 8, Julien Leparoux] for trainer Rodolphe Brisset. Executive Order is entered for the main track only.

The Atlantic Beach is slated as Race 8 on Friday’s nine-race card. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

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