Boy Wonder Irish-bred maiden dances to win, starts double for Voss, Young by brian nadeau
Foxfield Races
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Some seven years and countless rides after landing in the United States, Paddy Young rode his first horse for Tom Voss last November at Montpelier. Fogcutter made the front on the final turn and looked a winner but then slipped and fell. Young tried again an hour later. As apprehensive as a 7-yearold heading off to get a cavity filled, he gave maiden Ballet Boy a safe and patient ride en route to finishing second. “I’m not going to say he would have definitely won, but I was being a little extra careful because my first ride for Mr. Voss was on Fogcutter,” Young said, “so needless to say I just wanted to make sure to get him around.” It took five months, but Young was reunited with Cashel Stable’s Ballet Boy at Foxfield April 24 and made amends when they took the opener, a $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden. Royal Bentham (Jeff Murphy) showed the way early while Ballet Boy took a stalking position in second, just off the leader and ahead of Quiet Approval (Carl Rafter) and Old Timer. The order remained virtually unchanged as the field headed
Saturday, April 24 to the final turn but as they jumped the last, Ballet Boy asserted himself. He put Royal Bentham away upon landing over the last and had enough to hold off Quiet Approval’s frantic finish on the inside. The final time for the 2 1/8 miles was 4:12.60. “He popped the last and was a bit careful but there was more left in the tank as well,” Young said. “If we had landed with a few horses around he would have won off by a few lengths but I didn’t have to get into him too much. It’s always nice to win like that without having to get to the bottom of them because I’m sure there will be tougher races to come.” Ballet Boy fit the mold of many of Voss’ maiden hurdlers – well-bred and long on talent. The 6-year-old son of Sadler’s Wells won two races in his native Ireland while in the barn of Charles O’Brien and made the transition to hurdles last fall, running second at Montpelier and Camden. He returned at Foxfield and Young was eager for the chance to better the Montpelier run.
Susan Carter, Eclipse Sportswire
Ballet Boy shows the way in his maiden hurdle score at Foxfield – part of a double by Tom Voss and Paddy Young.
“Anytime you can ride a nice horse for a top barn like this it’s a great opportunity,” Young said. “I went down and schooled him earlier in the week and he went really well and seemed a bit more relaxed. He jumps and travels so well and it was nice to get back on him and get the win this time.” • Upon seeing Ptarmigan land safely and without issue over the last, trainer Doug Fout left the tower and walked down the stairs to the winner’s circle. You can do that when your horse is en route to a 14 1/4-length win. Maggie Bryant’s long-striding gray left little doubt she’ll be a contender for divisional honors when she toyed with a stakes caliber field in the featured $25,000 filly/mare allowance. Just 21 days after she won her seasonal debut by over open maidens at Stoneybrook, Ptarmigan one-upped herself with a performance that clearly rates as the high water mark in the division this season. Murphy was merely along for the ride as Ptarmigan stalked early leader Jellyberry for the first 1 1/2 miles, took over with little urging on the final turn and ran off through the stretch. The Manner Born (Tom Foley) rallied late to edge Jellyberry (Young) for second. The final time for the 2 1/8 miles was 4:20.60.
“That’s a big step up from winning a maiden race and then coming right back and beating this field the way she did it. That was a darn good group of fillies out there so I’m tickled with the way she won,” Fout said. “She was just pulling Jeff out of the saddle. When she put Jellyberry away at the third-last I knew we were in really good shape.” Ptarmigan made her debut last fall as a 3-year-old, running fourth at Virginia Fall , pulling up in the Gladstone at Far Hills (after Young’s saddle slipped) and running fourth in the Woolfe at Camden. Fout brought her back in a open maiden hurdle at Stoneybrook and it was clear that the metamorphosis from a gawky 3-year-old to a poised 4-yearold was complete. “It was simple with her; she just needed to grow up and into herself. Last year she was immature but now she’s all business and you’re seeing it out there,” Fout said. “I don’t like to run them as 3-year-olds unless they’re ready so running her last year made all the difference in the world. She has a mind of her own but she’s come a long way.” • Young and Voss teamed up again in the third, a $15,000 maiden timber, when Bob Kinsley’s News Flash did See foxfield page 26
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Steeplechase Times
News Flash (center) flies the last in the maiden timber.
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Susan Carter, Eclipse Sportswire
Friday, May 7, 2010