NEWS: RACING

Effinex Triumphs in Grade 1 Clark Handicap

Friday, November 27th, 2015
Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

By Sarah Mace

Effinex (Mineshaft), bred and owned by Tri-Bone Stables’ Dr. Russell Cohen, capped an astonishingly successful 4-year-old campaign on Friday at Churchill Downs, when he held off defending champion Hoppertunity to win an exciting renewal of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Heathcare.

Narrowly chosen over Hoppertunity to win the Clark, but the virtual co-favorite at odds of 5-2, Effinex settled off the pace in fifth after the break under Hall of Fame Jockey Mike Smith, while 28-1 Mr. Z came out winging to set the fractions for the first half mile in 47.68, shadowed by 16-1 Shotgun Cowboy in second. After a three-wide trip through the clubhouse turn and comfortable trip in the clear up the backstretch, Effinex got his cue from Smith with three furlongs to go.

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Effinex caught up with new leader Race Day in the far turn and the pair raced in tandem through upper stretch. With just a furlong to go Effinex had claimed a narrow lead in the four path, but at least four others were in with a chance. Race Day still held second, but was destined to fade, Hoppertunity was rallying on the outside, 88-1 longshot Looks to Spare was hanging tough at the rail, and Keen Ice was motoring late from last.

Effinex finally began to inch off with enough momentum to hold off Hoppertunity to his outside, while Looks to Spare and Keen Ice picked up the pieces. After a mile in 1:36.10, the final time for 1 1/8 miles over the fast tracks was 1:48.92. [Link to Equibase ABR VIDEO page]

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Effinex gave notice that he had a bright future when he won the Empire Classic as a sophomore for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, but even his connections could not have imagined what kind of year he would have at four.

From seven starts this year going into the Clark, he had collected three wins, led by the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont in July and Grade 3 Excelsior at Aqueduct in April. At the same time, Effinex also presented his conditioner with something of a mystery.

In the Grade 2 Brooklyn in June, he ran a nightmare race, trying to bear out throughout, and ultimately bolting to the outside fence in the far turn before being eased. After the Brooklyn Jerkens switched to a Houghton bridle, which gives the jockey better control, and showed unwavering confidence in his charge by racing Effinex exclusively in Grade 1 company from September on.

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography

A competitive fourth behind Liam’s Map in the Woodward Stakes in September 5 at Saratoga, despite being fractious behind the gate, and third behind Tonalist and Wicked Strong in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Effinex headed to Lexington to take on American Pharoah and the rest in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He ran “the best of the rest,” after being the only horse in the field to try to take the race to the Triple Crown champ while earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 110.

Mike Smith talked about the some of the challenges faced by a rider of this talented but somewhat eccentric colt. “He’s done some quirky things. He’s bolted before, he’ll switch leads in the middle of the turn with you to the right, which is very odd for a horse to do that. He’ll kind of throw himself off and I just took a long hold and keep my hands down and just let him get comfortable with himself. Every move he does, I just go with and it seems to work out well. Instead of grabbing him and trying to make him stay in his left down the turn and stay in his right down the lane, I just go with him and it works.”

Smith added, “So far, so good. I’m very blessed, just to get the opportunities like this. I always love coming in and getting to ride these good horses and when you point these good horses in the right direction and stay out of their way, you get results like this.”

Jimmy Jerkens said, “[Effinex] ran so well last time [in the Breeders’ Cup Classic] and it looked like he never missed a beat with his training and everything else afterwards so that’s why we decided to come. We broke a step slow and then they kind of converged on him and they went like a bat out of hell so he just sat there and went in behind them.”

Continued Jerkens, “He’s just a good quality horse. He’s really come around since that weird effort at Saratoga where he went crazy from behind the gate. I still don’t know what that was about, but he’s been all business since then. He ran a hard race in the Breeders’ Cup, but he shipped all the way back on the van and acted like a fresh horse so we decided to come back. We didn’t really make a final decision until the week before. We were sure we could get Mike [Smith] to do it and we were sure that he wanted to come. We didn’t know what he had elsewhere but he definitely wanted to come so that helped us a little bit.”

As to what might be down the road for the newly-minted Grade 1 winner, Jerkens said, “Maybe we’ll send him to Florida, I don’t know yet. He’s such a tough horse, as long as there’s someone around taking good care of him that’s all he cares about.”

Effinex now owns seven wins, two seconds and three thirds in 20 starts and has earned $2,112,950, which elevates him to fourth on the all-time New York-bred earnings list, between Say Florida Sandy ($2,085,408) and Dayatthespa ($2,288,892). He the only foal out of multiple stakes-winning Tri-Bone homebred What a Pear by E Dubai, whose dam Perfect Pair was purchased by Tri-Bone as a juvenile at OBS in 1999 for $28,000.

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