The big one got away from them but trainer Gordon Elliott and jockey Jack Kennedy managed three victories on Saturday’s card at the Far Hills races in New Jersey.
They came up short in the day’s feature event, the Grade 1 Grand National, which went to Irish-bred Noah and the Ark, last year’s second finisher.
The Meath-based team got off the mark in the first race, the Gladstone Stakes, via Meadow Run Farm’s Kyogo, a 3-year-old gelding. Kennedy had Kyogo well positioned throughout and he kept on well to hold Our Boy Wes and Danny Mullins safe by three-quarters of a length for an $8.60 win mutuel.
Half an hour later, in the Harry E. Harris Stakes, Calico, a 4-year-old filly owned by Del Rio Racing and Goldman Racing Syndicate, ran to a facile eight-length score, having led most of the way. She paid $5.20 to win and completed a $15.00 Elliott-Kennedy double.
Elliott had nothing in the third race, the Foxbrook Champion Hurdle, leaving the coast clear for Bernie and Kate Dalton to shine. Their Abaan, owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Daigneault Thoroughbreds, reeled in The Hero Next Door and Kennedy at the final fence and pulled away to score by three lengths. The win mutuel came back $5.60.
Say Goodbye, owned by Robcour, represented the third win on the afternoon for Team Elliott. The 7-year-old mare was always prominent in the Peapack, the fourth race on the card, and drew off after the final hurdle to win by three lengths. She paid $3.40 in the win slot.
Bernie Dalton rode his second winner of the afternoon in the fifth race, the Appleton Stakes aboard Zabeel Champion, owned by Martin Tedham and Wasdell Properties. The 6-year-old gelding, trained by Jack Fisher, put away a challenger soon after the final jump, scampering off to win by three and one-half lengths for a $12.60 win payout.
The smart money in the Grand National said that Salvador Ziggy would give Elliott his second victory in this event but that was not to be. Seddon, an Irish invader from the John McConnell yard, led most of the way under Ben Harvey with Salvador Ziggy in close pursuit. They both faltered turning for home the final time, ceding the race to Noah and the Ark, which chased Hewick home in this event last year.
Noah and the Ark, a 9-year-old gelding owned by Keystone Thoroughbreds and trained by Todd McKenna, closed with a rush under Harrison Beswick to draw off by five lengths over Merry Maker. Seddon lasted for third, with Scorpions Revenge completing an Irish-bred superfecta. The winner returned $37.00 in the win slot, the $2 exacta came back $197.80, the $2 trifecta fetched $2,550.00 and the dime superfecta was good for $567.12. James Slattery bred the winner. As for Salvador Ziggy, the 9-10 favorite, he checked in a well-beaten seventh.
