News and STORIES

Global Campaign on New Path, Navarro’s New Star, Math Wizard and Joseph on the Rise

Author: Don Mckee
Published: Wednesday June 26, 2019

New Plans for Global Campaign
Once considered a potential breakout star in the summer of 2019, Global Campaign saw his second-half debut curtailed by a quarter crack. Now, trainer Stanley Hough plans to send the Peter Pan runner-up to Saratoga for the Jim Dandy after eschewing the Dwyer and Indiana Derby. The horse is 3-for-4 lifetime, with his only loss coming at the hooves of eventual Belmont victor Sir Winston in the Peter Pan.

“The main thing is, he’s already proven he’s a nice horse,” Sagamore Farm’s Hunter Rankin said last week. “When we take him over there in the afternoons, we’ve got to make sure he’s at his best.”

Hunter Rankin, president of co-owner Sagamore Farm, said Tuesday that the son of Curlin will train up to the Jim Dandy after connections also considered the July 6 Dwyer (G3) at Belmont Park and the July 13 Indiana Derby (G3).

Rankin said that blacksmiths will continue working to make Global Campaign’s foot comfortable, and the Allen Jerkens (G1) going seven furlongs on Aug. 24 ranks a possibility if he isn’t ready for the Jim Dandy. Ideally, however, Global Campaign could leverage a Jim Dandy appearance into a try at the original summer goal, the Travers.

Star in the Making
Trainer Jorge Navarro has seen his share of stellar horses, notably XY Jet and Sharp Azteca since he started training on his own in 2010. Navarro didn’t mince any words after Shancelot blazed six furlongs in 1:08.43 – the fastest time for that distance so far during the Monmouth Park meeting – in his second career start on Sunday.

“The best horse I’ve ever trained,” Navarro told Monmouth publicity.

The 3-year-old son of Shanghai Bobby-True Kiss by Is It True did it all on his own, too, cruising through fractions of :22.16 and :44.56 in posting a 6¼-length victory in the second race on the card. Unraced at 2, Shancelot made his debut by winning a Maiden Special Weight race at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 16, beating Kentucky Derby starter and Florida Derby runner-up Bodexpress. He clocked in at 1:22.15 for that seven-furlong race.

Navarro called that “probably the best Maiden Special Weight race of the meet.”

Navarro said he would likely keep Shancelot sprinting and anticipates his new prized pupil taking on stakes company in his next start.

Math Wizard on the Rise
Horse racing is chock full of success stories. For every The Green Monkey, a $16M yearling purchase, there are superstars such as Lava Man, claimed for $20,000 before proceeding to earn over $1M.

Trainer Saffie Joseph claimed Ohio Derby runnerup Math Wizard for $25,000 at Gulfstream Park this winter and has seen his horse run better and better each time out. Joseph, who said the July 13 Indiana Derby is under consideration, but the Aug. 3 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer is more likely next.

“Then maybe if he was to win that, we could take a shot at the Travers,” Joseph told horseracingnation.com.

“This horse is going to continue to get better,” the trainer added. “Each race is a progression with him.”

John Fanelli campaigns Math Wizard, who hasn’t yet won for his new barn. But in addition to the Ohio Derby result, Math Wizard was fourth in the Wood Memorial and Oaklawn Invitational — both races that produced starters in the Triple Crown series. A new strategy arrived for the 1 1/8-mile Oho Derby, where the blinkers also came off: sit back and be patient.

“I think that was our mistake at Oaklawn,” Joseph said. “He was too close to the pace there.”

Math Wizard’s first trainer of record, Brad Cox, coincidentally trains Owendale. In his second of 10 career starts, the chestnut colt went into claiming company and passed through other barns on his way to the Gulfstream Park-based Joseph’s care.

If Math Wizard can manage a win in one of the summer sports, it will be the first graded stakes win for Joseph in just over 1,000 starters.

“It’s a process, but we’re getting somewhere,” the trainer said. “The Wood Memorial, he ran a big race there, and from there we knew that he was legit. He’s maturing and he’s going to get better as time goes on.”