Post-Race Analysis:
Elmont, New York - September 22, 2007: Good Night Shirt won the
inaugural running of the $150,000 Grade I Lonesome Glory at Belmont
Park, defeating the fast-closing Orison by one length while front
runner Preemptive Strike finished third.
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Good Night Shirt leads (right-to left)
Orison, Sweet Shani and Preemptive Strike at the finish of
the Grade I Lonesome Glory at Belmont Park.
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Unraced since his May 12 victory in the Grade 1 Iroquois, Harold
A. Via Jr.’s Good Night Shirt jumped poorly at the first and last
fence, but overcame his mistakes to notch his second Grade I victory
in a row in only his third start of the year. He covered the two
and a half miles that included 10 national fences in 4:42.25 under
jockey William Dowling.
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Sweet Shani leads (right-to left) The
Looper, Good Night Shirt and Mon Villez at the 6th fence of
the Lonesome Glory.
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“I didn’t expect him to run this well today,” said winning trainer
Jack Fisher, who was using this race as a prep for the Breeders’
Cup Steeplechase at Far Hills, N.J. on October 20.
“I thought he would run well in the Breeders’ Cup; that’s more
his course. I thought he was probably placed were he should have
been in the race. He kind of dove at the last fence. He didn’t jump
that one particularly well. I was glad that Willy (Dowling) stayed
on.”
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Preemptive Strike leads (right-to left)
Sweet Shani, Good Night Shirt Mon Villez and Mixed Up at the
1st fence of the Lonesome Glory.
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Dowling took a bit of responsibility for the last jump, that nearly
caused him to come off.
“He was fine except for the first and last jumps.” Dowling said.
“The first jump he jumped too soon because he was running off. That
last one was my fault; I wanted to go short to make sure I got over
it and we had a bit of miscommunication. It was 50-50 whether I
was going to stay on or not. Luckily, he’s such a big horse, I was
able to stay on. He’s a class horse and he’s only a six-year-old.”
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Good Night Shirt and jockey William Dowling
exit the paddock at Belmont Park before the start of the Lonesome
Glory (note Lonesome Glory's trainer, Bruce Miller, and jockey,
Blythe Miller (center) in the backround.
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The Lonesome Glory, worth $101,040 to the winner, was a needed
race for Good Night Shirt, a 6-year-old gelded son of Concern.
“We couldn’t train him at home too much because it was as hard
as a rock,” Fisher said. “We had him at Fair Hill (Md.) for three
weeks in August, and then we got him back home after we had two
inches of rain, but it was still pretty hard. Then, my dad gave
away a few stalls and I had to ship him back to Fair Hill. He was
able to work there and treadmill there.”
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(Left-to-right) Mixed Up, Good Night
Shirt, Underbidder and Mon Villez before the start of the
Lonesome Glory.
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JUMPING AROUND: The Lonesome Glory honors five-time steeplechase
champion and Hall of Famer Lonesome Glory. Owned by Kay Jeffords,
the chestnut won Eclipse Awards in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1999
during a career that included 17 American wins, two victories in
England and more than $1 million in earnings. At Belmont, he won
the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase.....Belmont Park has a long
and storied history within steeplechase racing, dating back to the
inaugural meeting in 1905. More recently, the Long Island track
hosted the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase three times in the 1990s,
as well as the Meadow Brook Steeplechase, then the third leg of
The Steeplechase Triple Crown, earlier this decade.
Edited from NSA press release.
The complete order of finish for the Lonesome Glory is set forth
below.
Results:
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FP
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Horse
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lbs
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Jockey
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Trainer
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Owner
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1
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Good Night Shirt |
154 |
Dowling |
Jack Fisher |
Harold A. Via |
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2
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Orison |
146 |
McCarron |
Doug Fout |
EMO Stables |
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3
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Preemptive Strike |
146 |
Young |
Sanna N. Hendriks |
Polaris Stable |
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4
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Sweet Shani |
144 |
Aizpuru |
Jonathan Sheppard |
Calvin Houghland |
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5
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Mixed Up |
158 |
Hodsdon |
Jonathan Sheppard |
William L. Pape |
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6
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Underbidder |
142 |
Slater |
Jonathan Sheppard |
Timber Bay Farm |
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7
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Best Attack |
146 |
C. Miller |
F. Bruce Miller |
Sarah J. Radcliffe |
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8
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Mon Villez |
146 |
Petty |
F. Bruce Miller |
Calvin Houghland |
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LR
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The Looper |
142 |
Murphy |
Thomas H. Voss |
Mill House |
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Pedigree of Winner:
Click
here for Good Night Shirt's 5-cross pedigree.
Pedigrees compliments of PedigreeQuery.com
Previous Winners:
| YEAR |
FIRST (Age) |
JOCKEY |
lbs. |
SECOND (Age) |
lbs. |
THIRD (Age) |
lbs. |
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Post-Race Analysis | Results
| Pedigree of Winner | Previous
Winners
