Schweiger Wins Autumn Turf Festival Handicapping Challenge
By Vinnie Perrone
LAUREL, MD–Mischief in Motion, acknowledged by her stable as slender and petite, effected a giant-size upset today in the $100,000 All Along Stakes at Laurel Park.
At 25-1, the highest price among six fillies and mares, Mischief in Motion advantaged a masterful ride by Angel Cruz and dazzled in the drizzle. A bit edgy in the starting gate, she more hopped than strode into the race but made the lead comfortably enough, broadened her advantage in midstretch and weathered late advances by Awesome Czech and Grayosh for a half-length victory.
Grayosh, the odds-on favorite from Chad Brown’s potent New York barn, finished three-quarters of a length behind the runner-up after breaking slowly and giving her rivals a head start.
Regarding Mischief in Motion, Cruz said, trainer Mike Trombetta offered no strategic guidance by phone, so the seasoned jockey leaned on experience. In his solitary trip aboard the filly, he acknowledged how well she’d relaxed as pacesetter the day she won her only stakes, Delaware Park’s Christiana, on another soft course 364 days earlier.
Cruz thus patterned his All Along game plan: “If they’re gonna give me the lead,” he said, “I’m gonna take it.”
That task likely became easier after Storm Miami, second program choice at 5-2, and Salty Senorita (20-1) were withdrawn; both had speed to influence the pace.
Shore War, another New York shipper from Amelia Green’s stable, posed an inside challenge the first time past the stands but yielded before the clubhouse turn. Under Jaime Rodriguez, Shore War took a stalking position, a length off the front-runner, into the backstretch.
As Mischief in Motion set quarter-mile fractions of 23.99 seconds, 49.65 and 1:14.87 on a spongy grass course, Jorge Ruiz advanced the gray Grayosh without asking too much of her. The slow-but-steady progress put the 4-5 favorite into striking position well through the far turn.
Mischief in Motion opened a four-length advantage soon into the homestretch and proceeded with purpose on her right lead. By then, Grayosh had overtaken Shore War for second and Awesome Czech tried to sustain a potent four-wide move into the lane. But she drifted in from Jose Lezcano’s right stick, briefly losing momentum before the jockey re-maneuvered her outside.
Second choice at 9-5, Awesome Czech edged ahead of Grayosh nine strides from the wire. The two converged on Mischief in Motion but ran out of room, the winner finishing nine furlongs in 1:51.43 on a turf course deemed good.
A 4-year-old bay with a crooked stripe along her nose, Mischief in Motion excited a $52 win mutuel with her fourth victory in 12 starts. The All Along marked her second start this year following an eight-month layoff.
Tana Aubrey, the longtime assistant trainer who runs Trombetta’s Laurel stable, said she welcomed Mischief in Motion from Fair Hill and directed her toward the All Along. She explained it like this: “We got her off the trailer this morning, we gave her a little walk, we gave her a snack, got her ready and brought her over.”
Aubrey said she hadn’t seen the filly in a while but recognized her narrow frame, adding, “She’s always been that way. She seems to be a bit of a hard keeper. I was lookin’ at her this morning and said, ‘Well, you haven’t changed. You’re still on the thin side.'”
Mischief in Motion fattened her earnings to $245,250 for Live Oak Plantation, which bought her as a yearling for $525,000. Her vaunted sire, Into Mischief, stands for $250,000 at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky; her dam, the unraced Acrobatique (by Discreet Cat), produced six-figure earners Amusing Antics and Al Qahira.
The race’s namesake, All Along, in 1983 became the first foreign-based horse to earn U.S. Horse of the Year honors. The French-bred bay took the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Rothman’s International, Turf Classic, and Washington, D.C., International in a 42-day span that year and retired after her 5-year-old season as the world’s foremost prize-winning mare. She entered the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1990.
*Darren Schweiger Tops Handicapping Challenge
Darren Schweiger finished first among 155 entrants today in Laurel Park’s Autumn Turf Festival Handicapping Challenge.
Schweiger gained a $5,600 payday (beyond parimutuel winnings) and the choice of a seat in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (worth $10,000) or the National Horseplayer Championship (worth $5,850 including travel and lodging).
Second-place Paul Buttafuoco earned $2,240 and third-place Brendan Fay $1,680, each also landing a spot in the BCBC or NHC. Michael Domabyl ($1,120) placed fourth and Mark Hagenbuch ($560) fifth.
Onsite and online horseplayers paid $500 for a tournament seat, which covered a $250 entry fee and $250 bankroll. Handicappers chose among win, place, show, exacta, and daily double wagers for Laurel Park’s 10 races, with a $50 per-race minimum.