No Slowing Down at Age 11 for No Brakes
No Slowing Down at Age 11 for No Brakes
21-Time Winning Maryland-Bred Popular On and Off Track
LAUREL, MD – Trainer Wayne Potts has 43 head stabled on the backstretch at Laurel Park but only one that gets his own fan mail. Every so often, Potts receives a care package of toys and treats from a distant admirer of No Brakes, a sturdy gelding whose name is reflective of his attitude.
Even at the age of 11, when most thoroughbreds have long since retired or moved on to second careers, No Brakes has shown no signs of slowing down and no interest in being anything other than a racehorse.
“This horse just means the world to me. He’s such a cool horse,” said Potts, 35, a native of Rockville, Md. who lives in Bowie. “Just being around him - he’s never taken a bad step, knock on wood. I’ve had him the past year. He’s just an all-around cool, athletic horse and he handles his business. This is what he wants to do.”
Co-owned by Thomas Freed’s T D C B E Stables and Potts, No Brakes won for the second time this year and 21st of his career July 16 at Laurel Park, in a one-mile starter allowance over fellow seasoned veterans such as Right Squall, Senor Quickie, Regal Strike and Harbor Breeze.
It was the 104th lifetime start for the son of Parker’s Storm Cat, a sire that also produced Mid-Atlantic legend Ben’s Cat, a multiple graded stakes-winning multimillionaire still going strong at the age of 10.
“I got about 130 messages after he won via text message and Facebook and Twitter. A lot of people were congratulating him on just how impressive it was. He’s actually got a lady in California that’s been following him for probably the last six months; she’ll mail him cookies and all kinds of stuff, like a Jolly Ball. There was a lot of positive response,” Potts said.
“I got a couple negative ones like, ‘Why are you running him,’ and ‘I can’t believe you’re still running him. He’s 11 years old, retire him,’” he added. “He’s not a horse you can retire and turn into a field. He’ll die out there. He wants a job and this is what his job is. I mean, he knows what he wants to do.”
Potts’ familiarity with No Brakes dates back to his 6-year-old season when he was working with his former girlfriend, owner-trainer Katherine Sancuk, who claimed the horse for $5,000 on March 12, 2011.
No Brakes ran 34 times for Sancuk with Freed coming on as a co-owner in January 2012. He won six times in that span including the 2011 Deputed Testamony Handicap on Preakness Stakes (G1) undercard in just the third start for his new connections.
From there No Brakes changed hands eight times before being reunited with Freed and Potts, who claimed him for $4,000 out of a third-place finish at Timonium Aug. 29, 2015. Together they have five wins, three seconds and a third from 14 starts.
According to Equibase statistics, No Brakes is one of 24 11-year-old horses to win a race in the U.S. and Canada in 2016. In all, 104 11-year-olds have made 405 starts this year with 33 wins.
“When you watch this horse in the morning, he’s like a little kid. You can’t jog him in the morning. You have to gallop him. You have to back him up about a quarter mile and turn him around, and he’s all business. This horse is just good right now. He’s very good,” Potts said. “He ran an 89 Beyer [Speed Figure] at 11 years old. That’s huge.”
Because of his strong morning regimen, galloping six days a week with Sundays off, No Brakes has only had one timed breeze in 11 months for Potts, a four-furlong work in 49 seconds at Laurel one week before his win. Potts wanted to give the horse and new jockey Jevian Toledo a chance to get acquainted.
“To be honest with you, that’s the first time I ever breezed the horse. We worked him a nice little half-mile with Toledo to set him up for the race and he definitely performed,” Potts said. “I told Toledo, ‘Don’t panic. They’re probably going to be 10, 15, 20 [lengths] in front of you. At the three-eighths pole you’ve just got to tap him on the shoulder, get him to swap leads turning for home and he’ll be full of run. He’ll grab the bit; you don’t have to worry about that.’ He came back and said he was a little worried there when they were way out in front of him, but he had a ton of horse late.”
No Brakes was last in the six-horse field through the first half-mile, trailing by as many as 17 lengths at one point before uncorking a rally down the center of the track and sprinting clear to a 5 ½-length victory in 1:37.74. He had finished off the board in his previous three starts, running fifth at Penn National on June 8.
“He’s such a good-looking horse. Knock on wood, he’s good right now. This is probably the best I’ve ever seen him,” Potts said. “I gave him a little bit of time after his last race at Penn National. It just really wasn’t fair to him because his last two efforts he didn’t have any pace to run at. If you’re back that far and you don’t have a pace to run at, you’re not going to close.”
Potts attributed No Brakes’ longevity to his size, temperament, athleticism and running style.
“He loves his job. He’s so sound, because he only runs for three-eighths of a mile. If you watch him run, the first part of the race he lags but the last three-eighths of a mile that’s when he runs. The day after the race he looked fantastic, bright-eyed, ate all his grain and was out in front of the stall. He looked no worse for wear,” Potts said.
“He’s a big pet. He’s not a small, rinky-dink horse. He’s probably 16-2 and every bit of 1,250 pounds, but you can walk him and do whatever you want,” he added. “When he gets under tack and goes out of the barn, he’s going to work. That’s his job. You get done galloping him, you can’t stop him. You have to jog him all the way back to the barn.”
Looking ahead, Potts said he plans to bring No Brakes back in a $7,500 starter race Aug. 20 on Maryland Pride Day at Laurel Park.
“Being Maryland-bred, I want to run him back there,” he said. “He’s the barn favorite. He’s probably one of the better horses in my barn. I have two daughters, 14 and 12, and they can walk him around the barn. As long as he’s not going to the racetrack or coming off the racetrack, that’s the only time he means business. The outriders watching him in the morning and the afternoon say it’s just amazing what he does. He’s just an all-around cool horse to be around.”
