Wigwam Baby led Down Royal over the last fence of the Iroquois Steeplechase's Margaret Currey Henley Stakes in May. (Tod Marks photo)
The first two finishers from the Margaret Currey Henley Stakes and a 2016 dual champion will be part of a competitive field for Saratoga Race Course’s $75,000 Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes for fillies and mares on Wednesday.
Owner-trainer Jonathan Sheppard’s Wigwam Baby made all the pace in the Iroquois Steeplechase’s Henley for fillies and mares on May 11 and won by 1¼ lengths. In her previous start, she finished sixth in a $25,000 open ratings handicap at the Cup Runneth Over meet at Camden, S.C. on April 6.
No stranger to Saratoga, she finished second in the 2017 Mrs. Phipps. Gerard Galligan will ride the eight-year-old Langfuhr mare, who was bred in Pennsylvania by Racing Hall of Fame member Sheppard and Bill Pape.
Shadowfax Stable’s Down Royal closed ground in Iroquois’ stretch to finish second in the Henley, her only start over fences this year for trainer Kate Dalton. Returning to the saddle after a fall at the Fair Hill Races will be Bernie Dalton.
A five-year-old by Alphabet Soup, Down Royal was bred by the Daltons in New York. She came to hand early for the Camden-based couple and looked to be headed for victory in the 2017 Gladstone Stakes for three-year-olds at the Far Hills Races. But she sustained serious interference, finished third, and was placed second. She won her maiden victory in her next start.
Wigwam Baby and Down Royal started in divisions of Parx Racing’s flat races for hurdlers on July 1, with Wigwam Baby finishing fourth in her heat while Down Royal was ninth in her division.
Both carry 111 ratings in the National Steeplechase Association’s rankings of all winners over hurdles. Carrying the 112 top rating in the Mrs. Phipps field is Get Ready Set Goes, who is attempting to reset her career for trainer F. Hill Parker.
Bred in Ohio by the trainer’s late mother, Frances Hill Myers, Get Ready Set Goes took down dual NSA championships in 2016, when she was the leading female and the leading novice by purse earnings.
She won the 2016 Mrs. Phipps after her maiden score and then won Far Hills’ Peapack Stakes for fillies and mares to take down both crowns.
She will be making her first start of the current season. In her most recent start, she finished fourth in the 2018 Henley. Richard Boucher will ride.
Before Get Ready Set Goes, the only dual winner of the female and novice titles was The Fields Stable’s Guelph, who doubled up in 2005 for Hall of Fame trainer Tom Voss. Guelph also was the Life’s Illusion Filly and Mare champion in 2008.
In turn, Guelph is the dam of The Fields Stable’s Dawn Wall, winner of the 2018 Iris Coggins Memorial for females at Fair Hill. That was her final jumps start last year, and she returned with a distant fourth-place finish in this year’s Coggins Memorial on May 25.
For the Mrs. Phipps, trainer Elizabeth Voss named Jack Doyle to ride the six-year-old mare by top Maryland sire Not For Love.
NSA Chairman Beverly R. Steinman will be represented by Bullet Star and Market Alley, both trained by Doug Fout. In her only 2019 start over fences, Bullet Star finished third in a Foxfield Spring ratings handicap on April 27.
Kieran Norris will ride the five-year-old Bullet Train mare, who was bred by Magalen O. Bryant and is out of 2010 female champion Ptarmigan.
Barry Foley will be aboard Steinman-bred Market Alley, a five-year-old Flower Alley mare who won her maiden victory at Foxfield Spring and then finished fifth in the Henley.
Completing the field is Virginia Lazenby’s Our Frosty, a runaway maiden winner at Aiken Fall last October. She started her 2019 season with a third in an Aiken Spring ratings handicap on March 23 before being pulled up in the Cup Runneth Over ratings handicap.
Trained by Kate Dalton, Louisiana-bred Our Frosty will be ridden by Mark Watts.
Here is the field for the $75,000 Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes in post-position order. The horses’ National Steeplechase Association ratings are at the end of their profiles.
Wigwam Baby. 2011 b. m., Langfuhr—Tepee Tot, by Waquoit. Owner: Jonathan Sheppard. Trainer: Jonathan Sheppard. Jockey: Gerard Galligan. Breeders: Bill Pape and Jonathan Sheppard (Pa.) 2019 record: 2-1-0-0, $30,750. 2018 record: 5-0-1-0, $4,800. 2017 NSA record: 4-0-1-1, $22,250. Won Iroquois Steeplechase’s 2019 Margaret Currey Henley after sixth in The Cup Runneth Over ratings handicap. Finished second in 2018 Montpelier handicap. Finished sixth in Life’s Illusion Stakes at 2018 Carolina Cup, then fell in Margaret Currey Henley Stakes and was seventh in Fair Hill’s Iris Coggins Memorial. Finished second in Saratoga’s 2017 Mrs. Ogden Phipps. (111)
Our Frosty. 2014 gr. or ro. m., Half Ours—Frosty Promise, by Frosty the Snowman. Owner: Virginia Lazenby Racing Stable LLC. Trainer: Kate Dalton. Jockey: Mark Watts. Breeder: Clear Creek Stud (La.) 2019 NSA record: 2-0-0-1, $2,000. 2018 NSA record: 1-1-0-0, $12,000. Finished third in 2019 debut at Aiken Spring and was pulled up in crowded Cup Runneth Over ratings handicap. Won maiden jumps start at 2018 Aiken Fall by nearly 60 lengths. (103)
Down Royal. 2014 gr. or ro. m., Alphabet Soup—Miss Crown, by High Yield. Owner: Shadowfax Stable. Trainer: Kate Dalton. Jockey: Bernie Dalton. Breeders: Bernard and Kate Dalton (N.Y.) 2019 record: 1-0-1-0, $9,000. 2018 record: 3-0-1-2, $13,400. 2017 NSA record: 3-1-1-0, $24,000. Finished second in Iroquois Steeplechase’s 2019 Margaret Currey Henley. Began 2018 with second in Carolina Cup allowance hurdle, then was third in similar races at Middleburg Spring and Iroquois. Awarded second place in Far Hills’ 2017 Gladstone Stakes after sustaining interference from first finisher, then won a Charleston allowance hurdle. (111)
Bullet Star. 2014 dk. b. or br. m., Bullet Train (GB)—Ptarmigan, by Unbridled Jet. Owner: Beverly R. Steinman. Trainer: Doug Fout. Jockey: Kieran Norris. Breeder: Magalen O. Bryant (Ky.). 2019 record: 1-0-0-1, $2,500. 2018 record: 3-1-0-0, $14,000. 2017 record: 1-0-0-0, $1,200. Led early in 2019 Daniel Van Clief Memorial and finished third. Finished fifth in Fair Hill’s 2018 Iris Coggins Memorial. Began 2018 with maiden victory at Georgia Steeplechase, then was pulled up in Margaret Currey Henley at the Iroquois Steeplechase. Finished fifth in career debut on flat at 2017 International Gold Cup. Her dam was champion steeplechase female in 2010. (105)
Get Ready Set Goes. 2012 ch. f., Run Away and Hide—Ready to Goes, by Lord Avie. Owner-Trainer: F. Hill Parker. Jockey: Richard Boucher. Breeder: Frances Hill Myers (Ohio). 2018 record: 2-0-0-0, $2,500. 2017 record: 2-0-0-0, $4,500. Champion, novice and female, 2016. Finished seventh in Carolina Cup’s 2018 Life’s Illusion Stakes, then was fourth in in Iroquois Steeplechase’s Margaret Currey Henley. Reigned as 2016 female champion after winning Saratoga’s Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes and Far Hills’ Peapack Stakes, and also seized novice title by earnings. (112)
Market Alley. 2014 ch. m., Flower Alley—Skirmish, by War Chant. Owner: Beverly R. Steinman. Trainer: Doug Fout. Jockey: Barry Foley. Breeder: Beverly R. Steinman (Ky.) 2019 record: 3-1-0-0, $15,000. 2018 NSA record: 2-0-0-0, $2,750. Won 2019 Foxfield Spring maiden hurdle after fourth at The Cup Runneth Over, then was well-beaten fourth in Iroquois’ Margaret Currey Henley. Had two fourth-place finishes to open her jump-racing career in 2018. (106)
Dawn Wall. 2013 b. m., Not For Love—Guelph, by Sky Classic. Owner: The Fields Stable. Trainer: Elizabeth Voss. Jockey: Jack Doyle. Breeder: Mimi Voss (Md.). 2019 record: 1-0-0-0, $2,500. 2018 record: 2-1-0-0, $30,000. 2017 record: 2-0-0-0-1, $3,600. Never a factor in Fair Hill’s 2019 Iris Coggins Memorial and finished last of four. Won Coggins Memorial in final 2018 jumps start. Finished eighth in Virginia Gold Cup open maiden hurdle. Began career with sixth in Foxfield Fall maiden hurdle for females. Foal of two-time female champion Guelph, who also was the novice champion in 2005. (108)