Bright Future for Sunny Ridge

As the advisor to the New Jersey Throroughbred Horsemen's Association , Dennis Drazin is very much an integral player in the Thoroughbred industry in the Garden State. Dividing his time between his personal-injury law firm and ongoing efforts to restore stability to racing in the state while also maintaining a racing and breeding operation of his own, Drazin has pre-entered his homebred 2-year-old Sunny Ridge (Holy Bull) in the $1 million GIII Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs Nov. 21.

The Jason Servis trainee recently took command at the head of the stretch and held on valiantly to finish second behind Greenpointcrusader (Bernardini) in Belmont's GI Champagne S. Oct. 3. According to Drazin, the Jackpot was the best fit among a number of options for the Jersey-bred's next start.

“He's doing terrific,” said Drazin. “We spotted three different races for him following the Champagne, and [the Jackpot] is one of the three. The first one was the GII Nashua [Nov. 4], which we entered and passed on because we didn't want to come back too quickly. We had this one and the GII Remsen [Nov. 29] picked out for his next start, and then we'll probably freshen him up for the Classics.”

From a quick assessment of Sunny Ridge's past performances, it may seem like a remarkable achievement for a horse who debuted for a $40,000 claiming tag to be Grade I stakes-placed three starts later. Although the gray drastically outran his 23-1 odds in the Champagne, Drazin said the juvenile's ability has been apparent from the start.

“He's always been a talented horse,” he recalled. “In his first race, we just couldn't get a race to go for him. We were looking for a maiden special weight race, and that didn't go. Then we were going to enter him in a state-bred race, and that didn't go, and he was ready to run. The only race that was out there during that time period was the claiming race at Monmouth, and it was an open race, so we not only got the purse but also the enhancement that comes to a Jersey-bred running in open company. We entered him there and he ran a gutsy race. Off that race, we went to the [GIII Sanford S.] at Saratoga [July 25] and the jockey told us that he had a really bad trip, and he thought he had the ability to win the race, but racing luck doesn't always favor you.”

Subsequently returned to the Jersey Shore, Sunny Ridge captured the one-mile Sapling S. in his first try around two turns Sept. 6, setting him up for his effort in the Champagne. With plans set for the gray to ship to Louisiana next Thursday, Drazin said he and Servis are confident that they have a promising runner for next year's major 3-year-old events.

Sunny Ridge is a homebred from the final crop of Holy Bull, who broke his maiden first out at Monmouth Park in 1993 and captured the track's premier event, the GI Haskell Invitational, one year later. Given his long-standing ties to the industry, Drazin said it is particularly gratifying to compete a New Jersey-bred in events such as the Champagne and the Jackpot.

“The history of this horse goes way back,” Drazin explained. “With John Kimmel, I campaigned a mare called Bodacious Tatas years ago. And then we bred Bodacious Tatas to Seattle Slew and got a mare named Slewdacious. We bred that one to Songandaprayer and got [Sunny Ridge's dam] Lignum Vitae–she didn't pan out on the racetrack, but given that she was part of our foundation family, I took the mare and bred her to Holy Bull. I had a very close relationship to [owner and trainer] Jimmy Croll. I was his lawyer and I remained loyal to Holy Bull, and this is his last crop. It just all kind of works out sometimes, but the racing gods have to be kind to you. We have a very nice horse.”

True to his New Jersey roots, Drazin noted that although it may be tempting to push forward on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, his ultimate goal is to run his stable star in next year's Haskell Invitational at his home track.

“Other people may dream of the Derby, but my dream is the Haskell,” Drazin asserted. “I would probably tend to be very cautious about putting him on a hard Derby trail. We'll probably look at the Classics and choose one or two of those races to campaign him, but the ultimate goal is the Haskell. Jason has done a terrific job with him, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Sunny Ridge's success comes during a period of optimism in what has been an uncertain past few years for the industry in his home state. Monmouth Park successfully recruited Triple Crown hero American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) for this year's Haskell, an event that produced a record attendance of 60,983, and Drazin said he is hopeful that the positive momentum will continue.

As the only state in the Mid-Atlantic region without an alternate source of revenue from expanded gaming, the two chief priorities of Drazin and his colleagues are the legalization of sports betting and the expansion of casinos to racetracks and other locations outside of Atlantic City. Racing supporters recently received a significant boost when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals granted an en banc rehearing in the New Jersey sports betting case, while Drazin believes that the possibility of casino expansion will appear before voters next year.

“[Expanded gaming] will mean a lot to Monmouth,” Drazin concluded. “If we have bigger purses, we can offer more days and help the [New Jersey] breeding program. The goal is not to necessarily make money, but to put all the money back into racing. Any money that we receive, we want to do capital improvements, but mostly increase days and pay a better purse structure which will give us a better competitive edge in the region. That's the goal, and we spend practically every day working on it.”