Giving jockey Umberto Rispoli a day to remember after annexing the GI Gamely S. aboard Anisette two races earlier, Cuyathy LLC's Johannes (Nyquist) rounded out a Grade I-winning exacta for the Italian when winning the GI Shoemaker Mile S. on Santa Anita's Memorial Day card.
Assuming his usual stalking, the 2-1 second choice was content to survey the speed as 11-1 chance Funtastic Again (Funtastic), with Frankie Dettori aboard, led longshot Goliad (War Front) through an opening quarter in :22.28. With the longshot taking over to post a half in :45.50, Johannes was poised to pounce approaching the final turn. Asked for more four wide turning for home, he was unleashed by Rispoli in the stretch, took over late and inched clear to post a 1/2-length victory over Funtastic Again with 2-1 choice Du Jour (Temple City) taking third.
“That was fantastic. I beat my idol,” enthused 35-year-old Rispoli. “I have so much respect for Frankie. Having my second Gamely and Shoemaker Mile on the same day is just a dream come true.”
“He is very mature, even though he dropped me behind the gate today,” said Rispoli of the colt's pre-race antics. “I took out the ear plugs and he bucked me off. But he is very good horse. We always believed in him. [Trainer] Tim [Yakteen] and the owners were very patient to give him a long break and the horse came back stronger than ever. He is a fantastic and good horse. That's the type of horse you want to ride.”
Johannes is a homebred for Joe and Debby McCloskey's Cuyathy LLC, named after the 4-year-old's dam. After making his first three starts on dirt as a 2-year-old in 2022, all losses, he was switched to turf and has since lost only once in six starts.
Last season, the dark bay won a pair of Santa Anita stakes Anita-the 6 1/2-furlong Baffle S. and the Pasadena S. at a mile-before rounding out the year with a fifth in the GII American Turf S. at Churchill Downs in May. Shelved for the remainder of the year, he marked his return with a solid 1 3/4-length victory in the GIII American S. at Santa Anita Apr. 4.
“He showed talent from the start, but to develop into this, I didn't expect it in the early stages, but I'm very thankful for him and appreciative,” added Yakteen.
Pedigree Notes:
Johannes gave Darley sire Nyquist his fifth Grade I /Group 1 victory in Monday's Shoemaker Mile. The dark bay is the first foal out of his dam Cuyathy, a $50,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase is 2014. Stakes placed on the racetrack, the mare was the very first horse Debby and Joe McCloskey campaigned and with Monday's win, Johannes becomes the first Grade I winner for the couple. The Congrats mare also has a juvenile filly by Gun Runner named Sea Runner and an unnamed filly by Knicks Go from last season. She was bred back to Mandaloun.
Another Grade 1 winner for @DarleyAmerica Nyquist as #9 JOHANNES wins the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile.@timyakteen trains, and @umbyrispoli caps a big day in the irons with two Grade 1 victories. pic.twitter.com/tktRPrUv4s
— FanDuel Racing (Formerly TVG) (@FanDuel_Racing) May 28, 2024
Monday, Santa Anita Park
SHOEMAKER MILE S.-GI, $303,000, Santa Anita, 5-27, 3yo/up, 1mT, 1:33.00, fm.
1–JOHANNES, 122, c, 4, by Nyquist
1st Dam: Cuyathy (SP, $107,923), by Congrats
2nd Dam: Dance Darling, by Devil's Bag
3rd Dam: Danzig Darling, by Danzig
1ST GRADE I WIN. O/B-CUYATHY LLC (KY); T-Tim Yakteen; J-Umberto Rispoli. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 9-5-0-1, $423,859. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Funtastic Again, 122, c, 4, Funtastic–Repeta, by Broken Vow. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($60,000 Wlg '20 KEENOV). O-Three Chimneys Farm; B-BHMFR, LLC (KY); T-Wesley A. Ward. $60,000.
3–Du Jour, 126, g, 6, Temple City–Guiltless, by Bernardini. ($19,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP; $280,000 2yo '20 OBSAPR). O-Natalie Baffert and Debbie Lanni; B-Woods Edge Farm, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert. $36,000.
Margins: HF, 1 1/4, 1. Odds: 2.20, 11.00, 2.10.
Also Ran: There Goes Harvard, Irideo (Arg), Easter (Fr), War At Sea, Air Force Red, Dominican Pioneer, Conclude, Goliad.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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