Trainer Erv Miller entered three colts in the eliminations of the MGM Springfield Stakes eliminations: Carrythetorchman, Crystal Beach, and Not Today. Each horse in the Miller-trained trio advanced to the $104,250 final, which is set for tonight (Monday, July 13) at Yonkers Raceway.
Carrythetorchman reached the final by virtue of a victory and Not Today with a fourth-place finish in the second elimination, while Crystal Beach advanced to the final courtesy of a third-place finish behind American Courage in the first elimination. Seeing as though Carrythetorchman is currently unbeaten after two 'baby races' and his first pari-mutuel start, he leads the pack against the race’s 8-5 morning line favourite, American Courage.
By American Ideal out of the Astreos mare Kattimon, Carrythetorchman is out of the same dam as Classic Pro, a winner of two Ontario Sires Stakes legs and an earner of over $500,000 to date, and a full brother to Grand Circuit winner and New York Sire Stakes standout Devil Child. Carrythetorchman was a $70,000 purchase from the 2019 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale for Miller and owners Ronald Michelon and the War Horse Stable.
“He’s a good conformation horse. You might want one a little bigger for the big stuff, but for New York, I thought he was about the right size for getting around the half,” Miller said. “So far, he’s proven that. He doesn’t wear any boots and just gets around the half-mile track real easy.”
Although Miller says Carrythetorchman showed class from the beginning of his training, the colt began to develop a bad habit while training in Florida over the winter and into the spring as he dealt with minor foot trouble.
“Early on, he was really good. Then he went through a phase and I think it was more his feet than anything just had him where he wasn’t happy with what he was doing,” Miller said. “He wasn’t easy to keep under control when they jogged. He’d switch back and forth from the pace to the trot and we got that under control by leaving the hopples on him all the time.
“He was really fussy on the track at one time, but now he doesn’t do anything wrong,” Miller continued. “Since we got him close, a couple weeks before qualifying, he'd gotten over everything and it seemed like he was way better.”
With that hiccup behind them, Miller shipped Carrythetorchman and the rest of his stable from Florida to Pennsylvania’s Wingate Farm uncertain when the horses would be able to qualify. With efforts to contain the coronavirus closing racetracks across North America, Wingate improvised, like many training centres throughout the country.
“With COVID-19, it was just one of those things that we had to come up with a new solution. We couldn’t go anywhere to get qualified, so we came up with the next best plan,” Miller said. “I saw it coming when we left Florida, PA is shut down, things aren’t moving, so we better see if we can get our farm OK’d to qualify. That worked out good. We had a couple weeks of qualifiers that got things going.”
Carrythetorchman was one of the horses who benefited, qualifying at home over the five-eighths-mile track at Wingate on June 15. He led his field of four gate-to-wire and went on to stop the clock in 1:59.2 with a :28 final quarter.
Nine days later, Miller was able to ship to Pocono Downs for a second baby race. Carrythetorchman left from Post 8 and utilized a :28.2 final quarter to power away from the field to win by 10 and three-quarter lengths in 1:57.
“He did really well. Because of training and knowing what kind of horse he was, we wanted to get a little faster mile in him there that day than what he did (at the farm) and expose him a little more. We did that and he just handled it really well,” Miller said.
Carrythetorchman debuted on July 6 at Yonkers, 20 minutes after American Courage posted a blowout win by seven and one quarter lengths in 1:55.2 in the first MGM Springfield Stakes elimination.
Carrythetorchman left in between horses and glided to the front as the field reached the backstretch the first time. Driver Scott Zeron was simply a passenger as Carrythetorchman and cruised home to win by one and a half lengths in 1:55.4.
Carrythetorchman has drawn Post 3 for the final of the MGM Springfield Stakes, and at 9-5 is the second choice on the morning line. American Courage will start from Post 4 with Matt Kakaley as the 8-5 morning line favourite.
“(American Courage) looked really sharp in his qualifier for this race, too. We just have to see how it plays out,” said Miller, who wasn’t sure what will happen when the two unbeaten colts face each other Monday night.
Crystal Beach drew Post 2 in the final and is a 20-1 morning line after finishing 9 lengths behind American Courage last week. Crystal Beach left hard from post five in his elimination, but was denied the lead by Major Makeover and was forced to take back into third heading to the quarter. With Crystal Beach keen in the hole, driver Marcus Miller angled to the outside turning into the stretch the first time and brushed to the top before being forced to yield again as American Courage forged to the lead at 1-5.
“[Crystal Beach] really raced well the other day, but he was moved a lot, so it’s hard to tell how much he will go when he gets a nicer trip, maybe not used up quite as hard,” Miller said. “He’s also a very handy horse and gets around a half really [well].”
Crystal Beach was a $36,000 purchase from the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and is owned by Miller and Tanah Merah Farm. Crystal Beach impressed while training down and won his first baby race by almost eight lengths at Wingate on June 15 before finishing second behind Carrythetorchman on June 24 at Pocono ahead of his debut in the Springfield elimination.
“He’s been a really nice horse. He’s always trained like just a top, top colt. When you’re getting ready to race them, sometimes you don’t get quite what you expect or quite as much as you thought they trained like,” Miller said. “His biggest attribute is he’s just so handy, he’s very handy on a half-mile racetrack.”
Not Today is also 20-1 on the morning line after having drawn Post 6 and will employ the driving services of Jason Bartlett. A $77,000 purchase as the Harrisburg Sale last fall, Not Today is owned by Anderson, Willinger, and Golemes.
Not Today was second behind Crystal Beach on June 15, but won a qualifier at Pocono on June 24 by two and three-quarter lengths in 1:58.4. He finished seventh, 10 lengths behind American Courage in an overnight at Pocono on June 30 before his fourth-place effort in the Springfield elimination last week.
“He’s a little bit more of an immature horse, not quite as mature as the other two, but he’s a little bigger, stronger horse. Hopefully at some point, he’ll catch up to the other guys a little bit,” Miller said.
Town Gossip, Victory Move, Coalition Hanover, and Major Makeover complete the lineup for the final of the MGM Springfield Stakes, which has been carded as the fourth of eight races Monday night.
“I think it’s a nice race to have. With everything going on, it’s nice for the two-year-olds to be able to race for $100,000 right now,” Miller said. “With all the COVID-19, all the races being cut, and schedules being redone, it’s nice to still have this race.”
The amended Yonkers Raceway calendar will see live harness racing conducted Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday nights until July 17. Beginning the week of July 20, the schedule will add Saturday nights as the track returns to its normal five night per week schedule through December 19. First post time will be at 7:05 p.m.
(SOA of NY)