Ron The Greek ready to claim the third Grade 1 victory of the season in the Whitney Handicap
Trained by Bill Mott, Ron The Greek will be aiming to collect his third Grade 1 victory this season. Hosted at Saratoga, the runner holds an entry in the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap, which covers a distance of 1 1/8 miles.
Owned by Jack T. Hammer, Brous Stable and Wachtel Stable, the runner has been blossoming, since Mott started training him 13 months ago.
The Florida bred runner was not always a great runner, and faced a number of setbacks over the years.
He had a number of trainers starting from Tom Amoss to Tom Albertrani to Peter Walder, but he finally ended up with Mott, who by far is the most successful trainer who ever trained the runner.
The son of Full Mandate claimed a victory in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in March, 2012, where he covered the 1 ¼ mile track in 2 minutes and 0.41 seconds.
After this, the sophomore competed in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap, where he finished as a runner-up, but excelled in the 1 1/8 mile-Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap when he defeated, Wise Dan, in 1 minute and 50.51 seconds.
Mott thought that, the five-year-old should go on a lay-off after he won the Stephen Foster but, he was doing extremely well and the trainer decided to give him another shot. Regarding this, the trainer commented:
“I was feeling maybe this horse needs a break at some point.” He further added: “But he was doing so well and it was a fair amount of time, I said ‘let’s go ahead and go for it.’ ”
Foaled by Fortunate Prospect mare Flambe’, Ron The Greek will race with a 3-1 shot under rider Jose Lezcano, and will break from post position 6.
With career earnings worth $1,112,597 and an overall record of 7-4-1 from 19 starts, Ron The Greek has progressed well.
This race is a Breeders’ Cup, “Win and You’re In Challenge” but he will be feeling no pressure, since he already holds an entry in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic with entry fees already paid and a $10,000 travel stipend, all thanks to his brilliant
performance in the Stephen Foster Handicap.
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