CAMDEN, S.C.--Ricky Hendriks saddled two stakes winners, including his own Fil Dor (Fr) in the $150,000 Colonial Cup, at the Colonial Cup races on Sunday, Nov. 23. 

Fil Dor, ridden by Dan Nevin, led over the last fence in the Colonial Cup (Photo by Tod Marks)"It was a very exciting day," said Hendriks."Wow! So cool."

Fil Dor, owned by Hendriks' Morningstar Farm and ridden by Dan Nevis, won the G1, 2 5/8 mile Colonial Cup by 1 1/4 lengths, setting a new track record of 5:02 2/5, and beating Vae Patron (Fr), trained by Leslie Young, and Zarak the Brave (Fr), trained by Tom Garner.

The Colonial Cup results threw the  race for the Eclipse Award into total disarray.

Cool Jet, Little Trilby and Jimmy P had been in the lead for the award, with the results of the Colonial Cup expected to give the winner between those three the edge to win.

But Cool Jet, trained by Jack Fisher, fell at the first fence, Little Trilby, trained by Hendriks, fell at the second fence, and Jimmy P,  trained by Keri Brion, was never a factor, finishing a dull fifth in the  nine horse race, beating only two tiring horses in the stretch.

And now Fil Dor has entered the picture, too, with his win.

Del Rio Racing's Coutach (GB), trained by Hendriks and ridden by Nevis, won the $56,000, 2 1/2 mile Hokirk Hill Hurdle Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths in 4:50 4/5 over Pure Courage, trained by Todd Wyatt, and Active Duty (Fr), trained by Garner.  

Both Fil Dor and Coutach were brought to this country by top Irish trainer Gordon Elliott for the races at Far Hills, with Del Rio finishing fifth in the G1 Grand National and Coutach winning the Foxbrook Champion Hurdle by 4 1/4 lengths. 

 

WHEN ELLIOTT brings horses over to run, he keeps them at Hendriks' Morningstar Fsrm in Unionville, Pa., before the races.

Ricky Hendriks"Fil Dor is one of those special horses to be around," said Hendriks. "Going into Far Hills he was training beautifully, but he got into trouble on the last turn and lost ground, then he was coming at the end."

At Colonial, we wanted to keep him close to the pace, and when Cool Jet fell at the first, he inherited the lead," he said. "He's a spectacular jumper."

"He'll winter at my farm, and then next year he'll go in the Temple Gwathmey and the the Iroquois," said Hendriks.

"Coutach is a very talented horse," he said. "I'm really looking forward to next year with him. He's three for three and hasn't been beaten over fences. "He'll go to Camden for the novice race and then to Nashvillle for the novice."

"He's a lovely horse," said Hendiks. "You watch him gallop, and he just floats across the ground."

"I'm so excited for next year," said Hendriks, who now has three top horses in Del Rio, Coutach and LittleTrilby.

"And Erdenheim just send me all their horses that didn't cut the mustard on the flat," he said. "I'm really excited about that. We'll probably take horses to Camden for a couple of weeks in February, to school them over fences before the point-to-point season." 

Fisher saddled Woodslane Racing's Cooper, ridden by Jaimie Bargary, to win the $50,000, 2 1/8 mile Three Year Old Hurdle Stakes by 2 3/4 lengths in 4:07 2/5 over Bourbonator, trained by Barry Foley, and Ethics, also trained by Fisher.

Todd Wyatt saddled Mrs. S.K. Johnston's Awesome Man to win the $30,000 Maiden Hurdle by 3/4 length over Iconic Walk (Ire), trained by Young, and Serifos, trained by Fisher.

Kate Dalton saddled Joseph F. Fowler, Jr.'s Scoop the Pot to win the $30,000, 2 3/8 mile Ratings Handicap Hurdle by 2 3/4 lengths in 4:42 2/5 over Forever Hopeful, trained by Wlliiam Wofford, and Blue Nile, trained by Richard Valentine.

Riverdee Stable's Jhirsch, trained by George Laird and ridden by Jamie Wyatt, won the 1 1/2 mile Training Flat race by 6 1/4 lengths over Hard Par, trained by Dalton, and Headline News, trained by Kathy Neilson.