CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--Leslie Young saddled two winners, including the winner of the featured Hurdle Stakes, at Foxfield Spring Races on Saturday, April 27.
Total Joy in the Daniel Van Clief Stakes (Photo by Tod Marks)
Noble Stables' Total Joy, trained by Young and ridden by Paddy O'Hanlon, won the $75,000, 2 1/8 mile Daniel Van Clief Memorial Hurdle Stakes by 4 lengths in 4:03 4/5, the fastest time of the day.
Young not only had the winner, she also saddled Go Poke the Bear to place second, 4 lengths behind Total Joy.
"Total Joy is a nice horse that I bought a couple of years ago at Newmarket," said Young. "He won first timeout at Radnor last year and won again at Shawan. He's a very nice young horse that's still maturing."
"Go Poke the Bear is a consistent, honest horse," said Young. "Total Joy is nominated for Nashville. If he doesn't run there there's no other race for him this spring."
Young also saddled both the winner and second placed horse in the $35,000 Ratings Handicap Hurdle, winning with Thomas S. Rice's Oscar Winner, ridden by Brian Barry, who won by a neck in 4:08 1/5 over Artistic Choice.
"Oscar Winner was the first winner for Brian Barry in this country," said Young. "Oscar Winner will go to Winterthur or Willowdale. Everybody looks good now, but where they go next depends on how they are."
WITH THOSE two wins, Young surged even farther ahead in both Trainer, Races Won and Trainer, Money Won.
Auchincruive in the winner's circle al Foxfield
Young has 10 wins and $304,600 over second placed Jack Fisher, who has five wins and $157,200.
Sean McDermott trained and rode South Branch Equine's Who's Counting to win the $5,000 Goodnight Shirt Hurdle Stakes by 1 1/4 lengths over Caramelised (GB), trained by Young.
Keri Brion saddled Norman Lewis' Auchincruive, ridden by Evan Dwan, to win the $20,000 Maiden Claiming Hurdle by 4 lengths in 4:09 4/5 over Fingal, trained by Arch Kingsley.
"Norman is the nicest man who called me up a few months ago and asked if I would take one of his horses off the flat to turn into a jumper, as he had always wanted a steeplechase horse," said Brion. "Auchincruive showed up out of a field, a woolly mammoth probably would be the best description, and was a 7-year-old colt."
We fixed that, got him into shape, and taught him to jump.," said Brion. "He wasn’t always simple, but he learned to enjoy it, and at Foxfield he was an easy winner at first asking. It’s not always about the expensive imports winning as they should, love a story of a homebred fulfilling his owners lifelong dream."
Todd Wyatt saddled Buttonwood Farms' Baltimore Kid, ridden by O'Hanlon, to win the $30,000 Ratings Handicap by 6 lengths in 4:08 3/5 over Recent Revelations, trained by Ricky Hendriks.
Henriks next trained Upland Flats Racing's Hidden Path, ridden by Harry Beswick, to win the $30,000 Maiden Hurdle by a neck over Ireland's Call (GB), trained by Young.
Animal Kingston, owned by William M. Russell, trained by Neil Morris and ridden by Beswick, won the $20,000 Maiden Timber by2 1/4 lengths over Hard Game, trained by Kathy Neilson.
