Ellis recap: Wilbo edges Manhattan Mischief for Bernhardt  

HENDERSON, Ky. (Saturday, July 22, 2017) — Favored Wilbo earned his first stakes victory, punching home to nip the speedy Manhattan Mischief by a half-length in Saturday’s $50,000 Don Bernhardt Memorial at Ellis Park.

“He wanted to get by that horse at the end,” jockey Corey Lanerie said after winning his 14th race of the meet for a four-victory edge over Didiel Osorio in the riders’ standings. “He’s nice. He’s gritty. Fun to ride.”

Said Louisville-based trainer Chris Hartman: “I thought Wilbo ran an exceptional race. He had a little tussle down the lane, but he got the job done.

“I was very happy when he left the gate in good position. Because sometimes he’ll have a tendency to get left. But when he left with the pack and was laying third, I was very happy with his positioning. And Corey put a perfect ride on him. I was very confident through the lane.”

Etruscan rallied under Jon Court at 74-1 to take third, edging Black Bear. Seventh Sense, Big Squeeze, second-choice The Truth Or Else, Speightsong and Hebbronville completed the order of finish in the field of nine older horses.

“I had a good trip,” Lanerie said. “He broke really well. Going into the turn, about the 3 1/2 (furlong pole) it got a little tight. Because he was wanting to pull me up into a spot when I wasn’t ready for him to go. I think he’s got a short run, so I was trying to get him to wait and kind of cover him up. But after I got to the three-eighths, the five-sixteenth, I was in a pocket and happy where I was. I was hoping either the 10 (Manhattan Mischief) would go on, or a seam would split. I got lucky that Shaun Bridmoghan’s horse (Big Squeeze) stopped and gave me a seam to hit, and I had enough horse to do it.”

Even with the scratch of the front-loving Polo Art, there was plenty of speed between Manhattan Mischief and the Turkish-bred Seventh Sense, who zipped along the first quarter-mile in 21.83 seconds before Manhattan Mischief shook loose — at least until Wilbo made his move. The 4-year-old Wilbo muscled past Manhattan Mischief in the final strides to wrap up 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.96, paying $4.40 to win as the 6-5 favorite.

“I got a little pressure,” said Didiel Osorio, the 2015 Ellis Park riding champion who rode Manhattan Mischief for J.R. Caldwell. “I tried to slow him down. But he still ran well.”

Etruscan was last after a half-mile, fanning eight-wide on the turn before kicking in through the stretch. “You never know,” Court said of catching the leaders. “I got excited.

“… He made a big run; I’m happy for Don,” he said of Ellis Park-based trainer Don Bennett. “Speed was just getting away from us.”

Wilbo, a son of the Lane’s End Farm Argentine-bred stallion Candy Ride, had been second in Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Aristides to the top sprinter Limousine Liberal after winning an allowance race at the same track. In fact, outside a maiden victory in his debut 2 1/2 years ago, Wilbo’s other five prior wins were all allowance races, though he was second by a head in Mountaineer Park’s 2016 Senator Robert Byrd Memorial and third by a total of three-quarters of a length in the Iowa Sprint Handicap.

The chestnut gelding now is 7-3-5 in 20 starts, earning $330,396. “He’s been very consistent, and he loves his job,” Hartman said. “Very happy horse.”

Hartman said Wilbo could run back in the $100,000 Byrd Memorial.

Gilligan heats up: Jockey Jack Gilligan won two races and was second with another mount Saturday, doubling his win total for the meet. Gilligan went to 2-for-2 at the meet aboard the Dawn Martin-owned and trained Benny Special ($11.20) in the third race and took the fifth on the Kenny McPeek-trained Sky Promise ($5.60). He nearly won the sixth on Leading Cause before getting past late by the Court-ridden Arch Cat.

“Really, really good day,” Gilligan said. “I was hoping to get three wins, and I thought today was my best chance getting it. But Jon Court is always hard to beat. If there’s anyone in the room to beat me, I like it to be him. He’s a statesman.

“But we’ve been working hard in the mornings, me and my agent Liz Morris, and it’s starting to pay off now. Tom Amoss started giving me a couple of shots as well, and Kenny’s helping me out now. I’ve been putting in the work, working horses for him. So I’m happy to ride them, and I’m happy to be able to deliver for him, to take the opportunities they give me.”