Great “Full” Circle
March 12th, 2009By Jude T. Feld (FG Selections Below and Selections Page)
The Stute Brothers (Mel left, Warren right) receiving the Laffit Pincay, Jr. Award from the Hall of Fame jockey at Hollywood Park on July 8, 2006Benoit Photo
When he got too big to ride races, Warren Stute walked hots and galloped horses for trainer Yorkie McLeod. In 1940, he took out his own trainer’s license and began a legacy that continues to this very day.
His first big win came in 1950 when Great Circle set a track record of 1:48 2/5 while winning the 1950 Del Mar Derby. The following year, Stute gave the legendary Bill Shoemaker a leg up on Great Circle for the Hall of Fame jockey’s first win in a hundred grander – the 1951 Santa Anita Maturity.
Winner after winner followed. Year after year, his public stable was a force to be reckoned with on the tough Southern California circuit.
Stute’s prowess as a trainer remained into his golden years as he continued to gallop his trainees on a daily basis. Grey Memo, who won the 2002 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar and the Godolphin Mile at Nad al Sheba illustrated his abilities on a world-wide stage. Grey Memo started 54 times in six seasons of racing, earning $1,736,683.
Warren Stute also holds the distinction of posting the greatest number of years between starting horses in the Kentucky Derby. That accomplishment came when he saddled Greeley’s Galaxy, who ran 11th in 2005 – 38 years after Field Master ran 13th in 1967.
Many of his top horses were owned by Oak Tree Racing Association President Clement L. Hirsch, including Snow Sporting, June Darling and Magical Maiden, but arguably the most famous horse to sport the black colors with gold diamond frames on the sleeves was Argentine import Figonero, who won three races in eight days in 1969, including the American Handicap on the turf and Hollywood Gold Cup Handicap on dirt. The talented Figerono also set a world record in winning the 1969 Del Mar Handicap, completing the mile and an eighth in 1:46 1/5.
Hirsch was so pleased with Warren’s body of work for him, that the trainer was bequeathed a million dollars by the generous mogul when he died in 2000.
Outdoing his dubious Derby record in 2002, Stute trained Miss Houdini, a filly owned by Hirsch’s son Bo, to an impressive victory in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, 51 years after winning that race with Tonga.
Despite his magnificent training career, the late Warren Stute will probably most be remembered as Mel Stute’s brother. It was Warren, who gave Mel his first horse to train, and the rest as they say, is history.
Mel saddled his first winner, Egg Nog, at Portland Meadows in 1947. He won his first major stakes when First Balcony won the Californian at Hollywood Park in 1961. Mel’s name will always be synonymous with Snow Chief, the diminutive California-bred that won the 1986 Preakness and garnered the Eclipse Award for best three-year-old.
An earner of nearly $3.4 million, Snow Chief thrust the Stute family name into the national spotlight. It shined once again, later in the fall, when Brave Raj won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, adding another Eclipse Award to Mel’s mantle. Breeders’ Cup Sprint-winning filly Very Subtle, world record holder Double Discount and twelve training titles later, Mel Stute is still training winners at 82.
From Mel would come son Gary, who trains Louisiana Derby starter and Kentucky Derby hopeful Papa Clem. If you know the Stutes and their loyal customers, it shouldn’t be surprising that the talented son of Smart Strike is owned by Bo Hirsch and was produced from Miss Houdini, who was expertly trained by Gary’s uncle Warren and named for Bo’s father Clement, who loved Warren so much.
The earmark of any Stute horse is fitness and Gary Stute has certainly maintained the family principles with Papa Clem, making sure he is ready for the long Fair Grounds stretch with a seven-eighths work in 26 and change, a stamina-building mile in 1 39 and a six furlong sharpener in 11 and 4.
It’s easy to visualize a Peb Kentucky Derby cartoon now – Warren in a cowboy hat, stop watch in hand and Clement in a suit, smoking a cigar, standing on billowy clouds, looking down from heaven, Mel at the track, in his trademarked suspenders, mutuel tickets poking out of every pocket, watching the race on a TV monitor and Gary and Bo smiling and cheering Papa Clem and jockey Rafael Bejarano from their finish line box, as he flies down the lane…
It seems like it’s always been that way for the Stutes and the Hirschs.
NOTES ON THE LOUISIANA DERBY (G2) PROGRAM
By Jude T. Feld
I am in “Nawlins†to help present the Louisiana Derby (G2) on the Horse Racing Radio Network. Every horseplayer here has been looking forward to this day for weeks. With four graded stakes and two listed ones on the card there is a championship day buzz in the air. Intermittent showers are in the forecast, so take a peek at track and course conditions before heading to the windows.
FG SIXTH) RACHEL ALEXANDRA will be heavily favored to win the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) by virtue of her magnificent comeback in Oaklawn Park’s Martha Washington Stakes. The daughter of Stonewall stallion Medaglia d’Oro has only the local filly FOUR GIFTS to fear and that one would need to run better than ever to win.
FG SEVENTH) The New Orleans Handicap (G2) brings out a contentious field of top-class horses. HONEST MAN, from the Larry Jones stable, has won four races in five starts at Fair Grounds. He always gives his best and probably has a slight edge. IT’S A BIRD ran through his bridle in the Sunshine Millions Classic. A repeat of that victory puts him right there. MY PAL CHARLIE runs big races in occasion (Like his second-place finish in last year’s Louisiana Derby (G2) at 60-1!) and should be considered. SLEW’S TIZNOW is a very nice horse who has had some horrific trips lately. Rafael Bejarano sticks with him and the Doug O’Neill trainee could post a big upset at a boxcar price with his best effort.
FG EIGHTH) The Sam-Son Farms entry of WINDWARD ISLANDS and FRENCH BERET may offer some value in the Mervin Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2) as both entrants have a chance and the coupling should offer decent odds. GOLDEN YANK fires every time and is reunited with his favorite jockey Jamie Theriot. NOWNOWNOW has been running well on the Cushion Track at Santa Anita but might be best on turf. He will get his preferred surface if the rains don’t set in.
FG NINTH) FRIESAN FIRE has done nothing wrong in his last two starts. Trainer Larry Jones says he is training better than ever, so a Louisiana Derby (G2) victory would not be a shocker. PAPA CLEM has been working like his tail is on fire. He is regally bred, improving and gets the services of jockey Rafael Bejarano. That could add up to a garland of lilies. GIANT OAK probably needed the Risen Star (G3) and might live up to his fans’ Derby fever. FREE COUNTRY ran o.k. on the tricky Tampa Bay Downs racetrack. Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux stays with the Kenny McPeek trainee and they could score at a huge price.
