When Patch Adams broke his maiden last November by 10 1/2 lengths, his performance combined with his breeding made it a logical choice to test him on the Kentucky Derby (G1) trail. But when the Into Mischief colt faltered at longer distances, finishing fourth in both the Southwest Stakes and Tampa Bay Derby (both G3), his connections made the next logical decision, which was to cut him back in distance.
And back at the seven-furlong distance at which he ran so impressively last year, Patch Adams became a grade 1 winner, taking the $500,000 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) in a gutsy, gritty performance June 7 at Saratoga Race Course.
The bay colt broke from post 4 under Luis Saez, who kept Patch Adams off the rail on a track that had been upgraded to muddy after starting the day labeled sloppy (sealed). As he did in his races as a 2-year-old, he set a couple of lengths off the pacesetter, but approaching the far turn, he actually lost ground, getting passed for third place by longshot T Kraft.
But Saez went to work, energetically urging the colt, entering the stretch three wide and taking aim at pacesetting Macho Music and Madaket Road, who had been stalking the leader. Madaket Road dug in, but so did Patch Adams, eventually wearing him down to hit the wire 2 1/4 lengths in front. As the 5-1 co-second choice on the morning line, he went to the post the 3-1 favorite, paying $8.80 to win.
He ran the seven furlongs in 1:21.36.
"I know he was going to come out of there running and he did," Saez said. "He found a good spot and, man, when he came to the top of the stretch he gave me a pretty good turn of foot."
Patch Adams was bred in Kentucky by WinStar Farm, who is joined in co-ownership by CHC. The colt is out of the Distorted Humor mare Well Humored and is trained by Brad Cox.
“He’s an Into Mischief, and he’s out of a Distorted Humor mare,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president, CEO, and racing manager. “Now he’s the second grade 1 winner like that that we’ve had this year. The other one is Tappan Street. He wants to go longer than this horse, but both of them are very gifted.”
In March, Tappan Street won the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park.
Though the track condition significantly improved during the day–in fact, right after the Woody Stephens, it was upgraded to fast–Walden would have been sanguine if it had remained wet, given that last out Patch Adams won an allowance optional claiming race by 2 1/4 lengths over a sloppy track on the Kentucky Derby undercard.
A possible next start for Patch Adams is the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) Aug. 23 at Saratoga.
“He’s been at it all year,” Walden said. “He’s gone to Oaklawn, he’s gone to Tampa, and he’s not a super-big horse. He ran kind of quick back here, so we’ll let him fill up and go from there.”
With the victory, Patch Adams became the 175th black-type stakes winner and 25th grade 1 winner for his sire, Spendthrift Farm's perennial leading sire Into Mischief. Represented later on the card when Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes (G1), Into Mischief is solidly leading the general sires list after topping the chart the past six years. He stands at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky for $250,000.
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