Belmont Report: John's Call Wins Turf Classic

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A little before 6 p.m. on Oct. 7, Jean-Luc Samyn, clad in a dark suit and tie, stepped off the elevator on the second floor of the Belmont clubhouse and appeared lost. "Where is the Trustees Room?" he asked. "I've been here 20 years and I've never been in there."

To the 44-year-old hard-working rider, the Trustees Room was another world, far removed from the daily grind of riding mostly longshots and searching for that occasional top-class stakes horse. This is where the winning connections are escorted following a grade I victory to partake in champagne, shrimp, and other culinary delights.

Samyn was looking for his wife Antoinette, who was celebrating her husband's victory aboard John's Call in the $750,000 Turf Classic Invitational Stakes (gr. IT) with the gelding's connections and New York Racing Association officials.

Samyn is not unfamiliar with grade I victories, but this day was different. Half an hour before winning the Turf Classic, he captured the $750,000 Flower Bowl Invitational Handicap (gr. IT) aboard Colstar.

Samyn has never been an establishment rider. Despite his reputation as one of the most diligent and dedicated jockeys on the New York circuit, you won't find him riding for many of the big-name trainers. So it was appropriate that on one of New York's biggest days of the year he scored back-to-back grade I victories for two trainers--Paul Fout and Tom Voss--who not only are far from household names in the Big Apple, they are known more for their accomplishments in steeplechase races.

"Can you imagine this?" Samyn said as he walked into the Trustees Room and looked out at the panoramic view of the racetrack, which was now being illuminated by the amber glow of a gorgeous October sunset. "This is the ultimate. I've had to wait a long time for a day like this."

If Samyn thinks he's had to wait a long time for a day like this, what about John's Call, who has emerged as one of the leading turf horses in the country at age nine?

"I think they made a mistake with this horse's papers," Samyn said. "I don't believe he's really nine."

In some ways, the gelding's owner, Douglas Joyce, finds it just as hard to believe. "I'm so blown away, I'm not sure what to say," said Joyce, his hands still trembling. Joyce is amazed at what John's Call has been able to accomplish following a career constantly interrupted by nagging injuries. He still has trouble believing it was eight years ago that he turned out his newly purchased yearling colt at his 22-acre farm outside of Nashville, Tenn.

The son of Lord At War had been picked out by bloodstock agent John Stuart at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling sale for $4,000. Joyce rewarded Stuart by naming the colt John's Call. After bringing him back to his farm, he had him gelded, as most people involved in steeplechasing do. He then led him into a paddock, unclipped his halter and let him run free for the rest of that year and a good deal of his 2-year-old year for the simple purpose of "letting him be a horse."

After shipping him to Cary Grady in Southern Pines, N.C., for his early training, he sent him to Tom Voss, whom he had recently met for the first time in the paddock at the Camden Cup in Camden, S.C.

John's Call showed no inclination toward steeplechasing, so it was on to a career as a flat horse, where he toiled for the next four years in allowance and high-priced claiming races, while hampered by a series of injuries. At one point during that time, he was sidelined for two years.

Now, at age nine, he is one of the leading contenders for an Eclipse Award, having won the grade I Sword Dancer at Saratoga and the Turf Classic. "For him to be able to compete with this level of horses is unbelievable," said Joyce, who is in the investment management business, and who has one other horse in training, with Speedy Smithwick at the Sports Spectrum in Louisville.

After John's Call finished fourth in the Man o' War Stakes (gr. IT), Voss decided to change tactics on the come-from-behind horse and send him to the front in the Turf Classic, feeling that if Samyn could sneak away, he could catch the others napping. But when Samyn came charging out of the pack from last place in the Flower Bowl to nail Snow Polina after she had opened a 4 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole, Voss started having second thoughts.

He relayed his doubts to his friend, trainer Leo O'Brien, who advised him to stay with his plan. In the paddock, Voss asked Samyn, "What are we going to do now?" and Samyn suggested they just let the horse dictate what he wanted to do. "If he wants to go to the front, we'll let him go," he said. "If he doesn't, we'll let someone else go."

As it turned out, the story of the Turf Classic was pretty simple: He did. They didn't. End of story. Cruising along with a two-length lead through three-quarters in 1:15.77, John's Call and Samyn had succeeded in lulling the others to sleep. John's Call threw in a fourth quarter in :24.53, then killed off most of his rivals with another quarter in :23.69 while opening a three-length lead. The top two choices, Fantastic Light and Northern Quest, were near the back of the pack, their pockets already picked clean. Of the horses within striking range, only Craigsteel made a race of it, closing strongly in the final furlong to miss by a half-length, with hard-hitting European filly Ela Athena another 1 3/4 lengths back in third. John's Call's final quarter of :24.59 resulted in a respectable time of 2:28.58.

With John's Call not nominated to the Breeders' Cup, it will now be up to the others to dethrone the old timer from his unfamiliar seat atop the division. Regardless of the outcome, the story of John's Call still will go down as one of the great fairy tales of recent years.

This is a horse who mysteriously breaks out in white spots on occasion. Voss' wife Mimi said no one has been able to determine what they are. She describes them simply as polka dots that appear, then disappear. What are they? At this point, no one around the horse really cares. After all, what's so strange about a polka-dot horse in a fairy tale?

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