Lone Star Derby (gr. III)
(gr. III , 9f ,)
WISEMAN'S FERRY
(CH h,
122
lb) $277,500
Hennessy —Emmaus , by
Silver Deputy
B—Robert T. Manfuso,
KY.;
O—Swifty Farm, Fink, Morton and Sacks, Lee;
T—Niall M. O'Callaghan
Tracemark
(DK B/ g,
122
lb) $92,500
Conquistador Cielo —Juta's Fame , by
Danzig
B—Russell S. Davis,
KY.;
O—Edward T. McGrath;
T—Craig Dollase
Peekskill
(CH g,
122
lb) $50,875
Meadowlake —Premier Mombo , by
Premiership
B—Mrs. Guy Snowden,
KY.;
O—Snowden, Diane and Guy B.;
T—Anthony L. Reinstedler
Margins: 2¾, 3, 4½. Others: Windward Passage 122($27,750) , Smoked Em 122($13,875) , Jeremiah Jack 122($7,500) , Cappuchino 122($7,500) , Premeditation 122($7,500) , Dusty Spike 122($7,500) , Forty Nine Deeds 122($7,500) , Screen Idol 122 , Padlock 122 , Bay Monster 122 , Holdthehelm 122 . Winning Jockey, Jorge F. Chavez.
Leave it to Irish trainer Niall O’Callaghan to raid his homeland and return with a North American graded stakes winner. He did just that when his Wiseman’s Ferry won the May 11 Lone Star Derby (gr. III) at Lone Star Park.
Wiseman’s Ferry covered the 11/8-mile distance in 1:49.92. Tracemark was 23/4 lengths back in second, with Peekskill another three lengths back in third.
O’Callaghan purchased Wiseman’s Ferry in a package deal with Camp David, who is group III-placed in Ireland and finished third in a May 8 allowance contest at Churchill Downs, privately from fellow Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien and John Magnier and partners Coolmore Stud in Ireland.
“I bought him before Johannesburg (who is campaigned by Coolmore partner Michael Tabor and Susan Magnier and conditioned by O’Brien) won the (Bessemer Trust) Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (gr. I), but he was for sale either way,” O’Callaghan said. “He (Wiseman’s Ferry) wasn’t good enough for them (Coolmore) because they have so many 2-year-olds. They won 12 of the 13 2-year-old races in Europe and he was second, third, and fourth to all of their horses. He just wasn’t good enough for them—on turf.”
O’Callaghan trains Wiseman’s Ferry, who was named for a town on the Hawkesbury River, northwest of Sydney, Australia, for a partnership consisting of Chicago residents Morton Fink, who owned the O’Callaghan-trained Guided Tour, and Lee Sacks, as well as Swifty Farms owners Don and Dana Myers. The same partners also own Camp David.
Wiseman’s Ferry was second to Johannesburg in last July’s Anglesey Stakes (Ire-III) and was fourth to North America’s champion 2-year-old male in the Aug. 12 Independent Waterford Wedgwood Phoenix Stakes (Ire-I), before finishing a distant fourth in the Sept. 14 Rothmans Royals Champagne Stakes (Eng-II).
The Lone Star Derby winner made his North American debut in a March 16 allowance race at Gulfstream Park, where he finished third. He rebounded in his next start, an April 14 allowance race at Keeneland, to win by 51/2 lengths.
“I thought he would run better on the dirt because he was running on soft turf all the time. Really, he should be three-for-three because he had horrible trouble in his first race (in the U.S.),” the conditioner said.
Hennessy is the sire of Wiseman’s Ferry and 13 other added-money winners, including additional 2002 stakes winners Orchard Park, winner of the Palm Beach (gr. IIIT) and Graveline Stakes, and Half Hennessy (in Australia). Syndicated Hennessy stands at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky. His 2002 fee is $45,000.—L.D.