Whentheshipcomesin Takes Down Capt. Hook In A Thriller

The Grade 2 Captain Hook started out as a two-horse race, and it looked like it would stay that way when Whentheshipcomesin and Summer Ends hooked up in a speed duel on the front end in the pouring rain in New York this weekend.

Then it turned into a three-horse race, when Kenworthy joined the fray late. And then it turned into a four-horse race when post-time favorite Push On A String kicked it into gear in deep stretch.

And finally, when all was said and done, it ended up being a five-horse blanket photo finish at the wire, when Master Seeker made his late run to try to steal the race.

To say that the finish in the fourteenth running of the $200,000 Grade 2 Captain Hook in New York this weekend was exciting is a huge understatement. When it was all over, the guys in the photo finish booth had quite a time separating the top five, with all five of the top finishers ending up within ¾ of a length of each other at the wire.

After the guys in the photo booth got the thrilling finish all sorted out, it was the German-bred Whentheshipcomesin who ended up hanging on to take home the Grade 2 Captain Hook trophy here Saturday, just edging out Supertaffy’s 16-1 long shot colt Summer Ends by ¼ of a length.

Kenworthy, a Canadian-bred son of Marchfield, ended up finishing third, just a nose behind Summer Ends. The Irish-bred favorite Push On A String was fourth, just ½ a length behind the winner. And Master Seeker ended up finishing fifth, just ¾ of a length behind Whentheshipcomesin.

The three year old son of Monsun, who is owned by Right At Home Stables, got his first graded win this weekend, and his owner Mike said he was the most surprised of all when he was in the winner‘s circle here in New York this weekend with his German-bred colt.

Mike had three entries in the 9-furlong Captain Hook on the sloppy dirt course in New York, and he said Whentheshipcomesin was the one he thought least likely to get the win.

“Going into the Captain Hook, Whentheshipcomesin was the one of the three I had entered I was expecting the least out of,” said Mike, who also had entered Umphrey’s McGee and Kayaderossera in the Captain Hook.

The betting public didn’t agree with Mike, because they put more money on Whentheshipcomesin than they did on either of his other two entries, Umphrey’s McGee and Kayaderosseras.

Whentheshipcomesin broke out of the gate alertly from the one hole Saturday afternoon, and he didn’t waste much time getting to the lead at all.

He was just as quickly joined by the longest shot in the race, Supertaffy Stables’ long shot colt Summer Ends, and those two stayed 1-2 throughout all four calls of the entire race.

But if either of those colts thought they were going to steal it on the front end, those thoughts were quickly dispatched when Master Seeker, Kenworthy and Push On A String decided to run with them late in deep stretch.

And run they did–all five of them–on the very sloppy dirt course here in New York this weekend.

“Looking at the past performances and all the speed, I thought Whentheshipcomesin had been finished at the top of the stretch,” said Mike, who said he lives near Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York. “In fact, while I was watching the race, I almost closed the viewer.”

It’s a good thing Mike didn’t stop watching the race, because he got to see not only one of the most exciting Grade 2 Captain Hook finishes in recent memory, but he also got to see Whentheshipcomesin win his first graded stakes race of his career, something that was especially important to him because it came in his home state of New York.

“Being that I’m a New Yorker, I’ve always wanted a horse with a chance to maybe win one of the graded races at Upper New York (Saratoga), which is not far from where I live,” said Mike.

And it looks like Mike will finally get his chance to see his colt win a big graded stakes race in Upper New York in about seven weeks or so.

Mike said he will skip his chance to send Whentheshipcomesin to the Grade 1 New Yorker, the third leg of the Triple Crown, and he won’t make a bid to become the only trainer in Derbyfever history to pull off the Captain Hook-New Yorker double.

“My plans with Whentheshipcomesin are to keep him at 8-9 furlongs and point him toward the (9-furlong, $500,000) Grade 2 Shiny Gem,” said Mike, who just might get his wish to win a graded stakes in his own backyard come August 4 with his German-bred colt, who now has just over $200,000 in earnings.

Mike will still have an entry in the third leg of the Triple Crown, though. “As for the New Yorker, my derby horse, Letmegocrazyonu, will skip the Middle Jewel and head for that race.”

The final speed figures told the whole story after the Captain Hook race. The top five finishers in the Captain Hook ran speed figures of 102, 101, 101, 101 and 100.

Mike’s German-bred colt paid $14.70, $7.90 and $4.70 to his backers here this weekend. Whentheshipcomesin and Summer Ends combined for a 1-11 exacta that paid $249.20, and the 1-11-4 trifecta with Kenworthy third paid a walloping $1,724.00.

Whentheshipcomesin ran the 9 furlongs in the Captain Hook in a time of 1:48 4/5, well off the stakes record of 1:47 1/5 set by Extortionist in the 2004 Captain Hook Stakes. But the sloppy race course and the foul weather in New York probably had a lot to do with that.