The 2015 Three-Year-Old Dirt Colt Eclipse Champion- Fake Honeymoon!

The 2015 Three-Year-Old Dirt Male Eclipse Winner: FAKE HONEYMOON

     By BERNARDINI out of the stakes winning mare ACROSS THE SUNRISE (by SADLER’S WELLS), a mare which now has produced three GI winners, your 2015 Three-Year-Old Dirt Colt Eclipse winner is: FAKE HONEYMOON! Congratulations to the spectacular Lenny on this amazing triumph, and a job-well-done on a great training effort this year! An earner of over $5,000,000 and your 2015 Breeder’s Bowl Classic Champion, there is no horse more deserving. Let’s take a look at this equine’s stunning career.
On his debut in 2014, he looked very good. He sported an 82 speed rating while finishing second to the now-GII winning VOADKYN– a horse he would start a rivalry with for a few races to come. He also did well in his second running, while managing an 80 speed rating, the colt seemed just a little too far behind and crossed the wire third by two. Lenny stretched him out to a mile in his third running, a move that paid off when the horse ran down nine foes to break his maiden in 1:37.3. He unfortunately went cold for the rest of 2014, finishing third twice and second once in the NW2L allowance classes, bringing us to 2015. I asked Lenny if he knew the kind of horse he had after his two-year-old campaign: “He didn’t show much right away, but I was hopeful he’d want more ground based on a couple of his siblings. He is half brother to New Yorker winner EVIL SUNRISE and half brother to Travelers winner MR. FIX IT, so I was really looking forward to this year.”
The promising colt started 2015 off right, scoring his second win by a neck at Belmont over nine furlongs on the dirt course in 1:49.2.
The bay carried the momentum on to The Niagara Falls Stakes where he bested two future Derby runners in BELT LINE ROAD and BLUEGRASS BOLT, running down BLUEGRASS BOLT and beating them both by three-and-a-half lengths with a 107 speed rating and K Banner aboard. Lenny was thinking Derby after that win: “After his win in The Niagara Falls stakes, I was definitely hoping to make a Derby push.”
On April fifth, the colt switched riders back to R Radzinski, his regular jockey, and targeted the Taughannock Falls GI. He broke well, but appeared to be boxed in for most of the contest, and the colt struggled to find running room around the turn. The colt finished sixth by about six lengths, and a 99 SP. He was also beat by VOADKYN, who finished fourth. Lenny commented on his dashed Derby dreams: “I was very disappointed in his poor outing in the Taughannock Falls GI. At that point I figured I’d try and get some long points and shoot for the New Yorker.”
Less than a month later on May first, Lenny’s horse ran outside of New York for the first time in Mexico, and he did it well, winning the Volotile Seattle Dirt Route by over three lengths, gaining those long points, and beating three now-stakes winners and VOADKYN, which will be the last time he’ll match up against FAKE HONEYMOON.
Lenny then, as said before, decided to take a shot on one of the biggest races on the Sim calendar- the New Yorker GI, for a purse of $3,000,000. He closed at 9-1, the colt broke well and found a nice position for the early going. He started his move midway down the backstretch, and was forced three-wide on the turn. Unfortunately, it looks like the ground loss was the deciding factor, coupled with the race being two furlongs longer than any race he’d ever run, as he ran out of pace with a sixteenth to go, and SUSPECT OF HERESY held on for the win by half-of-a-length over FAKE HONEYMOON in second. An amazing race all considered, and you bet the colt wasn’t done there.
Next stop- Woodbine. Lenny sends his colt outside of New York state for only the second time ever, north of the border to this writer’s home track for the Clerk Of Scales GI. He opened up at 6-1 and let about five runners challenge from the early lead. At the five-eighths pole, K Banner set him free, and he responded like a monster. The horse passed the staggering leaders and took home the gold, winning by two lengths in 1:53.3 over a mile and three-sixteenths, beating out derby winner SWINGING BIG SHAFT, GI winner SMASH A BULB, and California Derby winner WASHINGTON HUSKIES.
Back in New York, Lenny put his stunning colt on the Breeder’s Bowl path, it appears, as he entered the horse into the Traveler’s Stakes. The 7-1 second choice was misplaced early by rider L Radzinski, dropping back to thirteenth, lower than the horse typically enjoys, and as a result did not have enough track to hit the board, despite flying home to finish fourth by five lengths. BAYOU BULLET won the race, earning him a slot in the Breeder’s Bowl Classic, with the derby winner in second, and SUSPECT OF HERESY third.
Trying again for a BB Classic berth, it was the Jockey Guild Gold Cup for FAKE HONEYMOON over ten furlongs, and he entered the run at 13-1, with the favourite being the eventual winner, ANDREW’S IMPACT. It looked like he was the winner as they entered the turn, as he was in his favoured spot after L Radzinski was chewed out by Lenny after the Travelers. He was picking up ground, but the top three just had too much in the tank, and Lenny’s runner finished fourth. However, he earned a spot in the 2015 Breeder’s Bowl Classic, the biggest race of the year. And *SPOILER ALERT* (not really), it becomes the crowning moment of the horse’s two-year career.
Breeder’s Bowl day 2015. By the time the 11th race of the day rolled around, the Classic, FAKE HONEYMOON was 18-1. INCULPATE was the favourite at 7-1, and the record field of twenty included future Hall of Famer I WON’T LOOK BACK, along with nine other Grade I winners, and derby winner SWINGING BIG SHAFT. As the gates opened, leading rider T Ace went all in with longshot READY TO TRAVEL, as he led by two into the first quarter. L Radzinski got the call from Lenny, and sent him to mid-pack in tenth in the early goings. Around the turn, FAKE HONEYMOON held his ground, keeping tenth position, but being closer to the pace than his typical starts, down by five lengths at the half. As usual, he started his move as they approached the turn and rocketed by company, stealing the lead from SWINGING BIG SHAFT (who had passed the leader on the turn), and dueling the late-closing ANDREW’S IMPACT, and edging him out for a Breeder’s Bowl Classic win! He paid $37.90 to win, and ran the mile-and-a-quarter in 2:00 flat. I asked Lenny if he ever felt his horse would’ve won the Breeder’s Bowl Classic, and how he felt when he won it, he said: “I truly didn’t expect to win the Classic with Fake Honeymoon. It has been my experience that most horses who run well enough to qualify for the Classics in the spring rarely hold their form later that year. In addition the field was simply amazing and included a record 20 runners. The Classic was one of a few races left on my Sim bucket list, so when I won I was amazed and excited at the same time. It is among a handful of my favorite wins ever.”
Unfortunately, the horse used it’s last bit of energy to bring home the gold in the Classic, and so when Lenny opted to run him again on December fifth in the Japan Dirt Cup GI, he had no horse to make his usual move. He ran eighth by nine in that contest.
The season of the Champion 3yo Dirt Male was a very special one, especially for ecstatic owner, Lenny. He owns an absolutely amazing animal, and his plans for next year are, well, nothing: “As far as his 2016 campaign, I haven’t given it much thought yet,” said Lenny. “I have zero expectations. I’d be surprised if he follows up last year with anything even close, but I’ll bring him back off of an extended break with a light prep before Dubai. Anything this year is a bonus.”
Congratulations Lenny, and congratulations FAKE HONEYMOON. We all wish your horse the best of luck in 2016!