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Effinex and La Verdad Excel Running Second in Their Breeders’ Cup Races By Bill Heller Finishing second is a lot easier to accept when you include perspective. In horse racing, perspective comes from realizing just how tough the competition was and by remembering that finishing second can be quite lucrative. Such realizations come every year in the Breeders’ Cup, and this year’s edition was no exception. Two New York-breds, Tri-Bone Stables’ four-year-old colt Effinex and Lady Sheila Stables’ five-year-old mare La Verdad, distinguished themselves in last Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland, finishing second in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and the $1 million Filly & Mare Sprint, respectively. Effinex is a son of Mineshaft out of What a Pear by E Dubai who was bred by Dr. Russell Cohen, a veterinarian, for his mother Bernice, who races as Tri-Bone Stables. Effinex is Tri- Bone Stables’ only horse. La Verdad is a daughter of Yes It’s True out of Noble Fire by Hook and Ladder who was bred by Eklektikos Stable and was purchased two years ago by Sheila Rosenblum, who races as Lady Sheila Stables, an all-female syndicate using Rice as its trainer. Effinex finished second by 6 ½ lengths at 33-1 odds to Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, who may very well be a unanimous selection for Horse of the Year. In doing so, Effinex beat third-place finisher Honor Code, a two-time Grade 1 stakes winner this year, by 4 ½ lengths, also defeating the ultra-classy Tonalist and four other quality horses. Here’s the best part: Effinex earned $900,000 for running second. In his previous 18 career starts, he had six victories, including in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap in which he also beat Tonalist, one second and three thirds, for earnings of $912,250. He doubled his career earnings in all of two minutes as American Pharoah set a track record, winning in a final time of 2:00.07. “It doesn’t seem fair,” Effinex’s trainer Jimmy Jerkens said, before laughing. Asked if he was thrilled with Effinex’s second, Jerkens said, “Absolutely. We were hoping he’d go back to one of his better races. We thought he’d have a chance. Sometimes, you just have to take a shot. He’d been a resilient horse. We were on the fence. Then we said, ‘The hell with it; let’s go.’” Effinex took his game to a whole new level when Jerkens added blinkers before the $300,000 Empire Classic on New York-bred Showcase Day at Belmont on October 18th, 2014. Sent off at 17-1 odds under Angel Arroyo, Effinex won by a neck. He followed that with a fourth in the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup and a fourth in the $100,000 state-bred Alex M. Robb Stakes to conclude his three-year-old season on New Year’s Eve at Aqueduct. Jerkens freshened him, and Effinex made his four-year-old debut in open allowance company at Aqueduct on March 27th, winning by 3 ½ lengths. Effinex then raised his game, winning the Grade 3 Excelsior Stakes by three-quarters of a length. Effinex then didn’t even finish his next race, the Grade 2 Brooklyn, in which he bore out badly on both turns and fell hopelessly behind. Jerkens changed jockeys, replacing Arroyo with Junior Alvarado, and Effinex won the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap by a head over heavily favored Tonalist. Effinex finished fourth in the Grade 1 Woodward to budding superstar Liam’s Map, then a distant third to Tonalist in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on a sloppy track. Jerkens decided to change jockeys for the Breeders’ Cup, securing the services of Hall of Famer Mike Smith. “We were a little easier on him training (for the Breeders’ Cup),” Jerkens said. “It seemed to freshen him up a little bit. If you get up in his mouth, he gets mad. I told him (Smith), `I want him in a nice rhythm going into that first turn.’ If he raced well, we wouldn’t be surprised. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t be surprised. He looked beautiful in the paddock. He’s a beautiful horse. He’s got the most beautiful head you ever saw.” Russell Cohen, who chartered a whole plane for his mom and the rest of his “crew” to attend the Breeders’ Cup, couldn’t have been happier when he saw his horse in the paddock. “He acted like a gentleman,” Cohen said. “He was dappled out.” Then Effinex ran second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic to American Pharoah. “Amazing,” Cohen said. “I’m just overwhelmed by the whole thing. I love this business. I’m honored to be in it. To have such a small, little stable. Just being in that field was an honor. I won before the gates opened up. To finish second to a horse like that? He’s probably one of the best horses in the last 100 years.” Cohen and Jerkens didn’t rule out Effinex making another start in 2015, but if he doesn’t, he’ll be back next year as one of the top older horses in New York, if not North America. Will he be better as a five-year-old? “The truth is, that’s what Mineshafts do,” Cohen said. “I would hope he’ll be as good next year. Could he be better? Possibly.” Isn’t that fun to contemplate? La Verdad had an amazingly consistent year thanks to Rice’s astute management. She entered her Breeders’ Cup race unbeaten this year, a perfect six-for-six, having swept the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap, the Grade 3 Vagrancy, the New York-bred Dancin Renee, the Grade 2 Honorable Miss, the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom, in which she beat Wavell Avenue by a half-length, and then, just a week before the Breeders’ Cup, the New York-bred Iroquois by 3 ¾ lengths on Showcase Day, when she showed a new dimension by racing from off the pace. She was fourth, three lengths behind the leader, after the first-quarter-mile under Jose Ortiz. That performance left Rice and Sheila Rosenbloom with an interesting decision. Should they race her a week later in the Breeders’ Cup? And, if so, which race? La Verdad had been cross- entered in the seven-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint as well as the six-furlong Sprint against males. La Verdad had only one second from two previous starts at seven furlongs, but the Sprint appeared to be much more difficult. Though it wasn’t announced, Rosenbloom had already made a crucial decision: she decided to scratch La Verdad from the November Keeneland Sale and breed her herself. But what about the Breeders’ Cup? “There were tough decisions to make,” Rice said. “Sheila said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘Let’s go.’ We both agreed.” Regardless, it wasn’t a decision taken lightly. “It’s been a long story for me,” Rice said. “I bought her and her mother (for Lady Sheila Stable). I bought those two as a package. It’s been a great story.” That story hasn’t included a Grade 1 stakes victory. The Breeders’ Cup offered that opportunity. “You can’t be afraid to be wrong and you can’t be afraid to lose,” Rice said. Rosenbloom said, “It took a lot of guts to put her in a race where the world knows how you do. It was a huge decision.” That decision looked to be working when La Verdad made the lead and held it for 6 ½ furlongs, but she couldn’t quite hold off Wavell Avenue, losing by a length and three-quarters. “You are always hoping to win, but we certainly weren’t disappointed in her performance,” Rice said. That performance was worth $180,000 in purse money. Rosenbloom’s decision not to sell La Verdad means she might possibly race again this year, which could have significant impact on her chances to win an Eclipse Award. She has split two stakes with Wavell Avenue, whose only stakes victory this year was in the Breeders’ Cup. Overall, Wavell Avenue is four for nine this year with one second and two thirds. La Verdad is six for seven with a second in a Grade 1 stakes. Last year, La Verdad raced in the Grade 3 Fall Highweight against males, caught a sloppy track and finished a distant seventh. A victory in this year’s Fall Highweight could go a long way toward securing an Eclipse Award. Either way, La Verdad will be bred next year. And though she won’t announce a decision for a while, Rosenbloom is certainly considering breeding La Verdad in New York. “We all know she’s going to the breeding shed,” Rosenbloom said. “Of course I’d want New York-breds, but I’m open-minded. New York is where I live. We have the best purses.” And horses good enough to impact the Breeders’ Cup. .

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