Your Sum Man Pulls Off Some Upset At Far Hills

Trainer Tom Voss had a surprise up his sleeve in the Grand National.

Up until a few weeks ago, trainer Tom Voss’ charges were circling the National Steeplechase Association’s horse of the year title but not quite part of the contest. That all changed with Your Sum Man’s impressive win in the $250,000 Grand National Grade I Hurdle Stakes at Far Hills Race Meeting, Oct. 17.

Not only does Voss have the leading horse now, but he trains the runner-up Left Unsaid as well. Both owned by Betty Merck of The Fields Stable, the two horses put on the best performances of their careers on the soggy course, winning both Grade I races in Far Hills, N.J.

On paper, Your Sum Man was unimpressive. In his last three starts he had fallen and weakened at the end, and it was almost unbelievable that the 7-year-old son of the Irish-bred Pistolet Bleu, who looked sadly outmatched against the sport’s leading champions, was even in the race.

But anyone who knows the crafty Maryland trainer expects him to have a plan. Voss knew after seeing the horse finish a driving third on the flat at Morven Park (Va.), on Oct. 10, that this horse had something. He paid the supplementary entry fee for his shot at the big prize.

Ross Geraghty placed the novice hurdler in the back of the 12-horse field, giving him plenty of lead over the 2-5⁄8 mile course. One by one the veterans started to fade, and only Red Letter Day (Bernard Dalton) and General Ledger (Jason McKeown) showed the way as Your Sum Man waded through the others to the front.

By the turn for home, Irv Naylor’s Tax Ruling (William Dowling) had broken free and, along with Your Sum Man, chased the invader from across the pond, General Ledger, to the last. Your Sum Man put in an awkward final fence, and it looked as they landed like General Ledger was going to make back his pricey flight money in spades. But Your Sum Man was hardly done and dug deep to pull away, winning by more than 3 lengths at the wire.

With his grand plan coming to fruition, Voss was all smiles, patting his horse enthusiastically in the winner’s circle.

“We bought him in Ireland and just fooled around a little bit with him in the summertime and didn’t have any expectations for the fall,” Voss said. “He ran a flat race at Morven Park, and he ran really well. The winner was another flat horse of mine, and the horse that was second was a stakes horse of Doug Fout’s, and my horse was going to beat them both if we had another 100 feet. So I thought, ‘Hello, I got something here.’ ”

Geraghty said there was no way he was going to jump the last well. “We met it totally wrong, but I had to let him muddle through it,” he said. “He was traveling very easy the whole way, and I knew even if I missed the last, I still had so much horse.”

Geraghty arrived this fall to work for Voss, replacing jockey Padge Whelan who retired from an injury. With several wins to his name already, Geraghty, 32, appears to have found a fruitful partnership.

“I really enjoy riding in America,” Geraghty said. “It’s a great bunch of lads I ride with, and everyone looks out for each other. The racing is a little different; the horses here have more pace. In England they go a bit quicker early on and go home fairly slow. Here they gallop home fairly strong. I like it.”