Nobody told Mixed Up he wasn’t favored to win the 65th running of the New York Turf Writers hurdle stakes. Nobody told him that Hirapour, the overwhelming favorite at 1-2, was a better horse and that he was running for second money. He must not have seen the tote board or read the handicappers’ comments in the racing form.

Instead, Mixed Up went out on Aug. 31 and did what he was bred and trained to do–he ran the race of his life and won the $150,000 Grade I hurdle stakes over the Saratoga (N.Y.) racecourse, scoring the 12th Turf Writers title for his trainer, Jonathan Sheppard, and his first Grade I win for himself and jockey Danielle Hodsdon.

Hirapour, who had just brilliantly won the A.P. Smithwick on Aug. 10 off an eight-month layoff, was the crowd favorite, the pundits’ choice, and the “shoo-in.” Winner of the 2005 Turf Writers and an Eclipse Award winner, the Irish-bred hurdler’s U.S. record of 13 starts and never worse than third has made him one of the best of all time. It also landed him an impost of 164 pounds, 26 to 10 pounds more than his competitors.

Mixed Up, owned by William L. Pape, came to the Turf Writers off a two-race win streak after having captured the Flatterer (Pa.) and the Grade III Marcellus Frost (Tenn.) and so was an obvious second choice. Top Of The Bill (Carl Rafter), the spring novice star, winner of two legs of steeplechasing’s Triple Crown, loomed as a legitimate threat in his first try at open company. The other four horses, Underbidder (James Slater), Toughkenamon (Robert Walsh), Mark The Shark (William Dowling) and Erin Go Bragh (Cyril Murphy), were mere opportunists.

The flag dropped and they were off, with 2 3�8 miles and 10 fences to go. As he did in the A.P. Smithwick, where he finished fourth, Mark The Shark skipped off to an early lead, getting ahead by 8 to 10 lengths. Because he had been reeled in, passed and put away in the Smithwick, a far shorter race, the jockeys were content to let him go.

Hodsdon took advantage of the rabbit and settled her quirky horse in second. “I was really lucky how the race set up,” said Hodsdon. “My horse never got turned on. With all the daylight he had between Mark The Shark and himself, he dragged me along a little, but he was never anxious.”


Work Pays Off
Hodsdon has worked hard to forge a partnership with Mixed Up, who has been known to be “his own worst enemy.” She has had trouble holding him and settling him in the past, but 2006 seems to be the pair’s breakthrough year.

“Sometimes when he’s running in a tight pack and has another horse right in front of him, he will settle but at the same time is always fighting you a little,” she explained. “This race, he had a target to think about, and Erin Go Bragh was far enough away [behind] us that we didn’t need to fight each other. He also had a clear shot to every fence and was able to pick his spots with confidence, so he jumped well.”

Hirapour and McCarron played their usual waiting game at the back of the pack but were never terribly settled. With a strung-out field, Hirapour never quite switched off, in large part due to the dogged persistence of Rafter on Top Of The Bill. In a clever piece of strategy, Top Of The Bill’s trainer, Jimmy Day, had Rafter ride upsides Hirapour almost every step of the way. Hirapour wasn’t given the breathing room to settle, while Top Of The Bill, well off the pace, was allowed to conserve his energy for the stretch run.

And so the race went for a turn and a half around the New York oval, as Mark The Shark increased his advantage to 15 lengths.

Then they came down the backside for the last time. For a second or two it almost looked like Mark The Shark and Dowling might have fooled them all. A solid 15 lengths ahead, even as the field approached the last turn, they seemed too far in front to catch. But with careful pacing and patience Hodsdon reeled them in like an expert angler.

“Mr. Sheppard expressed some concern after the race that I took Mark The Shark’s lead for granted, that I left things too late,” said Hodsdon with a grin. “It was a little tricky trying to gauge my run for the lead, while trying not to set the race up for a closer like Hirapour. I just kept expecting to see him loom up next to me.”

Mixed Up was in full flight when Hodsdon challenged for the lead at the last of 10 fences. Rafter had also moved the plucky Top Of The Bill through the final turn to challenge, and the two of them went to the last together.

“We turned into the last fence, and I could see nothing to ride for,” said Hodsdon. “My horse jumps pretty big, and if I’d seen a nice long one that could have been fluid, I would have done it, but it was all wrong.”

Instead, knowing she had a lot of horse left and knowing that Mixed Up’s forte is an amazing burst of speed in the stretch-run, Hodsdon chose to hold onto her horse’s head, put in a short one, peck at the jump and then make a run for the wire.

Mixed Up landed first, stumbled slightly, and then gathered himself for the final run. On went the turbo boosters, and he and Top Of The Bill leveled themselves out, ears back, jockeys riding like the devil. Top Of The Bill couldn’t have been any more game but had to settle for second by a mere length, while Dowling, riding like an Irish windmill, helped Mark The Shark hang on for third.

“We were impressed how he ran on even after stumbling,” Hodsdon said. “It’s a nice feeling to know you are the target horse and you have something in the tank. I was still waiting for Hirapour. I never, ever thought I had the race won.”

Whether Hirapour faltered under his 164 pounds, or he just had an off day, he was never in contention and finished fifth. “He made a mistake at the first fence on the backside the last time and didn’t jump it at all well. He’s never done that before. Maybe the weight got to him. I really don’t have an explanation,” McCarron said.

Hodsdon, who admires Hirapour like any horseman admires a great horse, said she felt truly bad for the horse and his connections. “It’s disappointing to see a horse like Hirapour finish the way he did. He’s never thrown in a clunker like that before, and he looked magnificent in the paddock, like he was ready to win,” said Hodsdon, who also dates McCarron. “Obviously, he was the best horse but had a bad day. It’s hard when that happens.”

Yippee
But Hirapour’s disappointment could not mar the excitement of Hodsdon’s first Grade I win as a jockey. And to score it on Mixed Up, a horse that has taken the Sheppard crew some time to figure out, added a dash of panache to the winner’s circle.

Mixed Up has been known to run his race in the stall before the flag drops, and considering the hustle and the bustle of Saratoga, great care was taken to ensure that the gelding showed up fresh in the paddock.

Sheppard shipped him to New York from his Pennsylvania training base 10 days before the race. Then, the Monday before the race, the trainer gave him a fast work. “Some people might say, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re draining his tank,’ by doing that,” said Hodsdon, “but with this horse it works because it seems to take the edge off and allows him to be more relaxed.”

Then on the day of the race, Hodsdon used the time she had before she was due in the jockey’s room, to bathe Mixed Up and settle him in the detention barn. “He was rearing and climbing the walls, and I was a little worried when I left him,” she said. But then Hodsdon’s mother, Pam Hodsdon, and Mixed Up’s regular groom took over. Pam plopped a chair right inside Mixed Up’s stall and sang to him for five hours before the call came to go get saddled up.

The savage beast was soothed, was a lamb to saddle, and with a pony horse for further comfort, arrived at the start of the race ready to win. “He’s a little bit of a hot-head,” said Danielle, “but he’s matured and he’s figured out what his job is all about. He likes to win and he’s working with us now, not against us.

“The best part of the whole day was coming back to the winner’s circle. We came off the turf and galloped back, and I had a little time to myself to think and let it all sink in. He was so happy with himself; he knew he had won and that’s the best feeling of all.”

Nicole Lever