May 30, 2005
Stronach Stables' heavily favored Ghostzapper, the defending Horse of the Year, opened his 2005 campaign Monday afternoon in grand style, taking the 112th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Metropolitan Handicap by six and a quarter lengths. A Memorial Day crowd of 15,066 had to wait a few seconds for the reluctant Ghostzapper to load into the gate for the "Met Mile," but once he got in, he remembered who he was and why he was here.
He didn't need it, but Ghostzapper had some help early, as Love of Money grabbed the lead to get the opening quarter in :22 2/5 on the fast track. Forest Danger, breaking from the far outside in post 6, stayed wide, as jockey Javier Castellano moved Ghostzapper into a ground-saving position. Just as they reached the half-mile pole in :44 2/5, Ghostzapper was sent to the lead. Love of Money had bowed out and although Forest Danger finally got his act together, was clearly to late too make an impact. To the cheers of the crowd, Ghostzapper, carrying top weight of 123 pounds, came through the lane under a motionless Castellano and hit the wire in 1:33 1/5. All things considered, Ghostzapper returned a generous $3.30 to win. Full results chart from DRF
"I'm very emotional right now," said Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel of his fourth Met Mile winner. "He's an amazing horse. He's probably the best sprinter in the country, and I think he can win going a mile and a half on the turf, I really do." He continued, "(Castellano) never moved on him. He just took a hold of him in the stretch. You're coming back off a long layoff. He was coming back off a sinus problem and he was a little lighter than I wanted him to be. He lost a little weight when he got that sickness. You just worry that he's going to come back as the same horse. Obviously, he looks right now that he's the same horse."
Ghostzapper is now 5-for-5 at Belmont Park, which will again host the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships on Saturday, October 29th during the Fall Championship Meet. He has won 9 of 11 starts and the Met Mile winners' purse of $450,000 upped his career earnings to $3,446,120. When asked about Ghostzapper's schedule, Frankel made it clear that New York was where he would ply his trade this year. "Here (the Met Mile), the Suburban (Saturday, July 2, Belmont Park), the Whitney (Saturday, August 6, Saratoga), the Woodard (Saturday, September 10, Belmont Park) and the Breeders' Cup," Frankel said. "You want to see this horse keep on winning for the game."
Castellano, who had not ridden Ghostzapper since taking the Breeders' Cup Classic at Lone Star last October 30, was also thrilled by the successful, seasonal debut. "In the race, he broke good and I could have gone to the lead, but I wanted to prove today that he could come from behind, too," Castellano said. "That's exactly what I did. I'm not worried about the layoff. I ride with a lot of confidence on the horse. I wanted to show the people that he's a special horse. He can do anything. I came through between horses on the turn. The rest, he did so easy. I didn't do anything with him at the top of the stretch because I wanted to take it easy on him. I didn't want to kill him for one race."
Silver Wagon was up for place, and it was five lengths back to Sir Shackleton in third. Pomeroy, Forest Danger and Love of Money trailed.
