When I Wake Up Sharp in Winning Steward's Cup Ladies Route

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 12 years 3 weeks ago

When I Wake Up did just that when she rose up in the homestretch at Hot Springs Park and won the $1 million Grade I Steward’s Cup Ladies Route by two lengths over Sound Asleep. The dark bay filly galloped the 1 ½ miles on the dirt surface in 2:26 flat.

Julie Kluesener who owned the winner celebrated in the winner’s circle after the race as the daughter of American Triple Crown winner and stellar sire Awake As I Am stood poised and still amid the flash of cameras. Another one of this stud’s daughters Altar had won this same race three years earlier and yet another, Amber placed second in the Classic later in the day. Broodmare Our Love, a deceased daughter of Conduit, also produced the likes of Don’t Mess, Depths Of The Sea and Promise Not to Cry so When I Wake Up is continuing to add to her own legacy in the shed.

This newest addition to that honor roll of stars for Our Love looked promising from the start winning her first race at a mile. She won two more starts that year including the Henderson Debutante before finishing second in the Trap Stakes. In the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies, she faced off against the likes of Iki, Brat Pack and Bodega Harbor and finished behind them in fifth.

At three, she came back and took home paychecks in a couple stakes including a second place finish behind Sound Asleep in the Set Them Free Handicap. She won the New York Mini Marathon Stakes before she attempted the Steward’s Cup Ladies Route for the first time finishing fourth as Last Leaf to Fall won it. But she had plans to come back and contest that race again the following season when she’d gain maturity and racing experience. Her patience worked very well for her as she went on a four race winning streak scoring victories in stakes like the Enlist the Saints Stakes over Clear As a Bell and the Wonderful Stakes over Worth Millions.

She faced off against the mighty Amber in the Cadeauje Stakes and finished second before she defeated Sound Asleep in the Rags to Riches Stakes. That left her a formidable entry in the Ladies Route this time around, and she faced a strong field of seven other entrants.

Sound Asleep is the dark bay mare that Susie Raisher picked up for a sweet $29 million and change as a yearling amid some fairly robust bidding. She’s a daughter of pensioned stud Tot Ziens and the late but very great broodmare and Hall of Famer Wonder. She’s won 10 out of 18 starts going into the Ladies Route during her four seasons of racing including quite a few stakes races. She won the Orange Blossom Handicap earlier this year before a frustrating seventh place finish in the Desert World Cup. After that she deftly captured the Heartbreak Hill Stakes before finishing second to When I Wake Up in the Rags to Riches Stakes. Still, she was considered to have an excellent chance for a successful run in the Steward’s Cup.

Janena Olson diligently prepared her homebred Under Red Skies, a striking chestnut daughter of Long Island Classic winner Sun Tzu. This young filly won her first two starts including the Spirituality Stakes. The following year, she captured the Baltimore Oaks and finished second in both the Midsummer Oaks and the Long Island Acorn at the longer distance which she seemed to relish quite a bit. That hopefully would prove to be good news for her in the Steward’s Cup and help her improve off of her fifth place finish in the previous year’s Juvenile Fillies.

Dark bay filly Chutai also brought several stakes wins into the field. The daughter of the recently pensioned Boise and out of a Radee mare who’s bred and owned by Paul Heinrich captured the Long Island Acorn and the High Flyer Stakes before traveling to Hot Springs Park. Another racer who seems to have greatly warmed to the longer routes, she was also looking to make her mark here.
Norman Architecture who bred and owned Bodega Harbor has experimented with different distances for his star including the mile. But she scored two wins in the SimsHorseracing Ladies Marathon and the Bishoujo Senshi Stakes before heading both at the same distance as the Ladies Route, showing that she too liked more real estate to race over. She’s a daughter of the recently pensioned Radee and former North American Champion Three Year Old Filly Bodega Bay who finished second in the Steward’s Cup Distaff during her racing career. Bodega Harbor was her first foal in the shed though she’s got a son named Bodega Head (by Father’s Day) who’s looking good having finished a close second behind Sword in the Cape Stakes last year before that horse went on to win the Steward’s Cup Juvenile.

Clear as a Bell brought an amazing pedigree into the Ladies Route, being a daughter of the multi-talented and titled Magician who’s turned to multi-tasking at stud. Broodmare Comestoanend also excelled on three surfaces being versatile enough to break the world record on the all weather surface yet win the Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Her offspring have done quite well so far, her best being a colt named Smoulders who gave dirt routing star Flames his first turf winner at stud. Clear as a Bell like his dam is bred and owned by Brianna McKenzie and raced only on the dirt during her career, winning races like the Midsummer Oaks and the New York Mini Marathon before foraying into the Ladies Route.

Jon Xett purchased Scale the Sky for just over $2.719 million at auction and the daughter of Tot Ziens and Dance the Sky is a half sister to marathoner Scale the Cliff. She struggled this season, her only win being in a classified allowance but she did finish second in the New York Mini Marathon Stakes in preparation for the Ladies Route, which would complete her racing career. Shouting, a daughter of Father’s Day bred and owned by Eric Nalbone won four straight races including a couple at two miles and the Ladies Route distance would be a cutback for her.

The horses all waltzed out to the starting gate as the crowds that packed the venue settled down for the race. As the gates sprung open, Shouting took the early lead by a length over Chutai who decided to open up three lengths on those in pursuit of her. Under Red Skies and When I Wake Up fell in behind her biding their time in the long distance race. The backstretch came up and Shouting hung onto her lead and Chutai opened up even more by nearly six lengths over Under Red Skies who tried to do like to When I Wake Up. In the far turn, Shouting raised the volume by doubling her lead while the others continued to try to separate themselves further from one another with When I Wake Up in fifth place.

The homestretch and the cheering crowds reached the ears of the horses except for those who wore earmuffs and When I Wake Up blinked her eyes and decided it was time to power her legs into accelerative mode and so she zoomed down the lane. Sound Asleep proved to be anything but as she also made a huge run but couldn’t catch When I Wake Up. She still finished a strong second by two lengths ahead of Under Red Skies who finished third.

When I Wake Up celebrated her win but then she had to head off to a date with Classic winner Maelstrom to muscle ahead of the other females heading to the same place. She’d made her mark on the racetrack and seemed content at this point to leave the heavy exercise up to the next generation of runners including her brand new dark bay filly, Divine Awakening.

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