Elliott, Melnyk in saddle together
Smarty Jones jockey and Ottawa Senators owner team up for Queen's Plate aboard Long Pond
By MIKE ULMER -- Toronto Sun
So Eugene Melnyk, a very rich Toronto guy who owns horses, a pharmaceutical company and the Ottawa Senators, is talking with his trainer, Mark Casse.
They're kicking around who will ride Melnyk's entry, Long Pond, in the Queen's Plate, a week Sunday and the name Stewart Elliott comes up, which, you should know, happens a lot.
"Mr. Melnyk said, 'let's try Stewart Elliott,'" Casse recalled. "It really comes down to Eugene and Laura Melnyk wanting to make this happen. You have to give them all the credit."
Voila. A gate attraction for a race that lacked the intriguing story line provided last year by the duel between eventual Canadian Triple Crown winner Wando and arch-rival Mobil.
Elliott's first two names in these parts have long since been pushed down the line by the words 'Toronto Born.'
He is a native son and has been since he won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness and very nearly the Belmont Stakes aboard Smarty Jones. Until then, he was just the guy who had won more than 3,300 races at Philadelphia Park without many people back here knowing about it.
His mom, Myhill, and uncle, trainer Bill Stewart, are mainstays at the Woodbine backstretch but Stewart Elliott hasn't raced here since 1987.
Clearly, both Melnyk and Woodbine are hoping for some leftover Smartymania.
"It's good for us and I think it's good for everyone," said Casse. "Stewart is Canadian, he's very well-known here. It's a great story."
"It'll be good to see him here," said Bill Stewart. "It'll be good for racing."
True enough.
Elliott's arrival signals an aggressive gambit from Melnyk, who brought Kent Desormeaux, the Derby winner in 1998, north to win the Plate on Archers Bay.
Elliott will no doubt be working for a hefty appearance fee as well as the usual percentage. Clearly, Melnyk and Casse are warm and fuzzy over Long Pond, who won by nearly four lengths over seven furlongs on May 14 to break his maiden.
25 YEARS
"I've been training horses for 25 years but I don't think I've ever seen a horse break his maiden the way he did," Casse said. "Patrick (jockey Patrick Husbands) rode him that day and he said he had way more to give."
Bought for $140,000 US as a yearling, Long Pond has won two of four starts and looked fine over a mile and a sixteenth in winning on June 6 by a length.
Casse thinks he might have the perfect rider for his horse.
"I'm not comparing him in ability to Smarty Jones but I think Stewart's a great choice to ride Long Pond," Casse said.
"He's a horse who likes to rate a speed horse and then make his move from there. In that way, he's similar to Smarty Jones."
Gamblers, notorious sentimentalists, will see a horse held out of the Queen's Plate qualifier, so the appeal of Elliott's ride gives the race a new, delicious edge.
Certainly, A Bit '0 Gold, ridden by Jono Jones, will retain his status as the pre-race favourite, while Expect Niigon is certain to attract heavy interest.
Filly Eye of the Sphynx, the winner of the Woodbine Oaks, retains an outside chance of entry into the Plate, although owners Sam-Son Farms might hold her out in favour of the Bison City Stakes, July 4 in Fort Erie. That event is the second jewel in the Triple Tiara and winning that trio of races brings a $350,000 bonus.
Casse, meanwhile, will be training a second Melnyk entry, Kent Ridge, for the Plate.
"It'll be a great day," said Casse of the Plate, "but maybe with a little extra pressure. With Stewart Elliott riding your horse, you know everyone will be watching."
