Star-crossed
colt ready to put bad luck behind him on Crown Stage.
It’s
the Breeders Crown.
John
Grasso is a breeder.
The 60-year-old
was born into the business and has kept himself connected to the sport for
nearly his entire life. On Friday his Expressive Action, a two-year-old with
just two lifetime starts, will tackle the big boys in a single $25,000 Breeders
Crown elimination for two-year-old trotters at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs. The
colt starts from post two with the services of driver Ron Pierce. With
two colts accepting byes, the first seven finishers will advance to the
$500,000 2-Year-Old Colt Trot final on Oct. 19.
Grasso,
who is likely the elder statesman of the few remaining horsemen to stable at
Yonkers Raceway, believes that Expressive Action may be the best horse he’s
ever had.
“Before
we ever baby raced him I trained him a mile at Yonkers in two minutes flat,”
said Grasso, speaking volumes about the potential of this homebred by Conway
Hall from Yettas Angel. The dam is a daughter of Credit Winner, a half-sister
to Grasso’s top three-year-old from a few years back named Approved Action.
“She
was a big mare,” recalled Grasso of Yettas Angel. “She took a record as a
four-year-old and then we crossed her with Conway Hall.”
The
first foal from that pairing was Explosive Action. Grasso thought he had a good
one until the colt hurt a knee.
Explosive Action is racing this year as a three-year-old but far from
the level expected of him.
As
for Expressive Action, Grasso had extremely high hopes for him and staked him
accordingly.
“We
had him eligible to the Peter Haughton,” Grasso lamented, reflecting on the bad
luck he’s had, which started in June after the colt scored consecutive
victories in baby races with Brian Sears in the bike.
“He
trotted home in: 27 and change and showed really high speed,” said Grasso.
However,
days later Grasso found Expressive Action cast in his stall. In the colt’s
attempt to right himself he had twisted his shoes and got some nails jammed in
his feet. He also banged a knee, an injury that proved minor.
“We
had to deal with Mother Nature,” said Grasso about the recovery time. “His foot
needed to grow out and we had to wait.”
As
part of the healing process Grasso sent Expressive Action to Golden Shoe Farms
in Bullville, New York, a facility with an exercise pool that he felt would
help with the horse’s conditioning while not having an impact on his feet.
“After
a session in the pool they turned him out and they couldn’t catch him,”
recalled Grasso.
That
episode was another disaster, with Expressive Action again doing damage to his
still recovering hooves.
Nearly
three months later Expressive Action got back on the comeback trail but much of
the stakes racing was over. The New York-sired colt still had some starts left
in the Empire State’s Sire Stakes program and Grasso had hoped to get him
qualified for a race at Saratoga.
“We
had to have the horse entered on a Friday. Normally I would have qualified him
at Yonkers since they have qualifiers on Fridays but since Yonkers qualifiers
were held at night I had to ship him to Freehold to get a line on him,” Grasso
said.
Unfortunately
Expressive Action made a break in that qualifier and was not eligible for the
Sire Stakes event.
Instead
a week later Brian Sears got behind Expressive Action in a qualifier at Yonkers
and the colt did what was necessary to be eligible to race in his first
pari-mutuel start on September 20.
The
$113,744 New York Sire Stakes at Yonkers was the first indication to the
betting public of Expressive Action’s talent. The colt rallied tenaciously in
the stretch after sitting well off a dawdling pace and was lapped on the winner
Cash Me Out in a 1:59 3/5 mile.
With
just one start Expressive Action could not qualify for the Night Of Champions
and instead earned a consolation prize when he captured the $50,000 Fall
Harvest at Yonkers last Saturday in 1:59 2/5.
The
mile was all the inspiration Grasso needed to take a shot against the big boys.
“I
wish we had more starts in him,” said Grasso, “but I’m looking at this like
March Madness. If he races well in the eliminations and hopefully the final
we’ll continue to race him as he has a few more starts. If not we’ll put him
away and get him ready for next year.
Grasso
has obviously watched Father Patrick (post nine) race, the favorite to capture not just Friday’s
Crown elimination but perhaps the final as well.
“He’s
an impressive colt,” he said. At the same time he believes that with a little
experience Expressive Action may prove that he belongs in this company.
Perhaps
2013 will not give Grasso and his family its first Breeders Crown triumph. But
that’s not likely to deter anyone. “We breed two to three mares every year. We
get two to three foals and have two to three yearlings to train,” Grasso said.
In
the Breeders Crown you don’t have to be big to show up, you just have to bring
quality. Even from a limited production line it appears as if John Grasso could
have the real thing in Expressive Action.
By
JAY BERGMAN for Breeders Crown
