When Dr. Venkman drew inside but once more, this time for the Aug. 23 Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) at Del Mar, coach Mark Glatt wasn’t completely satisfied. However because the race unfolded, Dr. Venkman discovered a giant gap on the rail and gamely shot by means of for the victory.
“He does not like the within,” Glatt stated. “I am glad he type of redeemed himself as a result of we thought he ought to have perhaps received his final couple of races.”
A Breeders’ Cup Problem Sequence occasion, the seven-furlong O’Brien supplied a Win & You are In berth to the Breeders’ Cup Grime Mile (G1), and the race drew a discipline of runners specializing in all kinds of distances.
Three of the longer pictures on the morning line—Superior Rhythm , Tapalo , and Man O Rose —had been scratched. That left six within the race, and as soon as they had been loaded into the gate, Stronghold and Spirit of Makena broke by means of, delaying the beginning. Stronghold and Spirit of Makena had been reloaded after being examined, and when the gate opened, 7-5 favourite Pace Boat Seaside took the lead. He and Maymun , each educated by Bob Baffert, vied with one another, Pace Boat Seaside setting fractions of :22.53 for the primary quarter-mile and :44.87 for a half-mile.
Dr. Venkman discovered himself caught behind the Baffert duo with Stronghold simply exterior of him. Jockey Umberto Rispoli performed a ready recreation with Dr. Venkman, nonetheless, and it paid off handsomely. Because the leaders got here across the flip into the stretch, Pace Boat Seaside drifted out, opening up a gap that Glatt later admitted “you possibly can have pushed a truck by means of.”Join BloodHorse Day by day
Dr. Venkman did not hesitate, flying by means of the opening to take command as Pace Boat Seaside light. Dr. Venkman and Rispoli defeated Stronghold and jockey Antonio Fresu by a half-length in 1:21.53, with Specific Practice third, adopted by Maymun and Pace Boat Seaside. Spirit of Makena was pulled up on the flip, listed within the chart as having sustained an damage approaching the three-eighths pole.
Fresu had been commonly driving each Dr. Venkman and Stronghold. He elected to stay with Stronghold, the 2024 Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner making his first begin since popping a splint when tenth within the Jan. 25 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1). Rispoli took over on Dr. Venkman, piloting the 5-year-old gelding for the primary time in a race.
“Umberto rode a really, very affected person journey, and when it opened up, he was capable of get by means of,” Glatt stated. “When (Dr. Venkman) made the lead, he type of began to drag himself up a little bit bit, so it made me a little bit anxious there late.”
Rispoli known as Dr. Venkman a sensible horse and a fighter.
“He is aware of how one can run his races,” the jockey stated. “I simply saved him on the fence, simply wanting forward of me, seeking to see a horse on the rail. Nobody needed to be there, so at that time I noticed that was going to be my hole.”
Glatt trains Dr. Venkman for the partnership of Alipony Racing, Dan Agnew, Clint Bunch, and James Hailey. Dr. Venkman has received 4 of 10 lifetime begins, together with the 2024 San Diego Handicap (G2), and he has run second in 4 different stakes.
“All of the credit score to the house owners,” stated Glatt. “We now have needed to begin and cease—he’s a frivolously raced horse. However he is nicely preserved. Hopefully, there are greater and higher issues forward.”
Photograph: Benoit PhotoDr. Venkman’s connections within the winner’s circle after the Pat O’Brien Stakes at Del Mar
Dr. Venkman is by Ghostzapper , and his identify harkens again to the character Dr. Peter Venkman, performed by Invoice Murray within the unique “Ghostbusters” movie. The Ghostzapper Syndicate and Hidden Brook Farm bred Dr. Venkman in Kentucky. Hidden Brook bought him for $105,000 on the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Glatt as agent.
Hidden Brook bred Dr. Venkman’s dam, the Archarcharch mare Idea of Change , a winner in one in every of her two begins. A half sister to stakes winners So Lengthy George , America America , and My Gal Betty , Idea of Change has additionally produced stakes-winning Tranche , by Collected . Hidden Brook will consign the mare’s yearling colt by Maxfield in Ebook 1 of this 12 months’s Keeneland September sale.
Dr. Venkman and Banishing , winner of the Aug. 22 Charles City Traditional Stakes (G2), are two of 4 2025 black-type winners sired by perennial main sire Ghostzapper, the 2004 Horse of the Yr and champion older male. Ghostzapper stood most of his profession in Kentucky, first at Adena Springs and later at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm. He was moved for 2025 to Adena Springs North in Ontario, Canada, the place the 25-year-old stallion stood to a restricted variety of mares for $75,000.
Video: Pat O’Brien S. (G2)
