Post-Race Analysis:
Far Hills, New Jersey - October 18, 2008: Good Night Shirt won
his fifth consecutive Grade I race as he rolled to an easy 4-length
victory over Be Certain in the $250,000 Grade I Grand National.
The victory all but assured Good Night Shirt of his second consecutive
Eclipse Award as America's champion steeplechaser, as he has won
four of the six Grade I races contested this year (Sovereign Duty
and Dark Equation account for the other two). The reigning steeplechase
champion covered the 2 5/8ths miles over a firm course that included
14 fences in 4:54 1/5, just two-fifths of a second off the stakes
record established by All Gong in 2000.
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Good Night Shirt and Willie Dowling winning
the Grade I Grand National.
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Good Night Shirt was prominent throughout, settling into second
place as he stalked the early pace setter Red Letter Day. As the
field of seven straightened away down the backstretch the final
time, jockey Willie Dowling gradually edged Good Night Shirt toward
the lead and took command of the race entering the far turn. The
7-year-old son of Concern quickly drew off around the turn, held
a clear lead over the final fence and was never challenged on the
run-in as he galloped under the wire the easiest of winners.
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Good Night Shirt led by 4 lengths at
the last fence of the Grand National.
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"He's a machine and he's getting better," Dowling told the National
Steeplechase Association after the race. "He's unbelievable, just
one of those horses that can do it. I just sit on him and he knows
when we turn down the back that the pace is picking up and it's
becoming a race. Around the bend, I could feel his hind legs - they
were rolling and he kept it going. Honestly, I didn't even push
him out."
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Early pace setter Red Letter Day leads
Good Night Shirt and Be Certain at the 4th fence of the Grand
National.
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Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Tom Bowman, Good night Shirt earned
$150,000 for his victory and established a new single-season steeplechase
earnings record of $395,520 with four wins in as many starts this
year. He is trained by Jack Fisher, who won four stakes races on
the day as he took two other races at Far Hills and also sent out
Bubble Economy to score in the International Gold Cup timber stakes
in Virginia. The trainer's horses earned in excess of $270,000 in
purses on the day to give him more than $975,000 for the year, a
new single-season record for trainers with six stops remaining on
the steeplechase circuit.
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Trainer Jack Fisher won the Grand National
with Good Night Shirt and set a single season earnings record
for trainers when he won three other stakes races on the day.
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Fisher noted that Good Night Shirt has improved vastly since his
steeplechase debut in 2005: "He was kind of a big, dumb kid and
now he's grown up," Fisher told the NSA. "He jumped well today and
in the past he was kind of like 'oh, here's a fence.' Now he jumps
them and that's made him better. It didn't look like they tested
him today."
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Good Night Shirt is undefeated this year
and has won five consecutive Grade I races.
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Good Night Shirt relished the firm going, unusual for Far Hills,
and has not lost a race since last year's Grand National when he
finished fourth behind McDynamo over a water-logged Far Hills course.
He improved career record to 10-for-20 over fences and has compiled
$844,493 in earnings for owner Harold A. "Sonny" Via. Good Night
Shirt now ranks third on the National Steeplechase Association's
lifetime earnings list behind retired legends McDynamo and Lonesome
Glory.
Good Night Shirt is expected to make his next and final start of
the year in the $150,000 Grade I Colonial Cup in Camden, South Carolina
on November 16th.
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Be Certain and jockey Padge Whelan finished
second in the Grand National.
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JUMPING AROUND: Fisher's other Far Hills winners were Swagger Stick
in the $100,000 Foxbrook novice and Rare Bush in the $50,000 Appleton.
. . Trainer Lilith Boucher notched a double at Far Hills, picking
up a wins with Class Shadow in the $50,000 Peapack stakes for fillies
& mares and with Class Real Rock in the $50,000 Gladstone stakes
for 3-year-olds. . . Erin Go Bragh took the $50,000 New Jersey Hunt
Cup timber stakes for trainer Doug Fout . . . A crowd in excess
of 50,000 people jammed the Far Hills course on a sun-drenched,
windy day as temperatures reached the low 60's…proceeds from today's
races benefited the Somerset Medical Center in Somerville, New Jersey.
. . McDynamo, who won at Far Hills an incredible seven years in
a row, including five consecutive Grand National's from 2003-2007,
was honored in a pre-race ceremony.
(Edited from NSA press release)
The complete order of finish for the Grand National is set forth
below.
Results:
|
FP
|
Horse
|
lbs
|
Jockey
|
Trainer
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Good Night Shirt |
156
|
Dowling |
Jack Fisher |
Harold A. Via |
|
2
|
Be Certain |
156
|
Whelan |
Thomas H. Voss |
Alnoff Stable |
|
3
|
Best Attack |
156
|
Petty |
F. Bruce Miller |
Sarah J. Radcliffe |
|
4
|
Red Letter Day |
156
|
Hodsdon |
Janet Elliot |
Gregory D. Hawkins |
|
5
|
Dalucci (Ire) |
156
|
Aizpuru |
Charlie Swan |
Justin Carthy |
|
6
|
Orison |
156
|
McCarron |
Doug Fout |
EMO Stables |
|
F
|
Isti Bee (NZ) |
156
|
Young |
Doug Fout |
Brigadoon Stable |
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Pedigree of Winner:
Click
here for Good Night Shirt's 5-cross pedigree.
Pedigrees compliments of PedigreeQuery.com
Previous Winners:
|
YEAR
|
FIRST (Age) |
JOCKEY |
lbs. |
SECOND (Age) |
lbs. |
THIRD (Age) |
lbs. |
|
2007
|
McDynamo (10) |
Petty |
156 |
Sweet Shani (7) |
156 |
Best Attack (6) |
156 |
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2006
|
McDynamo (9) |
Petty |
156 |
Chivite (Ire) (7) |
156 |
Mixed Up (7) |
156 |
|
2005
|
McDynamo (8) |
Petty |
156 |
Three Carat (5) |
156 |
Hirapour (Ire) (9) |
156 |
|
2004
|
McDynamo (7) |
Thornton |
156 |
Hirapour (Ire) (8) |
156 |
Sur La Tete (6) |
156 |
|
2003
|
McDynamo (6) |
Thornton |
156 |
Pelagos (FR) (8) |
156 |
Mullahen |
156 |
|
2002
|
Flat Top (9) |
Massey |
156 |
Tres Touche (5) |
156 |
All Gong (GB) (8) |
156 |
|
2001
|
Quel Senor (Fr) (6) |
Murphy |
156 |
Lord Zada (8) |
156 |
Praise The Prince (6) |
156 |
|
2000
|
All Gong (GB) (6) |
B. Miller |
156 |
Popular Gigalo (6) |
156 |
Allgrit (5) |
156 |
|
1993
|
Lonesome Glory (5) |
B. Miller |
156 |
Highland Bud (8) |
156 |
Mistico (7) |
156 |
|
1992
|
Highland Bud (7) |
Dunwoody |
156 |
Mistico (6) |
156 |
Sassello (5) |
156 |
|
1991
|
Morley Street (7) |
Frost |
156 |
Declare Your Wish (5) |
156 |
Cheering News (4) |
146 |
|
1990
|
Morley Street (6) |
Frost |
156 |
Summer Colony (7) |
156 |
Moonstruck (7) |
156 |
|
1989
|
Highland Bud (4) |
Dunwoody |
146 |
Polar Pleasure (7) |
156 |
Victorian Hill (4) |
146 |
|
1988
|
Jimmy Lorenzo (6) |
McCourt |
156 |
Kalankoe (7) |
153 |
Polar Pleasure (6) |
156 |
|
1987
|
Gacko (6) |
Duchene |
156 |
Inlander (6) |
156 |
Gateshead (8) |
156 |
|
1986
|
Census (8) |
Teter |
156 |
Kesslin (6) |
156 |
Pont du Loup (6) |
156 |
Post-Race Analysis | Results
| Pedigree of Winner | Previous
Winners
