The Villages Daily Sun

That loud noise you heard coming from the north Saturday was not connected in any way to the weather. It was emanating from the simulcasting facility at Ocala Breeders’ Sales.

Two couples who live in The Villages — Ted and Jane Raczkowski and Ray and Andrea Hellin — are members of Vision Racing Stables, which owns just less than half of the 3-year-old Visionaire. I understand they let out quite a yell when their prize colt by Grand Slam came charging from last place to win the Grade 1, King’s Bishop Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.

“I got so excited, I smiled,” said Ted, usually the serious member of the group.

Ted wasn’t the only one smiling.

“It was unbelievable,” Ray said. “We were yelling and screaming.”

Trainer Michael Matz decided to try Visionaire sprinting in his start before the King’s Bishop. The trainer made two other changes besides the distance. He added blinders to help the colt relax and he put hot-riding Alan Garcia on his back. The change in distance and the change in equipment and jockey have made a world of difference. In his start before the King’s Bishop, Visionaire came from last place to win an Optional Claiming/Allowance event and then rolled past the field to become a Grade-1 winner in the King’s Bishop.

Chart writers are usually very conservative, but the chart on Visionaire’s win read “took off entering the stretch and rolled home for a convincing victory.”

Early in the race, Visionaire was almost 10 lengths behind the ninth-place runner in the 10-horse field.

“We are getting used to hearing the announcer say at the halfway mark ‘and bringing up the rear is Visionaire,’” Ted said. “He certainly gives you your money’s worth in excitement.”

Ray agreed.

“He came 10 wide,” Ray said. “There’s never a dull moment with him.”

The win aboard Visionaire was Garcia’s fifth of the day. He just missed six wins when one of his mounts was beaten by a head.

Near miss

A friend of mine from Kentucky called me earlier Saturday, and I told him I liked two horses on the day and both were longshots and in back-to-back races.

Visionaire was the first of the two, and Mambo in Seattle was the other.

Although Mambo in Seattle’s rider, Robby Albarado, celebrated because he thought he had won the Travers, the colt actually finished second, beaten a lip by Colonel John.

I had heard about Mambo in Seattle when I was in Kentucky and knew he could run a lick.

It was the second year in a row that trainer Neil Howard had a lightly regarded runner finish second in the Travers. Last year, Grasshopper ran second to Street Sense in the prestigious race.

It’s my feeling that if Garrett Gomez had been on Mambo in Seattle and Albarado had been on Colonel John, the order of finish would have been reversed.

For Gomez, it was a great start on the weekend. Not only did he win the $1 million Travers at Saratoga, he was aboard Go Between who won the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Sunday.

A sad passing

I remember a young apprentice jockey with a high-society name coming to Churchill Downs some years back. His name was Parker Buckley III.

Last week, Buckley, 40, died after falling from a horse on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga.

Buckley had worked 16 months as an assistant trainer and exercise rider for the powerful Steve Asmussen stable.

Local fans might remember Buckley from his riding success at Tampa Bay Downs.

A celebration of Buckley’s life will be held in Fort Walton Beach on Wednesday.