Winning your first graded stakes race is a momentous occasion for any trainer, but to claim your first graded stakes victory in addition to landing a coveted slot in the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) is quite another. Trainer Ray Handal accomplished just that April 8 when the improving Promiseher America stunned a group of sophomore fillies when capturing the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack. Running for the colors of Hoffman Thoroughbreds and Tom McCrocklin, the lightly raced American Pharoah filly rose to the occasion when it mattered most, vindicating her trainer's belief that the 'longer the distance the better', earning 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks with her Gazelle triumph.
A local on the New York circuit since saddling his first horse in 2014, 35-year-old Handal spoke with BloodHorse MarketWatch about his roots in the industry, Promiseher America's path of progression leading up to the Gazelle, and his strategy for Oaks success on May 5.
MarketWatch: With Promiseher America's Gazelle victory, you've landed your first graded stakes winner and your first Kentucky Oaks starter at the same time. What's that mean to you and your barn?
Ray Handal: It's been quite a journey for us all so it's been very rewarding. It's good to prove to everybody that we're capable of competing at a higher level. I'm just excited about the potential for new horses coming in and being on that stage more often.
MW: How did you get involved in the industry and when did you start training?
RH: My dad was a gambler and I fell in love with the game at an early age. We would go to the races at Gulfstream Park and Calder. I started hotwalking at 13 and learning the ropes and just worked my way up. I left home at 16 to just try to do this thing for real and never really looked back. I always wanted to be a trainer though since I was a little kid. I bounced around jobs on the Mid-Atlantic circuit, was in Kentucky for some time, and then finally ended up in New York, where I polished up my assistant skills and worked for Tony Dutrow.
Dutrow was like a father figure to me, and he still is to this day. He gave me the tools I needed to become a trainer. I started with two horses back in 2014 and built it up to what it is now so It's been a wild ride. We have around 45 horses now. Things are really rolling along and it's very exciting. We have a great group of horses in the barn right now.
MW: Promiseher America came into the Gazelle off only a maiden win. What was it about her maiden win that gave you the confidence to run her in the Gazelle?
RH: I always thought the more ground the better with her. She's physically built like a two-turn type of horse. Even from her first race (going six furlongs Dec.15 at Aqueduct), I saw some things I liked. And then we stretched her out to seven (furlongs) and she ran a really nice race that day. She sat off the pace very professionally and made a run but was just second best that day behind the runaway winner Ziaerati. And then third time out going the one-turn mile she put it all together. She sat off the pace and ended up beating a pretty salty bunch—there were some nice fillies in that race. But she was very professional in how she handled herself, sitting off the speed, tipped out, and made a big move around the turn. I love how she just strided out to the wire. Even in the gallop out that day you could see she had no plans of stopping anytime soon. That kind of gave me the confidence as well as what I saw from her in the mornings. The more distance was always going to be better with her.
The timing of the Gazelle was six weeks away, which I also liked. I told the guys (owners Stew Hoffman and Tom McCrocklin) let's just take a swing here. She's just finding her form so she might be ready to pop a big one and if not, we can always knock out the 1x (allowance condition) sometime down the line. But you only have these restricted 3-year-old type races once in her lifetime so we might as well take a shot and see how things play out. But she really upped her game in the Gazelle and improved even more than I thought she would.
MW: How do you feel about her chances coming into the Kentucky Oaks?
RH: Listen, it's a 14-horse field, which she's never faced, and a level of competition she's never run against, so she's going to have to improve some, but I truly believe she's not that far off and she's getting good at the right time. Sometimes when you get these good fillies in good form you just run them because their liable to jump up in their races. You just have to ride the wave and that's what we're doing. Being realistic, we'd all be thrilled if she hit the board but I don't think it's totally outrageous to think she has a shot to win the race. It's a pretty wide-open Oaks this year. Wet Paint has obviously been the leader of the division but her numbers aren't anything spectacular. It's not egregious to think our filly can't compete and jump up with that kind of speed figure.
MW: Can you talk about your relationship with Stew Hoffman and Tom McCrocklin? How did you meet them and how long have you been training for them?
RH: Stew Hoffman called me up last year and said he had a nice American Pharoah filly and asked me if I'd be interested in training her. I'd recently just won the stakes at Laurel (Frank Y. Whiteley Stakes) with Disco Pharoah, and I just thought I'd love a barn full of American Pharoah babies. I liked her from the day she came in. She wasn't the flashiest workhorse but I loved how she always had big strong gallop outs and the way she carried herself, even pretty early on, you knew she was going to be a nice horse. I kept on telling them (the owners) 'I think she's going to be all right, we just need to take our time. And I think she wants to run long so don't be disappointed if she doesn't run great first time out because I think she wants the distance.'
Stew has been in the game a long time and had a few quiet years and was in the market for a new trainer when he reached out to me. He had heard about me through watching racing and through the grapevine. Promiseher America was the first horse he sent me. And Tom I've known him forever through the sales since he has a consignment at the 2-year-old in training sales. But Tom was Stew's partner.
They both told me after the Gazelle that they were a little on the fence about running her but that they always trusted and defaulted to me. It's cool that they had the faith in me like that and they've always shown that through all my decision-making along the way with her.
MW: You went to the Kentucky Derby as an assistant for Tony Dutrow years ago with Giant Finish, is this your first time returning to Churchill Downs Derby weekend since then?
RH: Yes, it'll be my first time since 2013, Orb's year (Giant Finish was 10th). I've done the Derby a few times with a few different people I've worked for. All that experience was definitely beneficial. There are things over there (at Churchill Downs) I can anticipate having been there before and I can use it all going forward.
That's the main reason I'm keeping Promiseher America (in New York). I want to ship in as late as I'm allowed. I want to do all the heavy lifting here and then ship in and that's just because I know how the track is down there and there's a hundred cameras and reporters running around everywhere. You can never fully adjust over there and I want to keep her happy at home as long as possible.
She'll have her final work over here and ship out Sunday. She has to be there by 11 a.m. on Monday.
