When you hear people at the track talk about owner-trainer Uriah St. Lewis, they all pretty much say the same thing. Well, he doesn’t win many races.
That is not untrue, but it misses the point, his point.
“My wife always says you can’t go to the bank with races, you go to the bank with money,’’ St. Lewis said. “I see a lot of guys win a hundred races and they’re all broke.’’
That is exactly the same philosophy most successful bettors have. It’s not about how many winners you have; it’s about how much money you win.
St. Lewis proved his philosophy works when the amazing Discreet Lover, a Parx Hall of Famer, won the 2018 Jockey Club Gold Cup. The horse, purchased for $10,000, has won $1,450,685. He was 40-1, 50-1, 70-1, 80-1 as St. Lewis kept putting him in graded stakes races. Discreet Lover wasn’t winning, but he was picking up checks until finally winning the big one in his 44th start.
St. Lewis is using a similar philosophy with Forewarned, a horse he purchased for $40,000 in December 2018, parlaying some of that Discreet Lover cash.
Forewarned was solid in two years racing in Ohio, even winning a state-bred stake. The horse has been even better for St. Lewis running in races like the Whitney,Woodward and Cigar Mile. St. Lewis took the horse back to Ohio last October to win a $150,000 state-bred stakes. Last Saturday, Forewanted finished third at 59-1 behind 2019 Travers winner Code of Honor in the Westchester at Belmont Park.
When asked if he is going to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup with Forewarned this year, St. Lewis laughed and said that race was reserved for Discreet Lover.
Discreet Lover made his first start in more than a year when he ran in the Blame States at Churchill Downs on May 23. He was 101-1 and finished 11th. But let’s see how the year plays out before making any pronouncements.
As for Forewarned, the now 5-year-old horse has won $293,420 since that $40,000 purchase. The Suburban could be next. The Met Mile is possible.
And there is Adventist, yet another St. Lewis success story. The horse has won $258,590 since coming to the trainer’s barn a year and a half ago. Adventist won the 2019 Greenwood Cup at Parx after going off at 50-1. The horse is entered in a stakes Thursday at Belmont Park against 2019 Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston.
“I buy horses, try to keep them sound so you don’t have to spend all your money on vets,’’ St. Lewis said.
St. Lewis now has 10 horses at Belmont Park and 18 more at Parx as everyone awaits the return of live racing. And more Uriah St. Lewis longshots keep getting some piece of the purse or, in some cases, all of it.
It was a good first few days for Parx horses as Belmont Park opened on June 3. Powerful Venezuela won a $10,000 claimer for trainer Harold Wyner and jockey Ruben Silvera. Helene Jacqueline was second in a maiden special for trainer Richie Vega, Zoomer third in a $40,000 claimer for Jamie Ness and Pategory One a better-than-it-looks seventh at 57-1 in a New York bred maiden race for Carlos Guerrero.
