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Good Night Shirt seeks second straight Iroquois Sonny Via's GOOD NIGHT SHIRT (Concern) entered the 2007 Iroquois Hurdle S. (NSA-G1) against the star power of McDynamo and Sur La Tete. After a flag-to-wire, 5 1/4-length win in Nashville, Tennessee, Good Night Shirt leapt into the spotlight -- and he hasn't left it. The chestnut gelding went on to win the Eclipse Award as the nation's best steeplechase horse, and kicked off his 2008 campaign by taking the Georgia Cup Hurdle S. (NSA-G1). Things come full circle Saturday when the circuit heads back to Nashville, and this year it's Good Night Shirt shining as the sport's brightest star. With $385,000 in total purses, the 67th annual Iroquois Steeplechase meeting has long been a highlight of the National Steeplechase Association spring season. So it goes as no surprise that the feature, the $150,000 Iroquois run over a demanding three miles, is a signature early-season test. Good Night Shirt arrived in Nashville last year as a relative unknown. Trained by Jack Fisher, he'd finished a game second in the Royal Chase for the Sport of Kings (NSA-G1) at Keeneland a month earlier, but still entered the Iroquois under the radar. His tour de force score left even his trainer a little shocked. "I thought he was a bit short at Keeneland, so his run in the Iroquois was definitely a surprise," Fisher said. "Going in I didn't think we could beat both McDynamo and Sur La Tete." After a summer freshening, wins in the Lonesome Glory Hurdle (NSA-G1) at Belmont Park and Colonial Cup (NSA-G1) at Camden helped amass a single-season earnings record of $314,163 and cement the championship. Good Night Shirt started 2008 the way he ended 2007 -- with a win in a Grade 1. This time it was the newly promoted $100,000 Georgia Cup, a two-mile stakes at Atlanta on April 12. Despite a fumble at the final fence, the seven-year-old showed the heart and desire that made him a champion, recovering with a late surge to win by 1 1/2 lengths under regular jockey Willie Dowling, who returns to the saddle Saturday. Though the gelding still has a tendency to miss a jump or two, Dowling has noticed a change in Good Night Shirt. "This year he's just a lot more relaxed and not as cranked up as he used to be," Dowling said. "He's really a giant of a horse right now. I think because he's so big, he finds it a bit hard to shorten (stride) at every fence, and that's why he throws in a bad one every now and again. I thought he showed great heart to come back." The wild ride that led to the 2007 Eclipse Award boarded at Nashville, when horse and rider emerged from the crowd to serve notice to the rest of the sport. "That's where it all started last year and it's certainly a track he likes," Dowling said. "We were the underdog last year but we won in good style, and I think that was his best race. The others were more workmanlike. I think the three miles is what makes him such a good horse. Those others, they get to be a little tired in that last half-mile when he's just getting started. I think the main danger is SWEET SHANI (NZ) (Kashani), but I think we're surely the one they all have to beat." Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard will try to knock off Good Night Shirt with Calvin Houghland's mare Sweet Shani. An Iroquois fixture, Houghland captured the third-ever running as a jockey back in 1943, and seeks his fifth victory as an owner after wins in 1958, 1961, 1964 and 2002. Sweet Shani comes in off a game second in this year's Royal Chase, where she made all the pace and opened up by 10 lengths under jockey Xavier Aizpuru only to be nailed on the wire by fast-closing barnmate Sovereign Duty (Kingmambo). While she has yet to visit the winner's circle since coming to the United States, the New Zealand-bred notched three jump wins in Australia and has knocked heads with the best open-stakes horses on the circuit, running second to McDynamo last fall in the Breeders' Cup Grand National (NSA-G1) at Far Hills. It's that type of tenacity that has Sheppard looking forward to another solid effort Saturday. "I'm happy with her and she seems happy, so we're ready to go," the conditioner said. "I gave her a little school on Tuesday and she was satisfactory. She's never been a great workhorse. She's tough, so I'm not expecting her to regress off the Royal Chase. She's the type that will gallop all day and she ran well in the Breeders' Cup at 2 5/8 miles with the uphill finish, so I would think three miles around Nashville won't be a problem." With a decided lack of pace in the Royal Chase, Aizpuru took advantage of Sweet Shani's tactical speed, opening up early in an effort to pilfer the race on the front end. "She's versatile enough that if no one else wants to take up the running she'll go and do it, but she doesn't have to be in front and we would prefer not to be," Sheppard said. "With Good Night Shirt in there, I don't think it will be a problem." Sheppard's other runner in the Iroquois also has local ties. Owned by Nashville resident Melinda Bass, FRA DIAVOLO (Arg) (Equalize) finished second in an allowance on the Georgia Cup undercard, his first start in nearly 11 months. "It's asking a lot of him to step up and run at level weights," Sheppard said, "but he's sound, has a prep, and is a stayer so it's a good spot to try." Trainer Bruce Miller has won the Iroquois three times, and will have two shots this year in Sally Radcliffe's BEST ATTACK (Bahri) and Houghland's BOW STRADA (GB) (Rainbow Quest). Best Attack enters off a third in April's Royal Chase, where his jumping was a bit rusty, and he finished just 1 1/2 lengths behind Sweet Shani in the Grand National last fall. He won the National Hunt Cup (NSA-G2) over novice foes at Radnor last year, and while he's never tried Saturday's distance, his trainer has reason for optimism. "He came out of Keeneland doing really well and I'm hoping he gives a good account of himself," Miller said. "He was just out of sync with his jumping that day, for whatever reason, but those two in front were going to be tough either way. With him three miles is the question, but you just don't know until you try it. At Keeneland, even though he didn't jump that well, he finished up good, so I'm hopeful. We should get a more realistic pace on Saturday; I would think they'll be going at a pretty good clip." Bow Strada is the elder half of Miller's entries, and while the 11-year-old English import has yet to take a stakes in the United States, he did run third in the Iroquois in 2005. Bow Strada came to America in 2005 with solid European form, owning six jump wins and experience at Saturday's distance. "He's training very well and he's proven at three miles in England," Miller said. "He ran off in 2006 (finishing fifth after dashing to an early double-digit lead), so we're going to try and get him covered up. It's a step up but I know he'll like the distance." Doug Fout will also saddle two in the Iroquois in EMO Stable's ORISON (Pulpit) and Betsy Mead's KILBRIDE RD (Worldly Manner). Orison has shown flashes of brilliance in his career, including a fast-closing second to Good Night Shirt in the Lonesome Glory and a win in the Carolina Cup (NSA-G1) last March vs. novice runners. The six-year-old enters off a fourth in the Royal Chase, where the lack of pace all but eliminated his stretch run. "This horse just needs a little bit of luck," Fout said. "He should get some more pace to run at on Saturday and that should help. He's as good as I can get him." Kilbride Rd enters the Iroquois as the wild card. The 2006 NSA novice champion hasn't started over hurdles since a dominating win in the Foxbrook Hurdle (NSA-G1) at Far Hills in October of 2006. Fout has fought with leg injuries on and off but finally has the six-year-old right, and elected to go in the Iroquois instead of the Marcellus Frost (NSA-G3) on the undercard. Kilbride Rd prepped for the Iroquois with training flat races at Strawberry Hill and Foxfield. "It's been frustrating and a long road back, but he's doing great now," Fout explained. "I thought the two miles would be a little sharp for him and he's been off for so long, so we're going in the Iroquois. He ran perfect in both his training flat races, closing hard at the end, so we're very excited to get him back on Saturday." The Iroquois field, in post position order with jockeys, is Orison, Matt McCarron; Fra Diavolo, Danielle Hodsdon; Kilbride Rd, Paddy Young; Good Night Shirt; Best Attack, Chip Miller; Sweet Shani, Aizpuru; and Bow Strada, Carl Rafter. All jumpers will carry 158 pounds, except for distaffer Sweet Shani, who will tote 150 pounds. The Iroquois is far from the only attraction in Nashville. A stakes-filled card will greet the overflow crowd that will descend on Percy Warner Park, and the stakes action gets underway in the 2ND race, the $50,000 Marcellus Frost at two miles. Bill Pape's multiple steeplechase Grade 1 winner MIXED UP (Carnivalay), who won the race in 2006, tops an exceptional field that also includes Imperial Cup winner HIP HOP (Count the Time), who tested Good Night Shirt in the Georgia Cup.
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