Mixed Up scores in Smithwick

William Pape's 10-year-old gelding MIXED UP (Carnivalay) rallied through the

stretch after taking the final hurdle and went on to a half-length victory over

Preemptive Strike (Roanoke) in Thursday's $102,723

A.P.

Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase (NSA-G2) at Saratoga Race Course.

The win gave jockey Danielle Hodsdon a unique riding double at the Spa as

well as awarding trainer Jonathan Sheppard a second Grade 1 victory at the meet.

The Hall of Fame conditioner saddled champion turf mare Forever Together (Belong

to Me) to a title defense in the Diana S. (G1) on August 1.

On Monday, the steeplechase jockey won her first flat race of the meet,

piloting Sermon of Love (Pulpit) to a 1 1/4-length win on the turf. She is now

two-for-two at the Spa.

"It's been pretty amazing," Hodsdon said. "I've been very lucky to have some

success. It's a heck of a start."

Hodsdon, the regular rider of Mixed Up, kept the Grade 1-winning gelding on

the inside, well off the early pace set by Preemptive Strike, then swung him

wide at the top of the stretch to launch his bid. He hit the wire in 3:50.19 for

the 2 1/16 miles, earning his 17th victory in 47 lifetime starts, and second in

the Smithwick, having won the race in 2007.

"If I show him daylight at the last fence, he will not stop running until he

gets home," Hodsdon said. "He was great. He had a perfect jumping trip, and that

makes a big difference."

The second choice in the field of seven, Mixed Up returned $7.40, $4.20 and

$3.30 and earned $63,540 to extend his lifetime bankroll to $684,017.

"He's a game little horse," said Sheppard. "He's not very big, but he's

feisty; he's bouncy; he tries very hard. He and Danielle have a great rapport.

If she had to pick one horse out of the barn, he would be her favorite."

Sheppard said the next start for Mixed Up would be the New York Turf Writers'

Cup (NSA-G1) on August 27, a race which Mixed Up won in 2006.