By Jill Williams
Michael Caruso and Michael Dubb's John the Beer Man (g, 5, More Than Ready–Trophy Wife, by Giant's Causeway), who set the pace in the GI Jaipur Stakes before finishing third in his first stakes attempt June 6, returned to win Sunday's GII Troy Stakes at Saratoga after overcoming trouble in the stretch drive. He finished a head the best after setting all the pace, but his connections had to sweat out both a stewards' inquiry and a claim of foul. In the end, he retained the victory, while the runner-up Waralo (War Dancer) was demoted to third and the third-place finisher, Doncho (Mo Town), was moved up to second.
“It was a tough inquiry and a little scary there,” said winning trainer Rob Atras, “but I think we were good. I'm really thrilled with this horse. What a Godsend.”
After a smooth break for the whole field, John the Beer Man blazed through :21.28 and :43.50 fractions before Waralo, a winner of five of his last seven, and Doncho–who holds the North American record of :59.75 for 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, set last August at Ellis Park–drew within striking distance entering the lane. Waralo actually got the advantage briefly from the outside as Doncho simultaneously dove for the hole between the two. The trio engaged in a significant amount of bumping as John the Beer Man re-engaged to gut out the victory by a head, only for the stewards to take a long look at the stretch drive. John the Beer Man retained his win, while Waralo was disqualified and Doncho was moved up. No one else factored in the top three from start to finish.
“It was a little bumpy,” said John the Beer Man's pilot Kendrick Carmouche. “I thought I kept a straight path because I was in front and they came to me and bumped me. As you can see, once I pulled my horse off of them, he accelerated again, so right then and there, you know it wasn't my fault, it was just race riding a little. It happens.”
The lightly raced John the Beer Man, a $160,000 Keeneland September yearling, returned to the races in March after nearly two years away. He broke his maiden at 1 1/16 miles over Aqueduct's turf course for Chad Brown in 2024, then went to the sidelines for 22 months and reappeared in March in Atras's barn. Atras re-imagined John the Beer Man as a sprinter and has been rewarded with three wins and the Jaipur third in four starts for the gelding since his return. John the Beer Man got the Troy's 5 1/2 furlongs in 100.97.
The Troy winner is named for John Soler, a friend of the owners. “I met Mike [Dubb] when I was 13 years old at wrestling camp,” he said. “This guy [Michael Caruso] is a three-time national champion and we've been friends ever since. It's such an honor to be part of this and the fact that they named the horse after me.”
The Troy winner's circle | Sarah Andrew
Pedigree Notes:
The late More Than Ready, who died in 2022 at age 25, added the 110th graded winner and 237th black-type winner to his remarkable dual hemisphere sire career with John the Beer Man's victory in the Troy. Canadian champion and GISW Say the Word, Venezuelan champion An Serafini (Ven), and MGISW Verazano are among the other half-dozen More Than Ready stakes winners out of Giant's Causeway mares, just as John the Beer Man is.
Trophy Wife, the Troy winner's dam, is a daughter of 2005 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Pleasant Home (Seeking the Gold). Among the latter's descendants are MGISW Guarana (Ghostzapper), who sold for $4.4 million at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton November sale, and MGSW Cornucopian (Into Mischief), a $1.1-million Keeneland September yearling who passed away last month after sustaining an injury in the GI Bing Crosby Stakes. Other members of the family include MGISWs Point of Entry (Dynaformer) and Pine Island (Arch). Trophy Wife has a yearling filly by McKinzie, a 2026 colt by Tapit, and was bred back to McKinzie for next term.
A third-generation Phipps-bred, John the Beer Man's is a tail-female descendant of the stellar “beauty” line: Maplejinsky, Gold Beauty, Stick to Beauty, and Hail to Beauty.
Sunday, Saratoga
TROY S.-GII, $300,000, Saratoga, 8-9, 3yo/up, 5 1/2fT, 1:00.97, fm.
1–JOHN THE BEER MAN, 124, g, 5, by More Than Ready
1st Dam: Trophy Wife, by Giant's Causeway
2nd Dam: Pleasant Home, by Seeking the Gold
3rd Dam: Our Country Place, by Pleasant Colony
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($160,000
Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Michael Caruso & Michael Dubb; B-Phipps
Stable (KY); T-Rob Atras; J-Kendrick Carmouche. $165,000.
Lifetime Record: 7-4-1-1, $373,750. Werk Nick Rating: C.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Doncho, 124, g, 5, Mo Town–Sassy Redhead, by Henny
Hughes. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($12,000 RNA Ylg '22
KEEJAN; $32,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $72,000 2yo '23 OBSOPN).
O-JAL Racing; B-Susan Young (KY); T-Michelle Lovell. $60,000.
3–Waralo, 124, g, 7, War Dancer–I Drink Alone, by Intidab.
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($40,000 Ylg '20 OBSWIN). O-My
Purple Haze Stables; B-Casey Newick LLC (NY); T-Chris J.
Englehart. $36,000.
Margins: HD, 1 1/4, HD. Odds: 3.46, 6.88, 14.48.
Also Ran: Twenty Six Black, Coppola, Dancing Buck, Works for Me, Rezasrolex. Scratched: Determined Kingdom.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
JOHN THE BEER MAN gets his first stakes win in the Grade 2 Troy Stakes under @KendrickToto for trainer Rob Atras. pic.twitter.com/paVEqn98Yp
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 9, 2026
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