Promising Debut for Patterson Cross

Owner/breeder Jim Karp has been involved in horse racing for over 30 years, but the Kentucky native admitted to a few extra nerves when his homebred Patterson Cross went postward for the first time in Sunday's 10th race at Gulfstream Park.

“It's kind of a crazy thing when you name a horse after a friend,” Karp said Monday. “It's not the smartest thing in the world because you never know whether they are going to run or not.”

Patterson Cross, of course, is named after Karp's long-time friend and best-selling author James Patterson.

“Alex Cross is his number one character,” Karp explained. “We're good friends and Patterson's been to see the horse at Claiborne. Seth Hancock really thought it was crazy. The horse was a weanling and Seth said, 'What kind of friend are you to name a horse after a friend? It's an awful thing to do.'”

Karp had little to worry about, however, as Patterson Cross put in a more-than-credible effort, overcoming a slow start and plenty of traffic to finish a late-closing second in the nine-furlong turf race.

“You never know with [trainer] Bill Mott–he never gets up or down,” Karp said. “He just kind of stays in the middle all of the time. So I had no expectations. Yesterday all this was building up and it was such a relief for me. We were riding back from Gulfstream and Patterson said, 'Were you just being negative just to keep the expectations low? You really thought the horse was going to do well. And I just laughed and said, 'No.'”

Patterson Cross is a full-brother to Newsdad and Karp said the sophomore's debut was reminiscent of that multiple graded stakes winner's early efforts.

“Newsdad, in his first race, I think he was fifth and he didn't know how to get out of the gate,” Karp recalled. “He started the exact same way this horse did yesterday. He loafed along and finally got his stuff together towards the end of the race.”

Karp, founder of RxCrossroads and Kaden Company, maintains a small broodmare band of two or three head and breeds specifically to race. Co-owner of 1997 GI Manhattan H. winner Ops Smile, he currently has a racing stable of some 10 horses.

“I'm from Kentucky and lived around horses my whole life,” Karp explained. “I was 40 years old when I partnered with a guy and my very first horse–which is the worst thing that could have happened–he won. And Bill Mott trained. Maybe seven or eight years ago, I asked him if he would train some horses for me again. I said, 'I hope they are good enough of for you.' And one of them turned out to be Newsdad.”

Karp said Sunday's experience in Hallandale turned out to be a positive one.

“I rented a van and drove a bunch of my entourage down there and Patterson was there and his wife was taking all kinds of pictures,” he said. “They had never been in the paddock before. So all of it was a fun experience.”

Karp added laughingly, “They think that it's like that all the time–they don't realize a lot of the times you're saying, 'Can you believe our horse came in last?'”

Looking ahead, Karp said, “Patterson Cross is fine so far. We'll see what the next step will be. The horse hasn't won yet, so we have to be a little reserved.”