A Day of Firsts at Keeneland

Jack Milton (white bridle) edges Up With the Birds
 in the Transylvania-G3 on Keeneland's Opening Day
Photo: Coady Photography

It was a day of firsts on Opening day at Keeneland. 

In the inaugural two-year-old race of the season, juvenile filly Sweet Emma Rose was never headed, flying through the four-and-a-half furlong maiden special weight contest in :51.94 while trouncing second-place finisher GingerStone by nine widening lengths.  After her impressive showing in her initial outing today, the highly touted daughter of City Zip may have earned a trip to Royal Ascot in June, according to trainer Wesley Ward. 

Two races later, first-time starter I'll Call, a three-year-old son of Smart Strike, rallied smartly to win a maiden special weight test at a mile over firm turf, giving trainer Graham Motion a much-needed boost on the day Team Valor announced it planned to remove its horses from his care, notwithstanding the trainer's superb record on the partnership's behalf.  

An Augustin Stable homebred, I'll Call demonstrated composure and class while debuting without lasix, marking himself as one to watch.  Out of the graded stakes-winning Danzig mare, Recording, I'll Call has the credentials to suggest that he'll get better yet.   His full brother, the durable and consistent millionaire Smart Bid, was a multiple graded stakes winner on the turf.  He entered stud this year and stands for $4500 at McMahon of Saratoga Thoroughbreds in New York.

In the featured Transylvania-G3, lightly raced Jack Milton notched his first graded stakes win in only his third lifetime start, gliding over the mile and a sixteenth grassy distance in a respectable 1:41.80.  Piloted by John Velasquez for trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Gary Barber, who had purchased the colt 24 hours before he won at first asking at Gulfstream in January, Jack Milton further burnished the shining reputation of hot Danzig sire War Front, becoming the stallion's 11th graded stakes winner from just three crops to race.

Animal Kingdom punches his ticket to Dubai

Animal Kingdom easily won his comeback race at Gulfstream
Photo:  Adam Coglianese, Gulfstream

In an effort that left both his connections and his legions of fans sighing with relief and admiration, Animal Kingdom impressively won his four-year-old debut over the Gulfstream turf today, easily defeating seasoned allowance rivals in his comeback effort after an eight-month layoff. 

The reigning Derby winner and Three-Year-Old Champion son of Leroidesanimaux rallied with the greatest of ease in the stretch of the mile-and-a-sixteenth contest, and once jockey Johnny Valasquez said, “go,” he was never seriously threatened, besting second-place finisher Monument Hill by two lengths and stopping the timer in 1:41.72.  Animal Kingdom has now or placed in seven of his eight lifetime starts, and has banked earnings of $1,967,500.

Responding to a chorus of congratulations after the race, trainer Graham Motion tweeted, “Thanks everyone, humbled by an awesome animal.  Exhale.” 

Indeed, Motion had been holding his breath since last June.  After his brilliant victory in the Derby, and courageous runner-up effort in the Preakness, Animal Kingdom’s three-year-old season was abruptly curtailed when he was bumped and knocked off stride soon after the start of the Belmont, finishing a disappointing sixth to Ruler On Ice. 

The strapping chestnut was subsequently found to have sustained a potentially career-ending slab fracture of his left hock, probably caused by that incident.  Barbaro’s celebrated vet, Dr. Dean Richardson, performed remedial surgery at the New Bolton Center in early July, and when that procedure was deemed successful, Motion mapped out a plan to get the Team Valor colorbearer to Barry Irwin’s ultimate goal:  a berth in the starting gate of the $10 million Dubai World Cup at the end of March.  Irwin believes his colt is among the best in the world, and wants a chance to prove it.

Today, Animal Kingdom punched his ticket to that elite international test, and while the competition he trounced at Gulfstream pales in comparison to what he’ll face in Dubai, he showed that he’s made a full recovery and still has the stuff of which great horses are made.  

According to Trakus, Animal Kingdom covered a distance of 5690 feet in his comeback effort, which was 28 feet (and 3.2 lengths) more than his closest rival.  He motored at an average cruising speed of 38.2 miles per hour, suggesting that wherever Animal Kingdom goes, the others will have to catch him. 

State of Play fits the pattern of success

State of Play wins the With Anticipation-G2 at Saratoga
Photo: Adam Mooshian, Courtesy of NYRA

As he did last year, War Front sired the winner of the grassy With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga again today, and with the victory, his two-year-old son State of Play earned a berth in the upcoming Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

When Soldat won the race in 2010, the mile-and-a-sixteenth With Anticipation was a Grade III, but this year, it earned Grade II and "win and you're in" Breeders' Cup status.  State of Play has done little to suggest that he doesn't belong with his crop's top turfers:  he's perfect in two career starts, and has banked $90,000.  Among the colts he beat today were Mine That Bird's maiden half-brother, Dullahan (by Even the Score) and two promising juveniles--Captain Webb and Optimizer--from the first crop of Champion Turf Horse English Channel.

The Team Valor colorbearer was plucked out of last year's Keeneland September sale by Steven Long for a mere $13,000; it's not known how much Barry Irwin's group subsequently paid to acquire him last spring.  But according to Team Valor's website, trainer Graham Motion's confidence in State of Play soared as the summer days lengthened.  Originally planning to send him to Presque Isle to make his first start, Motion thought enough of the colt that he he entered him in the first juvenile turf race of the Saratoga meet:  a five-and-a-half furlong maiden special weight test over good ground, on July 27th.  State of Play proved a handy winner, and in doing so, became the first of War Front's two-year-old runners to win at first asking.  That feat alone marked him as something special.

Parenthetically, State of Play isn't the only reason that Team Valor is high on War Front.  The group purchased his three-year-old daughter, Summer Soiree, around the same time as State of Play joined Motion's barn, and she soon returned big dividends, capturing the Grade III Boiling Springs at Monmouth and the Grade I Del Mar Oaks in her last two starts, while adding $240,000 to her a career bankroll that now totals $331,400.

State of Play is the sixth foal out of the winning Procida mare, Valeta, who has also produced stakes-placed Knoxville (by Septieme Ciel).  He was bred on the same cross (War Front on a Mr. Prospector-line mare) that produced three of War Front's best sons to-date:  Grade I winner The Factor (out of Greyciousness by Miswaki); Grade II winner Soldat (out of Le Relais, by Coronado's Quest), and Warning Flag (out of Good Vibes, by Unbridled's Song), a listed stakes winner in Ireland.

Of course, War Front himself is a product of the successful Danzig/Mr. Prospector cross, which also produced Grade I winner Brahms (out of Champion Queena, by Mr. Prospector) and English Horse of the Year Dayjur (out of Champion Sprinter Gold Beauty, by Mr. Prospector).

On his dam's side, State of Play hails from one of the most distinguished female families in the Stud Book.  His fourth dam is the Champion Hill Prince mare, Bayou, whose descendants include Champion Slew o' Gold, Belmont winner Coastal, and more recently, Jockey Club Gold Cup winner, Aptitude.  With the abundant stamina flowing through the distaff side of his pedigree, State of Play should be well equipped, as he matures, to carry his speed beyond the eight-and-a-half furlong distance of the With Anticipation.  If he stays sound, he has the makings of a very nice turf horse, indeed.