In what was expected to be a showcase for Godolphin's reigning U.S. champion turf male Modern Games in Friday's Maker's Mark Mile (G1), the scene stealer turned out to be Lael Stables' Chez Pierre.
When Chez Pierre left his seven rivals in his wake in the upper stretch en route to a 3½-length score, the performance was something trainer Arnaud Delacour had seen before.
“He's got a great turn of foot, and he did the same thing last year in the Henry Clark (L) at Laurel,” Delacour said of Chez Pierre's 5½-length victory in that race. “Those were legitimate Grade 2 and Grade 3 horses, and he put them away in the blink of an eye. That was a wow moment.”
Ridden by Flavien Prat, Chez Pierre won the Maker's Mark Mile in a stakes record 1:33.46.
Chez Pierre is ticketed to return to Delacour's base at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland. A return to Kentucky in a few weeks for Churchill Downs' $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1) to be run at 1 1/8 miles on May 6 is unlikely.
“Probably not. I wouldn't want to stretch him out and come back that quick,” Delacour said.
The victory by Chez Pierre was the sixth stakes win at Keeneland for Delacour and his first Grade 1. On Sunday, he will attempt to double up when he sends out Mark Grier's Opus Forty Two in the 38th running of the $400,000 Beaumont (G2) Presented by Keeneland Select.
“It is an ambitious spot,” Delacour said. “If we get a piece of it, we'd be delighted. She is adding blinkers because she has seemed to be losing focus at the end of her races.”
Regarding the other top finishers in the Maker's Mark Mile:
Modern Games is scheduled to return to England on Tuesday.
“He cooled out well and is a happy horse this morning,” head traveling lad Chris Connett said of the Charlie Appleby trainee. “He didn't disgrace himself. The winner ran a huge race. Modern Games ran hard, and it is a good starting point for the rest of his 4-year-old campaign.”
Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable's third-place finisher Up to the Mark, who was a neck behind Modern Games in his graded stakes debut, will head to Churchill on Sunday. Trainer Todd Pletcher said the Turf Classic is “under consideration” for Up to the Mark.
Kretz Racing's Cabo Spirit, who finished fourth as the longest price in the field at 52-1, will head back to Santa Anita Saturday and target the $500,000 Shoemaker Mile (G1) on May 29, according to trainer George Papaprodromou.
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