The streaking Olympiad (Speightstown) punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Classic in style with an ultra-impressive fifth consecutive victory in Saturday's 'Win and You're In' GII Stephen Foster S. at Churchill Downs.
The 3-2 favorite raced in between rivals as five of them stacked up passing the grandstand the first time. Olympiad found a perfect spot rounding the clubhouse turn and raced in a tracking second behind Caddo River (Hard Spun) through sharp fractions of :23.05 and :46.45. He turned up the heat on the pacesetter on the far turn as last year's promoted GI Kentucky Derby winner Mandaloun (Into Mischief) wound up with a three-wide move of his own.
Olympiad hit the front at the quarter pole, drew clear with authority in the stretch and was never seriously threatened by the late rally of GI Cigar Mile H. winner Americanrevolution (Constitution) to score by 2 1/4 lengths. Proxy (Tapit) flew from the clouds for a well-beaten third; Mandaloun, making his first start since a well-beaten ninth in the Saudi Cup, was a tiring fourth.
Olympiad has been perfect in five subsequent starts since finishing fourth with trouble while making his stakes debut in the Cigar Mile last December. His current winning streak also includes victories in the GIII Mineshaft S. Feb. 19, GII New Orleans Classic S. Mar. 26 and GII Alysheba S. last time May 6.
“I thought it was a very game win this afternoon,” winning Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said. “There were some nice horses in this field and I thought he did things rather easily. It was really nice to see him win like that. We've always thought about running him in the [Aug. 6 GI] Whitney [at Saratoga], so I think that would be the next possible target.”
Winning jockey Junior Alvarado added, “This horse has such a big stride on him and really extends it late in races. I think as he's gotten older, he's gotten faster in each start. Today, we sat in a good position just off of the early pace and he showed how powerful his stride can be. I asked him just a little bit in the final furlong and he continued to get faster. He's a great horse and has shown his talent all year long. It will be a fun rest of the year.”
Saturday, Churchill Downs
STEPHEN FOSTER S.-GII, $740,000, Churchill Downs, 7-2, 4yo/up, 1 1/8m, 1:47.66, ft.
1–OLYMPIAD, 124, c, 4, by Speightstown
1st Dam: Tokyo Time (GSP, $249,177), by Medaglia d'Oro
2nd Dam: Flying Passage, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Chic Shirine, by Mr. Prospector
($700,000 Ylg '19 KEESEP). O-Grandview Equine, Cheyenne
Stable, LLC & LNJ Foxwoods; B-Emory A. Hamilton (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $455,320. Lifetime
Record: 10-7-1-1, $1,407,560. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Americanrevolution, 119, c, 4, Constitution–Polly Freeze, by
Super Saver. ($275,000 Ylg '19 SARAUG). O-CHC Inc. & WinStar
Farm LLC; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D. Fielding (NY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $137,200.
3–Proxy, 119, c, 4, Tapit–Panty Raid, by Include.
O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Michael Stidham. $73,600.
Margins: 2 1/4, 2 3/4, 4. Odds: 1.50, 3.70, 11.20.
Also Ran: Mandaloun, Title Ready, Caddo River, Last Samurai.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Pedigree Notes:
Hailing from one of the best Emory Hamilton families, Olympiad is out of a Grade III-placed half-sister to GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile heroine Hungry Island (More Than Ready), whose three winners from three to the races includes the stakes-placed Hamilton homebred mare Hungry Kitten (Kitten's Joy). Tokyo Time is also a half-sister to GSW Soaring Empire (Empire Maker) and to Flying Dixie (Dixieland Band), the dam of GISW and current Airdrie Stud sire Preservationist (Arch). Third dam Chic Shirine, winner of the 1987 GI Ashland S. and fifth in that year's GI Kentucky Oaks for Wayne Lukas, was a full-sister to champion older mare Queena and bred the graded-winning full-sibs Waldoboro (Lyphard) and Tara Roma as well as the dam of GISW Somali Lemonade (Lemon Drop Kid) and SW Rasta Farian (Holy Bull). Dual Grade I winner Verrazano (More Than Ready) also appears under the third dam.
Olympiad is bred on the exact same cross as ill-fated Grade I winner Rock Fall and GISW Competitionofideas and additional graded winners Souper Stonehenge and Strike Power.
Tokyo Time is the dam of the maiden 3-year-old colt Friendship Road (Quality Road), a 2-year-old filly by War Front and a yearling colt by American Pharoah. She was most recently served by Quality Road.
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