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Constitution’s We the People Takes Flight in Peter Pan

'TDN Rising Star' We the People (Constitution) put on a show for those that braved the rain at Belmont Saturday–and the fans watching at home–with a dominant and seemingly effortless victory in the GII Peter Pan S., the local prep for the GI Belmont S. June 11.

Dispatched as the 5-2 second choice behind 2-1 favorite Set Sail (Malibu Moon), We the People broke alertly and hustled up to take immediate control. Clicking off opening splits of :23.46 and :47.24 on a clear lead, the bay was still well within himself under a motionless Flavien Prat turning for home. Prat shook the reins at the colt at the top of the lane and We the People instantly responded, opening up on the field with ease to win for fun by 10 1/4 lengths. Golden Glider (Ghostzapper) was the runner-up with Electability (Quality Road) in third. Favored Set Sail never made any impact, finishing sixth.

“[In the Arkansas Derby] Everyone broke well and all sent [for the lead] so I found myself wide and had to take back, drop in, and he didn't understand what I wanted from him from that point on,” Prat said. “Today, he broke well and got me into the race. I wanted a clean trip and to be in the clear and see what he could do from there. He responded really well.”

“We know how good he is,” said winning trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who also saddled fourth-place Western River (Tapit). “He's just his own enemy sometimes because he's a little cocky. Today was good. He got a little warm in the paddock and we gave him a shower and you could see he kind of relaxed and was drying up. I thought the warmup was good compared to Arkansas. Of course, if we bring one all the way here it's because we thought he had a shot to do that. He can run on anything. He's one of those kind.”

As for running one or both of his pupils in the Belmont, Brisset said, “We [brought] both here to see if we could consider the Belmont. Obviously, We the People passed the test and I think I'll have to watch the replay and take my time and wait 10 days to decide on Western River. He only got beat [less than] a half-length for second. I don't think the race set up for him too because they went in :47 1/5 and it wasn't really fast enough to make that big kick. We know the two turns may be the key, too, for Western River.”

A $110,000 KEENOV weanling turned $220,000 KEESEP yearling, We the People summoned $230,000 from WinStar at the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale after breezing in :10 3/5 as part of the dispersal of the estate of the late Paul Pompa. He is the third former Pompa horse to win a graded stakes this year, following G1 Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammar (Tonalist) and GI Jenny Wiley S. victress Regal Glory (Animal Kingdom).

Graduating by 5 3/4 lengths going a mile on debut at Oaklawn Feb. 12, We the People earned the 'Rising Star' nod when repeating that effort in an Oaklawn optional claimer exactly one month later. Attempting to get on the GI Kentucky Derby trail, he ran in the Apr. 2 GI Arkansas Derby–his first start without Lasix–but failed to fire, finishing seventh.

Pedigree Notes:
We The People is the second son of Constitution to win the Peter Pan, following 2021 victor Promise Keeper. He is the 21st worldwide graded winner (13 NH & 8 SH) and 34th worldwide black-type scorer (22 NH & 12 SH) for the young WinStar phenom. The colt is also the 29th graded victor and 54th black-type winner out of a daughter of the pensioned Tiznow. We the People is bred on the same Constitution/Tiznow cross as the stallion's best son, Tiz the Law, whose quartet of Grade I wins includes the Belmont S., albeit that was the year it was run at 1 1/8 miles as the first leg of the Triple Crown in 2020.

We the People's unraced dam Letchworth is a daughter of GI Ballerina H. winner Harmony Lodge (Hennessy), who also produced SW & MGSP Armistice Day (Declaration of War) and GSW Stratford Hill (A.P. Indy). Harmony Lodge's dam is GSW Win Crafty Lady (Crafty Prospector), who is responsible for MGSW & GISP millionaire and sire Graeme Hall (Dehere) and GSW Win McCool (Giant's Causeway). This is also the family of Grade I winners Magnum Moon (Malibu Moon) and Pinehurst (Twirling Candy).

The Barbe family's Henley Farms acquired Letchworth for $40,000 at the 2019 Keeneland January sale with We the People in utero. She has since produced a juvenile colt by Always Dreaming, who brought $220,000 at the recent OBS April Sale, and a yearling colt by Audible. She was bred back to More Than Ready.

Saturday, Belmont
PETER PAN S.-GIII, $200,000, Belmont, 5-14, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:48.27, gd.
1–WE THE PEOPLE, 118, c, 3, by Constitution
               1st Dam: Letchworth, by Tiznow
               2nd Dam: Harmony Lodge, by Hennessy
               3rd Dam: Win Crafty Lady, by Crafty Prospector
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($110,000
Wlg '19 KEENOV; $220,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $230,000 2yo '21
FTFMAR). O-WinStar Farm LLC, CMNWLTH & Siena Farm
LLC; B-Henley Farms Inc. (KY); T-Rodolphe Brisset; J-Flavien
Prat. $110,000. 'TDN Rising Star' Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0,
$230,250. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Golden Glider, 118, c, 3, Ghostzapper–Golden Scarf, by
Orientate. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE.
($395,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV). O-Gary Barber, Manfred
Conrad, & Penny Conrad; B-Nursery Place & Dicken Equine
(KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $40,000.
3–Electability, 118, g, 3, Quality Road–Spindle, by Hard Spun.
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($300,000 Wlg
'19 KEENOV). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Purple H
Bloodstock (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $24,000.
Margins: 10 1/4, NO, NK. Odds: 2.95, 4.70, 3.35.
Also Ran: Western River, Cooke Creek, Set Sail, Complete Agenda, State Planning.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Gleneagles’s Highland Chief Upsets Yibir in Man o’ War

With heavily favored champion Yibir totally missing the start, Saturday's GI Man o' War S. at Belmont was thrown into a state of flux, and longest shot on the board Highland Chief took advantage. Away well himself and with no real pace on, Highland Chief shared early front-running duties with Abaan (Will Take Charge) past the wire for the first time while kept well off the fence by pilot Trevor McCarthy. Content to sit second on the first bend and down the backside through splits of :25.35, :51.84 and 1:17.60, Highland Chief turned the heat back up heading for home as last year's Jockey Club Derby Invitational and GI Breeders' Cup Turf hero Yibir and MGISW Gufo swept up to join the fray. Highland Chief poked a head in front after a mile in 1:42.04, and while it seemed like surely one of his more accomplished foes would come get him when they straightened, the bay kept finding and in fact pulled away slightly in the late stages.

“I wanted to get a good break, that was the most important thing,” said McCarthy, who was celebrating his first win at the highest level. “He broke well last time, but he just got annihilated at the break. Today, he was really handy the whole way for me. The pace was pretty slow, but the whole time he was just carrying me, carrying me, carrying me. At the 5/16 pole I let him go and started to make an early move. I just wanted to get away from the other guys and it sure paid off. He made up a ton of ground the first time he ran in America and got shut off really bad at the break, but he made a good rally.”

“It's a great feeling,” McCarthy said of winning his first Grade I. “To win it for [trainer] Graham [Motion], who has given me so much support in my career, it's really special. My father started riding for Graham and we got to be good friends with them and his family. I started at 15 and worked for Graham. As soon as I started to learn how to ride, I stayed at Fair Hill for three years. I would come in on the weekends and days off of school and ride out for him which was great. I learned so much from him and all his employees there at the time. To win it with so much history with him is great.”

Originally based with Paul Cole in England, Highland Chief was well thought of enough to contest the 2020 G1 Investec Derby, where he finished 10th before a pair of seconds going 1 1/2 miles at the Group level. He made just one start last year, checking in fifth in Epsom's G1 Coronation Cup June 4, and found 8 1/2 panels at Aqueduct too sharp when ninth while making up significant ground late in his Stateside debut Apr. 14.

“In fairness, Alex Cole, the manager for the owners, told me that if he runs back to his European form, he's very competitive with these horses,” said Motion. “He won a race at Ascot. That's not easy to do. Trevor had a strategy–he knew he couldn't leave him too much to do. He broke better today, which made a difference because he wasn't so held back at the start or too much ground to make up. Trevor gave him a great ride. I said to Trevor, 'I can't believe somebody broke slower than we did.”

Of potential future plans, Motion said, “We'd have to think about the [June 11 GI Resorts World] Manhattan, but it was mentioned to go to Europe after this race if he ran well. Originally, they talked about running in the Dubai World Cup and I knew he just wasn't ready for that. [The owners] think very highly of him.”

As for the beaten favorite, trainer Charlie Appleby said, “That's him. He did that here last year. That's his style. He did it [when second in the Mar. 26 G1] Sheema Classic as well. We intentionally did not want him to be as slow out, but his run style is to come off the pace… Unfortunately, we had rain here last night and rain again today and it's just on the slower side of where he likes to hear his feet rattling. For his acceleration, it just blunts it slightly. Take nothing away from the winner, he held decent form back in Europe in his 3-year-old career there and he had to be respected. We ran our race, but in an ideal world if you asked me what I'd like to have had, it would be no rain.”

Appleby said last year's champion turf horse would likely be back in the States for the Aug. 27 GI Sword Dancer S. at Saratoga.

Saturday, Belmont Park
MAN O' WAR S.-GI, $651,000, Belmont, 5-14, 4yo/up, 1 3/8mT, 2:17.04, fm.
1–HIGHLAND CHIEF (IRE), 118, h, 5, by Gleneagles (Ire)
1st Dam: Pink Symphony (GB) (GSW-Ire, MSP-Eng, $186,684), by Montjeu (Ire)
2nd Dam: Blue Symphony (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
3rd Dam: Blue Duster, by Danzig
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN, 1ST GRADE I
WIN. O/B-Mrs. Fitri Hay (IRE); T-H. Graham Motion; J-Trevor
McCarthy. $375,000. Lifetime Record: 12-3-2-2, $501,862.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating: B.
2–Gufo, 124, h, 5, Declaration of War–Floy, by Petionville.
O-Otter Bend Stables, LLC; B-John Little & Stephen Cainelli
(KY); T-Christophe Clement. $130,000.
3–Yibir (GB), 124, g, 4, Dubawi (Ire)–Rumh (Ger), by Monsun
(Ger). O/B-Godolphin (GB); T-Charles Appleby. $70,000.
Margins: 1, NK, 2 3/4. Odds: 19.20, 2.45, 0.55.
Also Ran: Easter (Fr), Abaan. Scratched: So High (GB). Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Highland Chief hails from the first crop of MG1SW miler Gleneagles, who was a distant last in his lone U.S. start when trying the dirt in American Pharoah's GI Breeders' Cup Classic procession. He is one of 10 graded/group winners for the Coolmore Ireland resident.

Montjeu, meanwhile, has 37 Northern Hemisphere graded/group winners as a broodmare sire to go with 17 foaled south of the equator.

The winner's dam was a 400,000gns TATOCT yearling purchase in 2008 by Paul Cole on Hay's behalf, and she helped repay that investment with a score in the 1 1/2-mile G3 Irish Stallion Farms E.B.F. Give Thanks S. in 2011. A half to MGSW/MG1SP Fantasia (GB) (Sadler's Wells)–a Group 3-winning producer herself–and MGSW/MG1SP Western Hymn (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), Pink Symphony is a granddaughter of Europe's 1995 champion 2-year-old filly Blue Duster. She has a 2-year-old full-brother to Highland Chief and a yearling filly by Churchill (Ire).

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Early Voting Puts in Final Preakness Prep

GII Wood Memorial S. runner-up Early Voting (Gun Runner) put in his final breeze ahead of the upcoming GI Preakness S. Friday morning at Belmont Park, going five panels in 1:00.63 in company with SW Miles D (Curlin).

Under jockey Jose Ortiz, The Chad Brown pupil went three-eighths in :36.40 before completing the five furlong move in 1:00.63 and galloping out six furlongs in 1:13 flat over the fast main track.

“He hit the times just as I wanted and he galloped out super,” Brown said of Early Voting. “If he comes out of the breeze in good shape, then he's on to Pimlico. Tentatively, I'm thinking of shipping the horse on Tuesday.”

Early Voting skipped the GI Kentucky Derby in favor of this spot. Brown made a similar move with the Klaravich co-owned Cloud Computing (Maclean's Music) after he finished third in the Wood.

“There's a lot of similarities,” Brown said. “They both are lightly-raced, improving horses that are coming out of the Wood and could use a little more time and experience rather than throw them into a 20-horse field in the Derby.”

Miles D is slated for the GIII Pimlico Special S. Friday.

“Miles D worked inside, he's actually a little better outside, but it set it up that way today,” said Brown. “He got a lot of the work this morning. He missed a little time because he got sick before the Oaklawn Handicap, so we missed that race. He should appreciate the distance of the Pimlico Special.”

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Evenly-Matched Eight Try to Punch Belmont Ticket in Peter Pan

It'll be hard to separate the eight-horse field lined up in Saturday's GIII Peter Pan S. at Belmont, the track's traditional prep for the June 11 GI Belmont S., as evidenced by four horses landing between 3-1 and 4-1 on the morning line.

Given the narrowest of nods at 3-1 is WinStar Farm, CMNWLTH and Siena Farm's We the People (Constitution). Making a somewhat belated debut going a mile Feb. 12 at Oaklawn, the $230,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream buy kicked away to an impressive 5 3/4-length romp, and was similarly dominant in five-length success in an allowance there a month later. The bay will look to rebound after finishing a dull seventh as the second favorite in the GI Arkansas Derby Apr. 9.

“The timing is just right,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset told the NYRA notes team. “He broke his maiden five weeks ago. It's five weeks away from the Belmont, and obviously it's a class test. What we want to see is if he can make his run from the middle of the turn to the wire. If he runs anywhere from one to three, we'll take a strong look at the Belmont. Hopefully, we can get some pace in the race and we'll be there that day.”

LNJ Foxwoods' Set Sail (Malibu Moon) looms a dangerous shipper for Richard Mandella. Third as the 9-5 chalk on debut Feb. 26 at Santa Anita, a race out of which the first, second and fourth finishers came back to win, the homebred stretched out to two turns there Mar. 27 and drew off to an auspicious 7 1/2-length graduation. The rail-drawn colt has worked sharply since, recording a pair of :59 flat five-furlong drills at Santa Anita Apr. 17 and 25 before working seven panels in 1:25 4/5 (2/2) there May 7.

Electability (Quality Road) looks for his third straight victory for Klaravich Stables and Chad Brown. A no-impact seventh debuting on the Saratoga lawn last August, the $300,000 Keeneland November purchase returned with a half-length tally going a mile Mar. 5 at Aqueduct and repeated by a head there Apr. 8.

“It's a big test for this horse, but he hasn't done anything wrong yet and he appears to be looking for a little more distance, so we'll see how he steps up,” said Brown, a two-time Peter Pan winning trainer.

Other main contenders include Golden Glider (Ghostzapper), who gets a bit of class relief after running fourth in the GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and GI Toyota Blue Grass S., and Western River (Tapit), who rallied from nearly 20 lengths off the pace to earn his diploma going away by 3 3/4 lengths last out Apr. 2 at Oaklawn.

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