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‘Whole Package’ Art Collector Jumps To Fourth In NTRA Top 3-Year-Old Poll

The story of Art Collector in his first two starts of 2020 was one of quiet progression with the son Bernardini winning both efforts against allowance optional claiming company. In the aftermath of the colt's 3 ½-length victory in the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on July 11, Art Collector is anything but under the radar as evidenced by his climb up the ranks in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top 3-Year-Old Poll.

On the strength of earning his first career graded stakes triumph, Art Collector earned 242 points from voters to move into the No. 4 position on the poll after previously being ranked 28th. The Tom Drury, Jr. trainee is now unbeaten in three starts during his sophomore campaign after beginning his career on the turf during his juvenile season.

“He's very versatile, very classy. He's just the whole package,” said Drury, who celebrated the first graded stakes win of his career with Art Collector's Blue Grass triumph.

Art Collector was the only new presence in the top 10 of the Three-Year-Old Poll this week. Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law continues his hold on the lead position with 39 first-place votes and 399 points as he readies for an expected run in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes on August 8.

Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (1 first-place vote, 357 points) remains in second followed by graded-stakes winner Authentic (244 points), who is expected to be among the favorites for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational on July 18.

Belmont Stakes runner-up Dr Post, who is also expected to contest the Haskell Invitational, sits fifth behind Art Collector with 180 points while King Guillermo (148 points) ranks sixth. Uncle Chuck, winner of the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4, is seventh with 118 points followed by Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Swiss Skydiver (110 points). Grade 1 Acorn Stakes winner Gamine (108 points) is ninth with Max Player (60) completing the top 10.

Champion Midnight Bisou, who returned to the worktab on Monday for the first time since her victory in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Stakes on June 27, spends yet another week atop the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll with 22 first-place votes and 369 points. Grade 1-winner Tom's d'Etat (9 first-place votes, 334 points) is second with Met Mile hero Vekoma (2 first-place votes, 294 points) holding down the third spot.

Monomoy Girl, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2018, jumped up to the fourth position with 1 first-place vote and 142 points in the wake of her victory in the Grade 2 Ruffian Stakes this past Saturday. Zulu Alpha (134 points) moves up to fifth on the heels of his win in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes followed by Mucho Gusto (133) and By My Standards (130).

Tiz the Law remains the lone sophomore in the Top Thoroughbred Poll with 2 first-place votes and 118 points to sit eighth while Code of Honor (1 first-place vote, 98 points) and Maximum Security (3 first-place votes, 95 points) complete the top 10.

The NTRA Top Thoroughbred polls are the sport's most comprehensive surveys of experts. Every week eligible journalists and broadcasters cast votes for their top 10 horses, with points awarded on a 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. All horses that have raced in the U.S., are in training in the U.S., or are known to be pointing to a major event in the U.S. are eligible for the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll. Voting in both the Top Three-Year-Old Poll and the Top Thoroughbred Poll is scheduled to be conducted through the conclusion of the Breeders' Cup in November.

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Art Collector Draws Away in Blue Grass

Bruce Lunsford homebred Art Collector (Bernardini) put his name in the hat for the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby with a victory in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Saturday. Engaged in a three-way duel for control through the opening stages, the 2-1 shot ended up a close third just off MGSW filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and Shivaree (Awesome of Course) as the first quarter went in :23.25. Maintaining that position while running off the fence through a :46.61 half-mile, the dark bay ranged up menacingly outside of Swiss Skydiver with 10 charging up behind as Shivaree called it quits with three-eighths left to run. Swiss Skydiver turner for home in front, but Art Collector was right with her and those two drew away from the rest of the field down the lane. Art Collector shrugged free of the filly in the final sixteenth and rolled clear to a 3 1/2-length victory. Swiss Skydiver held second over Rushie (Liam’s Map).

“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster ride,” said trainer Tom Drury. “Everybody was fighting the same thing with COVID-19 and the uncertainty. I’m at a loss for words. It takes a village to get these things; there’s a lot of people who have done their part. I’m just honored to be able to share this with my staff and everyone that worked to get him here.”

As for the Derby, Drury said, “It took me my whole life just to get to this one win. I’m going to enjoy this one and we’ll worry about that tomorrow.”

Graduating at second asking on turf at Kentucky Downs last September, Art Collector was seventh in the GIII Bourbon S. on grass at Keeneland last October and was sixth in his first try on dirt in November at Churchill Downs. He romped by 7 1/2 lengths in a six-panel event in the slop on the Churchill main track Nov. 30, but was disqualified from purse money after a positive test for previous trainer Joe Sharp. Transferred to Tom Drury after that, Art Collector won a seven-furlong test at Churchill Downs May 17 and won by 6 1/2 lengths when stretched to 1 1/16 miles in Louisville June 13.

Pedigree Notes:

Art Collector is the 46th graded stakes winner for 2006 champion 3-year-old colt Bernardini, a reliable conduit of A.P. Indy. He is also the third of Bernardini’s 75 black-type winners specifically out of a Distorted Humor mare, including 2017 GI Vosburgh S. winner Takaful. Additionally, Art Collector was the second graded winner of the day at Keeneland out of a daughter of Distorted Humor, following Guarana’s win in the Madison. Bruce Lunsford bred Art Collector and his dam Distorted Legacy, a half to Lunsford-bred GSW and 1999 GI Belmont S. and GI Travers S. runner-up Vision and Verse (Storm Cat), but they are originally from a multi-generation Greentree Stud family. Distorted Legacy’s granddam is a half-sister to the Greentree stars and later sires Hatchet Man (The Axe II) and Stop the Music (Hail to Reason). Lunsford has gotten colts the last two years out of Distorted Legacy, both by Into Mischief.

Saturday, Keeneland
TOYOTA BLUE GRASS S.-GII, $600,000, Keeneland, 7-11, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:48.11, ft.
1–ART COLLECTOR, 123, c, 3, by Bernardini
1st Dam: Distorted Legacy (SW & GISP, $421,466), by Distorted Humor
2nd Dam: Bunting, by Private Account
3rd Dam: Flag Waver, by Hoist the Flag
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. O/B-Bruce Lunsford (KY); T-Thomas Drury, Jr.; J-Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. $360,000. Lifetime Record: 8-4-1-0, $548,475. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ * Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Swiss Skydiver, 118, f, 3, Daredevil–Expo Gold, by Johannesburg. ($35,000 Ylg ’18 KEESEP). O-Peter J. Callahan; B-WinStar Farm, LLC (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. $120,000.
3–Rushie, 123, c, 3, Liam’s Map–Conquest Angel, by Colonel John. ($70,000 2yo ’19 OBSMAR). O-Jim & Donna Daniell; B-Ocala Stud (FL); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $60,000.
Margins: 3HF, 4 3/4, NK. Odds: 2.30, 2.20, 7.30.
Also Ran: Enforceable, Attachment Rate, Mr. Big News, Finnick the Fierce, Tiesto, Hard Lighting, Basin, Shivaree, Hunt the Front, Man in the Can.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.

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Out of the Shadows, Drury Could Collect First Graded Win in Blue Grass

There is paying your dues and then there is the story of Tom Drury, Jr.

Thirty-eight years after he started his training career at age 18, Drury will go into Saturday’s GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland with an outstanding chance of winning a prestigious $600,000 race that could be a gateway to the GI Kentucky Derby. His Art Collector (Bernardini) is the co-second choice on the morning line at 5-1 and is coming off a 6 1/2-length win in an allowance race at Churchill Downs. A win would be Drury’s first in a graded stakes.

Through much of the eighties and nineties, Drury wasn’t worried about winning a Blue Grass. He just wanted to make ends meet.

“It took me forever just to win my first race,” he said. “There were a couple of years where I didn’t win a race at all. This was when I had three or four horses and was having to gallop on the side. I was getting by, but just getting by and that was a long time.”

From 1984 through 1988, he won a total of two races. In 1992, he went 0 for 25. He was 0 for 4 in 1994.
Despite his record, Drury had managed to impress the right people. Based at a training center, Skylight Training Center in Goshen, Kentucky, and in need of income, Drury was well positioned to work with other trainers who needed someone to work behind the scenes to get their horses ready for the races. Bill Mott was among the first to use Drury’s services. Al Stall, Jr., Frank Brothers and Neil Howard were among other trainers who trusted some of their better horses to Drury. The horses that Drury had a hand in includes: Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike), Madcap Escapade (Hennessy), Lea (First Samurai) and Hansen (Tapit).

Drury tried to do more than just prepare the horses. He made it a priority to take advantage of the opportunity to work with top trainers. He was always watching and learning.

“I have been able to see what the thought process was with these other trainers,” he said. “I followed the way they approached training that kind of horse. l I tell people I got a Harvard education because I have been able to work with those guys. That really helped give me confidence.”

It didn’t happen overnight, but word started to get around that several top trainers were working with Drury and that helped bolster his reputation within the sport. He eventually would have 15 to 20 horses of his own and he started winning races. That led even more owners to give him a chance.

“When people start hearing that you are working for Bill Mott that automatically gives you credibility,” he said. “That led to me getting involved with Frankie Brothers and Bruce Lunsford. I’ve gotten my foot in the door with Claiborne Farm and Spendthrift has given me horses. I feel blessed. We try to do a good job. It’s all snowballed into something special.”

His numbers steadily improved. He won 39 races in 2018, with a winning rate of 28%. He won with 25% of his starters in 2019, going 35 for 140. But what he lacked was the type of horse that could break through and put him in the winner’s circle for an important race. Art Collector represents the type of opportunity that has eluded him for the 38 years he’s been in the business.

Ironically, Art Collector wasn’t supposed to land permanently in Drury’s barn. Through his 2-year-old season, he was trained by Joe Sharp. Entering the year, Lundsford was looking to make some changes and his intent was to send Art Collector to trainer Rusty Arnold. With Arnold in Florida, the plan was to let Drury oversee Art Collector until Arnold made it back to Kentucky. But COVID-19 complicated Arnold’s travel plans, and by the time he got to Kentucky, Drury had already won a May 17 allowance at Churchill with Art Collector. It was decided to just let Drury keep the horse.
His June 13 allowance win at Churchill was the race that put him in the mix for the Blue Grass. It was his first try around two turns on the dirt.

“He certainly answered some questions and really jumped forward,” Drury said. “When Brian [Hernandez, Jr.] called on him, he was full of run. We’re hoping to see that same kind of performance this weekend.”

His opposition Saturday will include Mott, Mark Casse, Steve Asmussen, Dale Romans, etc. For them, running in a $600,000 graded stakes has become routine. For Drury, this is far more than just another race.

“It takes a lot of people to get a horse to any race, let alone the Blue Grass,” he said. “For me and my staff, we have been watching from afar with a lot of really good horses. This is our chance to prove ourselves to the world and we are anxiously looking forward to it. For me to be in a situation like this, words can’t really describe it. It’s a big deal and something I am not taking for granted.”

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Remembering Harriet Sue, The First Filly To Contest The Blue Grass Stakes

Peter Callahan's multiple graded stakes winner Swiss Skydiver is the first filly to race in Keeneland's most famous race, the Toyota Blue Grass (G2), since 1944 – long before corporate sponsorship entered Thoroughbred racing but a year similar to 2020 because of adjustments to Keeneland's Spring Meet.

That first Blue Grass filly was Harriet Sue, a daughter of the legendary Bull Lea who was bred and owned by Hyman Friedberg of Louisville.

The 1944 Blue Grass was part of Keeneland's Spring Meet, which in 1943-1945 was held at Churchill Downs because of World War II. In March 1943, Keeneland had been deemed a “suburban” plant and placed in the classification of race tracks that were asked not to operate because of shortages in rubber. The Keeneland Association leased the Churchill facilities for the three spring seasons. No Keeneland Fall Meets were held during that time.

Scheduling of the day allowed Harriet Sue to run in both the 1944 Ashland and Blue Grass, which since 2014 have been held the same day.

On April 10, Harriet Sue defeated four rivals in the $5,000-added Ashland and recorded an impressive victory for trainer John Hanover and jockey Jesse Higley.

According to Louisville's Courier-Journal (thanks to research provided by the Keeneland Library), “Bet confidently and ridden confidently, the speedy Harriet Sue didn't betray the confidence of Jockey Jess Higley or the faith of most of the bettors in the gathering of 7,000 race fans at Churchill Downs Wednesday afternoon. 'Sue' pulled away from four other fillies to capture the seventh running of Keeneland's Ashland Stakes by three and one-half lengths.”

That performance led some Turf writers and Harriet Sue's connections to speculate about the filly competing in the Kentucky Derby – something that had not occurred since 1936.

Harriet Sue returned 16 days later to face males in the $10,000-added Blue Grass. She led her seven rivals for most of the race and “gave way near the end,” according to the chart. She finished fifth behind winner Skytracer. He and four other Blue Grass rivals next competed in the Kentucky Derby, but Harriet Sue returned to the filly division. Favored in the Kentucky Oaks, she finished second, 1½ lengths behind Abe Hirschberg's Canina.

In July of that year, Harriet Sue captured the Arlington Matron at Washington Park. By the time she retired, she had made 80 starts with 19 wins and earnings of $64,175.

In 1949, her stakes-winning full sister, The Fat Lady, was second to Calumet Farm's Wistful in the Kentucky Oaks. Wistful would be the year's champion 3-year-old filly.

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