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Belmont Stakes Runner-Up Dr Post Rallies For G3 Westchester Victory

The previous time St. Elias Stable's Dr Post raced at Belmont Park, he finished second to Tiz the Law in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. Eleven months later, the now 4-year-old Quality Road colt registered another strong effort over Big Sandy, running down Mr. Buff in the final furlong and fending off a charging Wicked Trick before pulling away for a 1 1/2-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester for 4-year-olds and up going a one-turn mile.

The 93rd running of the Westchester, the first graded stakes of the 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet, saw 11-time stakes-winner Mr. Buff, in search a long-awaited first graded stakes score, sent to the front under jockey Edgard Zayas after breaking sharp from post five. The Chester and Mary Broman New York homebred led the six-horse field through an opening quarter-mile in 24.53 second, the half in 48.05 and three-quarters in 1:11.62 over the fast main track.

Dr Post, making his first start off an eight-month layoff for trainer Todd Pletcher, broke alert from the outermost post and tracked closely in second position under jockey Manny Franco.

Out of the turn, Franco asked his charge for more and Dr Post willingly responded, overtaking Mr. Buff from the outside. Wicked Trick came on strong for second, but Dr Post completed the course in a final time of 1:35.14 for his first graded stakes win.

“The fractions helped,” said Franco, who coincidently defeated Dr Post aboard Tiz the Law in last year's Triple Crown race going 1 1/8 miles at Belmont. “Mr. Buff slowed down a little bit and I was right there. I didn't have to rush my horse off his feet. He just took me around the right way. I think that helped me get the victory.”

Dr Post, who followed last year's Belmont Stakes by running third in the G1 Haskell in July at Monmouth Park, last raced when fourth in the G2 Jim Dandy in September at Saratoga Race Course. Still the slight 7-5 favorite over Mr. Buff, Dr Post returned $4.80 on a $2 win bet and improved his career earnings to $450,635.

“Todd and the team got him ready down in Florida over the winter and he had been training really well coming into this race and ran to his training,” said Byron Hughes, assistant to Pletcher. “I think this was a good starting point for him and hopefully he can continue to progress from here.”

Wicked Trick, under jockey Jose Lezcano, edged Mr. Buff by a neck for second. A stewards' inquiry and a jockey objection from Top Seed rider Trevor McCarthy looking into Wicked Trick potentially interfering with fourth-place finisher Top Seed at the half-mile pole and in the stretch run resulted in no change.

Wicked Trick, trained and co-owned by Linda Rice, was making his first stakes appearance in five starts and earned stakes black type for the first time in his career.

“I got the position that I wanted the whole way around,” Lezcano said. “I never crossed hands. I was forward the whole way around.”

The 7-year-old Mr. Buff, making his 45th career start, was 8 3/4-lengths clear of Top Seed. He has finished in the money in five of his last six starts.

Limonite and Backsideofthemoon completed the order of finish.

Byron Hughes, assistant to winning trainer Todd Pletcher of Dr Post (No. 6, $4.80*): “Todd and the team got him ready down in Florida over the winter and he had been training really well coming into this race and ran to his training. I think this was a good starting point for him and hopefully he can continue to progress from here.”

Manny Franco, winning jockey aboard Dr Post (No. 6): “The fractions helped. Mr. Buff slowed down a little bit and I was right there. I didn't have to rush my horse off his feet. He just took me around the right way. I think that helped me get the victory.”

Jose Lezcano, jockey aboard runner-up Wicked Trick (No. 1): “I got the position that I wanted the whole way around. I never crossed hands. I was forward the whole way around.”

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Pricey Cezanne Wins Big in Return to the Races

Cezanne (Curlin), who topped the Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream Sale in 2019 at $3.65 million, stamped himself as one to watch for this year with a dominant victory in Santa Anita's GIII Kona Gold S. Sunday evening. A debut winner going this same 6 1/2 furlongs last June, the Coolmore partners and St. Elias Stable representative doubled up going a mile at Los Alamitos in July. He was most recently fourth in Del Mar's Aug. 1 Shared Belief S. behind million-dollar stablemate Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile) and $850,000 GISW Honor A. P. (Honor Code). The hulking bay had been working very quickly for this, and was off as the 9-5 second choice in a field of four behind last-out GII San Carlos S. hero Brickyard Ride (Clubhouse Ride).

Away cleanly but last from the rail, Cezanne sat third some

10 lengths behind the fleet-footed Brickyard Ride as that foe zipped through splits of :21.18 and :43.60 with Cezanne's stablemate Ax Man (Misremembered) applying pressure. Cezanne cruised ominously closer heading for home as the pacesetter was clearly feeling his early exertions. Brickyard Ride came well off the fence entering the lane, and Cezanne cut the corner and seized the lead before running up the score to 9 3/4 lengths. Brickyard Ride held second over Fight On (Into Mischief).

“It worked out well,” said rider Flavien Prat. “We had a fast pace in front of us and we were able to save ground. He gave me a good kick when I asked him. He ran really nice.”

Jimmy Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, added, “We knew there was going to be a hot pace. Not sure how fast, but it ended up being fast, and you know Cezanne just ate them up. [Prat] gave him a wonderful ride and Bob had him ready… With the races coming up this spring and summer, we should be looking really good with Cezanne.”

Sunday, Santa Anita
KONA GOLD S.-GIII, $98,000, Santa Anita, 4-18, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:14.71, ft.
1–CEZANNE, 122, c, 4, by Curlin
          1st Dam: Achieving, by Bernardini
          2nd Dam: Teeming, by Storm Cat
          3rd Dam: Better Than Honour, by Deputy Minister
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($3,650,000
2yo '19 FTFMAR). O-Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick
Smith & St Elias Stable; B-Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings, Inc. &
St. Elias Stables, LLC (KY); T-Bob Baffert; J-Flavien Prat.
$60,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-0-0, $123,000. *1/2 to
Counterforce (Smart Strike), SW, $323,708; and Arabian
Hope (Distorted Humor), GSW-Tur, SW & G1SP-Eng, $227,783.
Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick Rating:
   A+++ *Triple Plus*.
2–Brickyard Ride, 126, c, 4, Clubhouse Ride–Brickyard Helen,
by Southern Image. O/B-Alfred A. Pais (CA); T-Craig Anthony
Lewis. $20,000.
3–Fight On, 124, h, 6, Into Mischief–Havenlass, by Elusive
Quality. ($340,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP). O-C T R Stables LLC
(Calvert) & Westside Racing Stable; B-Haymarket Farm LLC
(KY); T-Doug F. O'Neill. $12,000.
Margins: 9 3/4, 1 1/4, 3/4. Odds: 1.90, 0.60, 20.90.
Also Ran: Ax Man. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Cezanne was a :10 flat breezer at Gulfstream. Coolmore's M.V. Magnier was also involved in the acquisition of three of the next five lots. With the auction having been cancelled last year due to the pandemic, representatives of Coolmore bought two colts at last month's sale–the $2.6-million Nyquist topper and $1.3-million Uncle Mo third topper.

Pedigree Notes:
Cezanne is the 70th stakes winner, 40th graded, for super sire Curlin–who was also responsible earlier on the card for dominant Baffert-trained firster Curvette. Cezanne is bred on a potent cross also responsible for last year's GI Coaching Club American Oaks winner Paris Lights and leading 2021 GI Kentucky Oaks contender Clairiere.

Bernardini sits at 11th on the broodmare sire list for 2021 with significantly fewer mares than the majority of older counterparts above him. His ever-growing list of stakes winners as a broodmare sire sits at 49 (28 graded), and includes this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational S. hero Colonel Liam (Liam's Map).

The winner's dam Achieving is a great granddaughter of Broodmare of the Year Better Than Honour. Achieving produced a full sister to Curlin in 2019. Vinnie Viola's St. Elias has had serious success with sons of Curlin, including GI Breeders' Cup Classic hero Vino Rosso and this year's GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda, who is GI Kentucky Derby bound.

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Grounded: Severe Weather Delays Known Agenda’s Flight To Kentucky

St. Elias Stable's homebred Known Agenda, a major Triple Crown contender following his impressive victory in the $750,000 Curlin Florida Derby (G1) presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa March 27 at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., had a planned trip to Kentucky postponed 24 hours due to inclement weather.

Known Agenda was scheduled to fly from South Florida to Louisville Sunday but severe thunderstorms sweeping through the area pushed the flight to Monday, trainer Todd Pletcher said.

“There's some bad weather in Orlando, so they postponed the flight. He'll train [Monday] at Palm Beach Downs and then go,” he said. “We were scheduled to go today and then all the bad weather came in.”

A sophomore son of two-time Horse of the Year and 2014 Hall of Famer Curlin, Known Agenda had his first timed work since the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby April 9, an easy half-mile in 50.25 seconds at Palm Beach Downs.

“He's doing excellent. We're very happy with him,” Pletcher said. “He's showing good energy. He seems pleased with himself.”

Known Agenda worked in company with Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) winner Colonel Liam. At Churchill Downs he will join Wood Memorial (G2) winner Bourbonic and runner-up Dynamic One as well as Sainthood, second in the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G2) at Turfway Park, as Pletcher's Kentucky Derby (G1) prospects.

“We were kind of monitoring the weather everywhere and the way things kind of unfolded last week with a couple horses in New York going to Louisville, it just seemed to make sense to consolidate there,” Pletcher said. “[Known Agenda] was scheduled to breeze [Saturday], we got that in, and now we'll get to Churchill and, hopefully, breeze on Friday there.”

Pletcher said he plans to give Known Agenda two works at Churchill in his attempt to win a third Derby. He won with Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017, the latter one of the trainer's record six Florida Derby victories.

Always Dreaming, who counted St. Elias Stable among his large ownership group, went winless at 2 before breaking his maiden in his 3-year-old opener. He made his Gulfstream debut winning a 1 1/8-mile optional claiming allowance that earned him a shot in the Florida Derby, his first stakes race, which he captured by five lengths.

Known Agenda, meanwhile, won once in three juvenile starts and he, too, punched his Florida Derby ticket with an optional claiming allowance going 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream. His came Feb. 26, the first time he raced with blinkers.

“They're different personalities. Always Dreaming was the kind of horse that would really show off in the mornings and work fast and things like that,” Pletcher said, “where this horse is a little more laid-back personality. He's not one that's going to put in some super quick breezes, but I feel like the mile and a quarter is right in his wheelhouse and I like the way he's doing.”

Irad Ortiz Jr., Gulfstream's three-time defending Championship Meet leading rider, will ride Known Agenda in the Kentucky Derby. Pletcher has won a record 17 Championship Meet training titles, having his unprecedented streak snapped at 15 straight years in 2018-19.

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Bloodlines Presented By Mill Ridge Farm: Florida Derby Winner Known Agenda Carries On The Legacy Of Sir Ivor

In the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 27, Known Agenda lunged to the fore and won the race by 2 3/4 lengths, placing himself in the thick of competition for the Kentucky Derby a scant five weeks later.

Bred in Kentucky by the St. Elias Stables of Vincent and Teresa Viola, Known Agenda was produced by one of the first broodmares acquired by St. Elias more than seven years ago. Her son Known Agenda is the first Grade 1 winner bred by the operation, although it has raced several others, including 2019 champion older horse Vino Rosso (Curlin), 2017 Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming (Bodemeister), 2015 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Liam's Map (Unbridled's Song), and 2018 Carter Handicap winner Army Mule (Friesan Fire).

John Sparkman, bloodstock and matings adviser to St. Elias, recalled the mare's acquisition.

“Very early in building a high-class broodmare band, this mare came our way,” Sparkman said, “and the way to start a top broodmare band is with mares of high racing class.”

Byrama, the dam of Known Fact, won the G1 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park and was second in the G1 Madison at Keeneland for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners in 2013, then was auctioned at the Fasig-Tipton November sale, where she was an RNA for $725,000.

St. Elias made a deal to purchase the mare post sale, and the new owners raced her the next year before retiring the English-bred daughter of Byron to stud in 2015. Known Agenda is the mare's third foal.

In selecting Byrama for racing class, Sparkman said, “Her head, neck, and shoulder reminded me very strongly of Sir Ivor, who is in the third dam, and when something like that comes through, I pay attention. She had speed, class, and is a very elegant mare,” and she clearly makes an excellent match with some of the large, hardy stallions in the Kentucky stallion pool.

The foal by Curlin was so nice that St. Elias sent him to the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale, but retained him as a $135,000 RNA.

Sparkman recalled “when we were going over the inspection statistics with consignor Gerry Dilger, we were pretty surprised that Known Agenda was at the bottom of the list. When we asked about that, Gerry said, 'Nobody even wants to look at him because he's out of a turf mare.'

“Looks pretty good on dirt, to me,” Sparkman concluded.

Indeed, the chestnut colt has progressed notably from his good juvenile form, where he won a maiden and was a respectable third in the G2 Remsen Stakes. This year, he won an allowance at Gulfstream, then was unplaced in the Sam F. Davis. In assessing the difference between the prior race and the Florida Derby, Sparkman gave praise to the work done by trainer Todd Pletcher in getting the colt to focus more effectively in his racing, and it showed at Gulfstream.

“Todd said that Known Agenda reminded him a lot of Vino Rosso,” also campaigned by St. Elias, “in lacking mental maturity,” Sparkman said. But the physical attributes of the colt have always been there, and he is a progressive colt who will profit from added time and distance.

The Kentucky Derby is expected to be the next start for Known Agenda.

If all goes well, the Derby would be the seventh start for Known Agenda; for his sire, Curlin, the Derby was his fourth career start, and Curlin went into the Derby unbeaten after an extraordinary maiden success, then victories in the G3 Rebel and G2 Arkansas Derby. Curlin finished third in the Kentucky Derby, won the Preakness from Derby winner Street Sense, and was a head second in the Belmont Stakes to the lovely filly Rags to Riches. Late-season successes in the G1 Jockey Club Gold Cup and Breeders' Cup Classic brought divisional honors and the Horse of the Year award to Curlin.

A repeat as Horse of the Year in 2008 sent Curlin to stud with excellent racing credentials, although he wasn't universally popular as a physical specimen, being a big, robustly made animal of generous proportions. From his first crop, however, Curlin showed he could sire individuals of greater quality allied with his scope and classic ability. St. Elias brought him a first-rate match with Byrama, as a racemare of high ability, allied with quality and refinement.

“Breeding to a horse like Curlin is obvious for a quality mare who matches on pedigree,” Sparkman said, “and he also has a cross of Sir Ivor in the fourth generation that seemed like a positive repetition.”

Although sometimes considered only as a turf horse because of his first-class record in Europe, Sir Ivor was a top 2-year-old who progressed to become a top classic colt, winning the 1968 2,000 Guineas and Derby, then finishing a gallant second to Vaguely Noble in the Arc de Triomphe. In his final start, Sir Ivor returned to the States and won the Washington DC International before retiring to stud at Claiborne Farm.

Considered simplistically, Sir Ivor was a “turf horse” because he showed exceptional form on the surface. “But all horses can run on turf,” Sparkman said. “All horses can run on dirt. Some have a preference one way or another, but it's almost always pretty slight.”

Considering the horse on racing character, physique, and athleticism, Sir Ivor was much more than a turf horse. He'd have been among the favorites for the 1968 Kentucky Derby, had he been on this side of the Atlantic, and he might well have won the race too.

Bred in Kentucky at Mill Ridge Farm by Alice Chandler and sold to Vincent O'Brien on behalf of owner Winston Guest at the Keeneland July sale, Sir Ivor proved a serious international sire after his classic-winning race career. The good-sized plain bay sired some quick juveniles, some classic competitors, and high-quality performers on turf and dirt. His early crops included Arc de Triomphe winner Ivanjica, and among his later foals came Eclipse champion older horse Bates Motel.

There weren't any “turf” performers of great acclaim among the immediate ancestors of Sir Ivor, but O'Brien saw an athlete. Quick, strong, and competitive, Sir Ivor proved the judgment of his mentor to be eminently correct.

With a known agenda for the classics, Sir Ivor's descendant is taking steps of his own for classic recognition.

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