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Carpe Diem seizes Breeders' Futurity
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| Carpe Diem took control of his stakes debut in the Breeders' Futurity
(Keeneland/Coady Photography) |
WinStar Farm LLC
and Stonestreet
Stables' Carpe Diem certainly lived up to his $1.6 million price tag as he
pulled away from the 12-horse field in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000
Breeders' Cup Futurity for two-year-olds at
Keeneland by 6 1/4
lengths.
Carpe Diem will not have to worry about where he will go next as this was a
"Win & You're In" for the
Breeders' Cup Juvenile next month. The Todd Pletcher charge was also the
next promising juvenile to capture 10 points toward the 2015
Kentucky Derby.
"He went from
Saratoga to here. (In March), he was in a two-year-old sale. Everything
that's been thrown at him he's handled so far," said Elliot Walden,
president/CEO and racing manager of WinStar Farm, when asked about handling the
ship to California and the new surroundings to prepare for the Breeders' Cup
Juvenile.
Carpe Diem attended the pace four wide as the previously undefeated colt
Conquest Tsunami posted an opening quarter in :23 2/5. Mr. Z contested the pace
on the inside for the first two furlongs before fading back to fourth, while
Conquest Tsunami continued lead the field through a half-mile in :48.
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Carpe Diem drew even with the pacesetter after running four furlongs and put
his head in front around the far turn, disposing of that foe. As the son of
Giant's Causeway turned for home jockey John Velazquez let him loose, and by
then it was just a matter of who would round out the order of finish as the
chestnut colt widened his margin in the stretch.
"He was a little difficult in the gate," Velazquez said. "I tried to settle
him behind horses and teach him a little bit. He got a little aggressive and I
didn't want to fight him so I just let him be what he wanted to be in the
backstretch and then he settled very well. Once he got head and head with that
other horse, he got on the bit again. He was going good the whole way."
Mr. Z rallied after falling back early to grab second and was 5 3/4 lengths
clear of the Iroquois runner-up, Bold Conquest in third, who was a length ahead
of fourth-place finisher Tough Customer. Keen Ice, Conquest Tsunami, Firespike,
Sharm, Hashtag Bourbon, W V Jetsetter, Dekabrist and Ike Walker completed the
order under the wire.
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| The son of Giant's Causeway had no problems stretching out to two turns in the Breeders' Futurity
(Keeneland/Coady Photography) |
"The winner made his winning move on the backside," said Jon Court, rider of
runner-up Mr. Z. "He was out there all alone and wasn't coming back to anyone. I
had a good trip, but we weren't going to catch the winner."
"My horse didn't break very sharp then the speed came back and slowed down on
the backside and he made a huge run," said Rosie Napravnik, jockey of
third-place finisher Bold Conquest. "It was a kind of a weird race the way it
set up. They ran out of the gate real fast and then they slowed it down right in
our face on the backside. My horse was kind of stop and go. It wasn't a real
smooth trip but he made a heck of a run around the turn."
Carpe Diem covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:43 1/5 over the fast main track as the
2-1 favorite and rewarded his loyal supporters with $6.80 for the score.
Carpe Diem was exiting a 2 1/2-length victory in his racing debut, going 5
1/2 furlongs at Saratoga on September 1. He grabbed $300,000 for his stakes bow
and now has $349,800 in his bank account from just two career starts.
"He ran great at Saratoga and then to come here in a Grade 1 like this and
put it all together like that around two turns, it's very exciting," Walden
said. "This horse is a beautiful horse, he's got a great pedigree and we hoping
to make a stallion. I think we did that today." |
Bred in Kentucky by Coffee Pot Stable, Carpe Diem is out of the Grade
2-placed Unbridled's Song mare Rebridled Dreams, who is out of multiple stakes
winner Key Cents. The chestnut colt is a half-brother to J.B.'s Thunder, who
captured the 2010 Breeder's Futurity over the Polytrack, as well as multiple
English Group 3-placed Doncaster Rover. His female family also includes multiple
Grade 3 scorer Highland Penny.
Carpe Diem sold as a yearling for $550,000 at the
Keeneland September
sale and then was the joint sales topper at OBS March
when selling for $1.6 million as a two-year-old in training.
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