Triton Thoroughbreds’ Speed King lived up to his moniker in Saturday’s $1 million Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn Park, carrying his speed to a 14.30-1 upset in the Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series qualifier.
“No, it wasn’t my plan (to go to the lead),” jockey Rafael Bejarano said. “I thought the No. 1 (Gaming) and No. 7 (Patch Adams), they’re supposed to be on the lead. But my horse, he broke so good, so nice on the lead, I left him alone. I took the lead and tried to get him relaxed. When I took a hold and got him relaxed, he responded to me. The horse, I think he can go a mile and a quarter. He’s improving every time he runs. I think this is a nice horse.”
Runner-up in the Springboard Mile in mid-December, Speed King was never seriously challenged by odds-on favorite Patch Adams, who was bet down as the 12-1 second individual choice in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager but came up empty in the stretch.
Patch Adams was expected to show speed with Flavien Prat following a spectacular 10-length, frontrunning maiden win at Churchill Downs, but the Brad Cox-trained colt dropped farther back than expected during the opening stages in seventh. He advanced to second in upper stretch but flattened out late to be disappointing fourth.
Speed King, a son of Volatile making his third career start for trainer Ron Moquett, dictated an early tempo in :24.11, :47.82, and 1:12.23 on a short lead before accelerating clear into the stretch. The gray colt led by more than three lengths with a sixteenth of a mile remaining and held safely by a length over Sandman, who closed well for second after a slow start.
Speed King has now won two of three starts. He was bet down to 2-1 favoritism in the Springboard Mile following a convincing six-furlong debut at Churchill Downs in early November.
“One thing for sure: To win this kind of race, you’ve got to have a lot of good stuff happen,” Moquett said. “And today, you’ve got to give credit to some stuff that happened to the horses behind us.) Mr. (Bob) Baffert doesn’t send an empty wagon over here and I think you saw by the stretch run, just how good Mr. Casse’s horse (Sandman) was. So, there were some nice horses here and we were able to get them today and I’m sure we’ll line back up and try again.”
Third in the October’s Street Sense (G3) at Churchill Downs, Sandman was exiting a convincing allowance win at Oaklawn in mid-December.
“We lost the race at the start,” Christian Torres said of Sandman. “I let him settle the first part of the race. He’s a nice horse and responded really well when I asked him at the three-eighths (pole) and he finished up. But definitely the start cost us. He just stumbled out of there. He was standing perfect. It happens a lot in horse racing, but I’m happy the way he finished up. With all the training he missed (winter weather), he ran a big, big race. I’ve very happy and we’ll get them next time.”
Sandman finished a clear second as the 6.40-1 third choice, 1 1/2 lengths better than the late-running Tiztastic, who edged Patch Adams by a head at 16-1. Monet’s Magic came next in fifth.
The Kentucky Derby (G1) qualifier offered points on a 20-10-6-4-2 basis to the top five.
Publisher, American Promise, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) runner-up Gaming, the 2.20-1 second choice, and Bon Temps rounded out the official order.
Speed King completed the 1 1/16-mile distance in 1:45.86.
Bred in Kentucky by Nancy C. Shuford, Speed King sold for $100,000 last year at the OBS April Two-Year-Old sale. He’s the first stakes performer from the Corinthian mare Athenian Beauty, who is closely related to 2017 Met Mile (G1) winner Mor Spirit. Speed King did everything right stretching to 8 1/2 furlongs in the Southwest and jumped to second on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with a 25-point total, but he’ll need to outrun his pedigree to keep excelling at longer distances this spring.
One race earlier on the program, Take Charge Milady picked up 20 points toward a Kentucky Oaks (G1) berth winning the Martha Washington, rallying to the lead on the far turn and drawing off to a 5 3/4-length decision in her stakes debut. Julien Leparoux was up on the dark bay daughter of Take Charge Indy for Kenny McPeek, and Take Charge Milady turned 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.81.
Take Charge Milady has raced exclusively at two turns in four starts and delivered a big performance Saturday following a 20-day rest. Sixth the first time out at Ellis Park last summer, she came back five months later to record a runner-up finish in a $100,000 maiden claiming event at Oaklawn in mid-December, and the Kentucky-bred lass was exiting a four-length romp over maiden special weight rivals on Jan. 5.
Purchased for $60,000 as a 2023 Keeneland September yearling, Take Charge Milady is campaigned by James Ball, Magdalena Racing, and Kenneth Rhodes. She left the starting gate as the 2.60-1 second choice among five sophomore fillies in the Martha Washington.
All five runners earned qualifying points in the Road to the Kentucky Oaks challenge series race, with the remaining spots awarded on a 10-6-4-2 scale, and 1-2 favorite Quietside wound up a clear second. Multiple Grade 1-placed and runner-up most recently in the Golden Rod (G2) at Churchill Downs, Quietside didn’t break sharply but established decent early positioning, one spot better than Take Charge Milady in fourth, and Quietside could not keep up when the winner launched her move entering the far turn.
Legal Empress, who showed the way through opening splits in :24.35 and :48.79, held third, and Gowells Delight and Adeera followed.
Bred by Merriebelle Stale, Take Charge Milady was purchased for $60,000 as a yearling at the 2023 Keeneland September sale, and she’s the first stakes winner from the Scat Daddy mare Price Too High.
