Wayne Catalano, 68, has trained a Kentucky Derby winner – just not when the horse won the Kentucky Derby.
Animal Kingdom as a 2-year-old came from the Florida farm where he was broken into Catalano’s stable at Arlington Park. The colt ran twice during 2010, winning a Keeneland maiden race, before his owner, Team Valor International, consolidated their stock with trainer Graham Motion. The following spring, Motion saddled Animal Kingdom to a Derby upset.
One week later, on the Arlington backstretch, Catalano talked to Daily Racing Form about his role in the 2011 Derby winner’s development.
“I have no remorse whatsoever,” Catalano said. “We’re going to get one of our own someday.”
Catalano sent Crypto Star out to finish fifth in the 1997 Derby. He’s had no Derby starter since. Maybe he has one of his own for 2025.
The 2-year-old colt Built debuted this past summer in an Ellis Park sprint and finished a decent fourth behind East Avenue, the easy next-out winner of the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. Built also ran at Keeneland, winning a seven-furlong maiden race in stylish enough fashion that Catalano and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners formulated a longer-term plan. Built merely trained during November, when Churchill Downs runs what seems like a million 2-year-old races. The Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds was Built’s target. Catalano hit the mark.
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Built benefited from setting an easy pace Saturday, but he blasted his final 2 1/2 furlongs in 28.76 seconds, an excellent dirt-route finishing time for a 2-year-old, and despite a slow half-mile pace managed to post a strong 92 Beyer Speed Figure.
“I know he got to walk the dog, but I’m thinking that was a pretty good race,” Catalano said Monday morning. “He was ready, he was well prepared, he was very comfortable out there, and he did what he was supposed to do. He might be okay.”
Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners bought Built for $260,000 at a 2-year-old Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. auction in April. The colt went straight to Catalano, who said Aron Wellman, Eclipse’s founder and president, told him, “I bought you one.”
Catalano won the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Sprint for Eclipse with Aloha West, a son of Hard Spun, the sire of Built, who has a further Hard Spun connection. Jareth Loveberry, who picked up the Gun Runner mount Saturday morning after named rider Corey Lanerie reportedly missed a flight from Kentucky, rode the Hard Spun colt Two Phil’s to a second-place finish in the 2023 Derby.
Catalano took his time with Built, who began posting track workouts in early June but didn’t debut until Aug. 24. Thus, Built comes into his 3-year-old season a fresh horse. Built pulled loose a shoe during the Gun Runner but otherwise came out of the race in good shape, said Catalano, who didn’t commit to a next start while suggesting the Jan. 18 Lecomte as a logical goal.
Built, out of the Curlin mare Sea Garden, has dirt staying power all over his female family. Thrice started, Built has improved twice and excelled in his two-turn debut. Fourteen years after Animal Kingdom, Catalano might have one of his own.
◗ Following a strong Thursday card, Friday’s eight-race program offers no higher-level fare than a pair of open maiden-special weight contests.
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