Garamond will probably face just five foes when he starts as the heavy favorite Saturday at Monmouth Park in the $150,000 Pegasus Stakes.
He met only two in his most recent outing. But it was the thumping he gave overwhelming favorite Cornucopian in that April 27 Aqueduct allowance race that motivated trainer Chad Brown to send Garamond to New Jersey for the Pegasus.
Restricted to 3-year-olds and contested at 1 1/16 miles, the Pegasus serves as a prep for the $1 million Haskell Stakes next month, and Brown had that race firmly in mind when he chose this one.
“He’s the type of horse that I’ve learned over the years fits the Haskell,” Brown said.
Eight were entered in the Pegasus but Kentucky Outlaw – who won the Long Branch at Monmouth last out – and Barbadian Runner are expected to start Saturday at Delaware Park. National Law was cross-entered in the same race but runs at Monmouth.
Garamond, a Juddmonte homebred by Uncle Mo, showed ability from his early days of racetrack training but had sore shins that kept him from racing at age 2, Brown said. The colt debuted Jan. 25 in a Tampa Bay Downs sprint and not only won but did enough encouraging things that Brown threw him into the Gotham Stakes on March 1. Garamond, looking like a work in progress, finished a solid third in that race before going to the lead and besting the highly touted Bob Baffert-trained Cornucopian by more than three lengths, earning a high-level 98 Beyer Speed Figure in a one-turn mile.
“He got in a duel with that horse and put him away,” Brown said. “He acts like he’ll go two turns. We’ll find out. He’s a fast, handy type that powers out at the end of his works. The key with this horse is to break forward and settle. He’s not a puller, but he’s really quick.”
Flavien Prat, named on a bevy of Brown-trained runners Saturday at Monmouth, rides Garamond, who will win at a short price if he runs to form.
Valentinian, fourth, and Bracket Buster, sixth, exit the same Churchill Downs allowance race won by Goal Oriented, who two weeks later finished a troubled fourth in the Preakness. Valentinian would rate a stronger upset chance were the Pegasus at a longer distance.
Caught wide from an outside draw in a slow-paced Keeneland allowance in April, Valentinian finished an encouraging third, and in the Churchill race he fell nearly 20 lengths off the early pace before coming with a sustained run from about the three-furlong marker. That got him only within 7 3/4 lengths of Goal Oriented, but Valentinian by the end of the clubhouse turn had galloped out a mile in front.
Bracket Buster at Keeneland in April contested the pace in the Lexington Stakes and held second behind Gosger, who nearly upset the Preakness. His Churchill showing fell far below that level and likely had something to do with a sloppy track.
Wildncrazynight has been sprinting and figures to show speed that he won’t be able to maintain.
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Just a Fair Shake already has outperformed his $8,000 purchase price and endured ground-losing trips finishing a distant second behind last-place Belmont finisher Crudo in the Sir Barton at Pimlico and, before that, in the Tesio at Laurel Park.
National Law has a chance to fill out the exacta at a price. In a maiden race win last winter at Parx, National Law already had raced erratically when he bore out so badly before the furlong grounds that he literally almost sideswiped an outrider positioned on the outside rail. Racing with blinkers removed May 11 in a first-level Pimlico allowance, National Law badly resented kickback in the early stages and lost a ton of ground when his jockey steered wide to get his mount out of the spraying dirt.
He’s better than that half-length victory – but not better than Garamond.
– additional reporting by Patrick Moquin
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