BALTIMORE – One of the most royally bred 3-year-olds on Saturday’s card at Pimlico won’t be running in the Preakness. Invictus will get the chance to take a crucial next step in his career when he makes his stakes debut in the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile race is for 3-year-olds who have not yet won an open stakes.
Invictus, by six-time reigning leading sire Into Mischief, is the first foal out of 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress, whose multiple graded stakes wins included the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes around one turn. She placed in five other Grade 1 stakes at both sprint and route distances.
Invictus’s pedigree made him a $1.2 million Keeneland September yearling. Sent off the second choice when he debuted at Saratoga last July, Invictus was extremely fractious in the pre-race proceedings, rearing precariously during the post parade. He chased in second briefly before tiring to seventh in what turned out to be a key race, won by multiple Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick.
“He’s a good-feeling colt, always has been,” trainer Brad Cox said. “We thought enough of him to ship him to Saratoga for his debut. Obviously, things didn’t go quite as well as we were hoping for. He was rearing up in the post parade and feeling himself.”
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Cox said Invictus “really matured mentally through the winter” while breezing regularly leading up to his second start on April 8 at Keeneland. The colt was fractious and a touch studdish pre-race, but not as wild as he had been prior to his debut. When the gates opened, he tracked the pace in third before clearing off to win the seven-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths.
“I guess you could say at Keeneland we were a little more prepared for him” Cox said. “I thought he behaved very well, and again, he seems like he’s matured a good bit. Obviously, when you race at Keeneland, you have large crowds and a lot going on.
“I wouldn’t tell you he’s perfect, but he was good that day. Just looking for him to build on that and get a little bit better mentally each and every start, and I think that’s something he’ll do.”
Invictus now gets to go two turns, something his pedigree suggests he should like. He also will be stepping up in class and dealing with a boisterous Preakness crowd.
“I thought he ran very well at Keeneland, showed that he wanted more ground in that race,” Cox said. “Obviously, first time facing winners is always a challenge, first time two turns, so we’re asking a lot of him. But he has matured, and we expect him to move forward.”
Crudo makes his stakes debut in his third career start following an about seven-furlong maiden win over the Beard course at Keeneland. He finished fourth in his debut with plenty of excuses. He stumbled and was bumped at the start, briefly rushed to gain the lead, and then faded. The Todd Pletcher trainee showed speed from the get-go in his maiden win, drawing away to win by 7 1/4 lengths.
Crudo has the rail in the Sir Barton, and may have to immediately use his speed, as the three longshots drawn in the posts immediately to his outside have all shown speed in their better efforts. Hymn, in post 7 in the field of nine, showed the way in the Bath House Row Stakes at Oaklawn Park before finishing fourth, beaten two lengths. Invictus, who landed post 6 under Flavien Prat, is in a good position to track as he did last time out.
Chick Lang Stakes
Earlier on the card, 3-year-olds have a sprint opportunity in the $150,000 Chick Lang Stakes. Normandy Coast is the only member of the field in the six-furlong race coming off a stakes win. He made a bold inside bid to take the off-the-turf Palisades Stakes on a sloppy, sealed track April 6 at Keeneland. Although rain in Baltimore is expected to largely clear out by Saturday, the track may still be holding some moisture, which would suit him.
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“He’s doing super,” said trainer Eddie Kenneally, who called Normandy Coast “a nice, nice horse.”
Both Normandy Coast and the exciting Ancient World, unbeaten in two starts, race from off the pace, but there is speed in this field of 11, including from One Nine Hundred, who is coming off an eye-catching maiden win at Aqueduct with the field’s top Beyer Speed Figure, a 92.
Keep It Easy intrigues as he cuts back in distance. A stakes-winning sprinter in November, he has made just one start at 3, finishing a well-beaten sixth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, a tall order in both class – the race was won by Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty – and distance off a layoff.
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