SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Zulu Kingdom is the acknowledged favorite and horse to beat in Friday’s Grade 2, $400,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga, but two of his opponents – one logical, the other a longshot – could benefit from the expected dynamics of the one-mile turf race and potentially upset.
In a race seemingly loaded with speed, Luther, the third-place finisher from the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, and Tiz Dashing, third at 24-1 to Zulu Kingdom in the Manila Stakes, could get the setup they need to be most effective.
Luther, a son of Frankel, shipped here from England to finish 1 1/4 lengths behind Test Score in a swiftly run edition of the Belmont Derby, a 1 1/8-mile race held at Saratoga on July 4. Charlie Fellowes, the England-based trainer of Luther, felt distance was the primary culprit that got his horse beat, so he opted shorten him up in the Hall of Fame as opposed to stretching him out to the 1 3/16 miles of Saturday’s Grade 1 Saratoga Derby.
“I thought he ran very well,” Fellowes said this week from England. “The turn of foot he showed around the track to go from last to second was really impressive. Still, his race petered out a little bit and he didn’t quite stay. Had he really stayed, he would have won.”
In May, the last time Luther competed at one mile, he showed a steady late turn of foot to finish fourth, beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Henri Matisse – last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner – in the Group 1 French 2000 Guineas at Longchamp. Camille Pissarro, third in that race, came back to win the Group 1 Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly.
Fellowes likes the expected fast, or at least contested pace, that should develop in the Hall of Fame. Mi Bago, on the rail, Tank, in post 8, and Clever Again, from post 5, all have shown a desire to be on the lead. Clever Again is trying turf for the first time.
“He’s at his best when he has pace to run at,” Fellowes said. “He has a great turn of foot, the race could set up for him.”
Regular rider Kieran Shoemark has commitments in England so Joel Rosario will ride Luther on Friday.
Tiz Dashing is not a closer per sé, but he did run well from a midpack position in the Manila, a race where he was beaten just one length by Zulu Kingdom. Javier Castellano rode Tiz Dashing for the first time in the Manila and will ride him back here.
“He does not like to be rated but he and Javier get along really well and if the pace sets up out there Javier can actually ease him back without strangling him,” said Robin Smullen, assistant to trainer Barclay Tagg. “When you watch his replays with Johnny [Velazquez], Johnny fought him a bit to get him back and then he was kind of disinterested.”
Chad Brown has won the Hall of Fame Stakes seven times, his list of winners quite an array of talent, including Bricks and Mortar, Raging Bull, and Big Blue Kitten. In Zulu Kingdom, Brown sends out a horse who is 6 for 7 overall and 3 for 3 this season. Zulu Kingdom is coming off a workmanlike victory in the Manila after he ran a dynamic race winning the Grade 1 American Turf at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.
In the Manila, Zulu Kingdom raced close to a solid pace.
“I didn’t think that was his preferred setup by any means,” Brown said. “I prefer more pace in the race for him.”
Out On Bail went 2 for 2 in turf sprints here last summer, including a victory in the Skidmore Stakes. In his lone try at a mile, Out On Bail chased Mi Bago over a yielding course before finishing third, beaten one length.
The Hall of Fame Stakes, run on the same day as the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Friday morning, goes as race 7 on a 10-race card that begins at 1:10 p.m.
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