Past The Wire Search
May 27, 2021
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The latest example of the international impact of Keeneland’s Thoroughbred auctions is the success of the 3-year-old filly Light of Darkness, who sold here as a weanling and is one of 2021’s most accomplished performers in Turkey. Owner Cem Sevim purchased Light of Darkness at Keeneland’s 2018 November Breeding Stock Sale and watched her score a 1½-length victory in the $130,000 Turkish 1000 Guineas, the nation’s biggest race for the division, on May 16 at Veliefendi race course in Istanbul. (Click here for a video of the race.)
The Kentucky-bred daughter of Red Rocks (IRE) has won five consecutive group stakes during her undefeated season.
Rombauer Retains Tops Spot In NTRA 3-Year-Old Poll Sponsored by:
Rombauer winning the Preakness
John and Diane Fradkin s Grade 1 Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer has retained the No. 1 ranking in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Three-Year-Old Poll over last year s 2-year-old champion and Kentucky Derby fourth-place finisher Essential Quality. There were no changes in the order of the top 10 horses from last week.
Trained by Michael McCarthy, Rombauer, a bay son of Twirling Candy, received 12 first-place votes and 300 points. He is expected to start in the final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes, on June 5. Godolphin s Essential Quality, the 5-2 Kentucky Derby favorite, also has 12 first-place votes, but is eight points shy of first place with 292 points. Mandaloun, also trained by Cox, is in third place with four first-place votes and 262 points. Owned by Godolphin, Mandaloun finished second in the Kentucky Derby. Roadrunner R
Rombauer likely to meet six Kentucky Derby alumni in Belmont Stakes May 24, 2021 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com
Preakness S. (G1) upsetter
Rombauer is expected to face at least nine rivals in the June 5 Belmont S. (G1), including six last seen in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Here’s the projected cast for the Belmont along with plans for the other Derby graduates.
Hot Rod Charlie and previously unbeaten champion
Essential Quality, the respective third and fourth across the wire at Churchill Downs, lead the Derby alumni pointing for the Belmont. Others freshened since the May 1 Run for the Roses are
Known Agenda (ninth),
Pletcher Trainees, Rock Your World Breeze for Belmont bloodhorse.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bloodhorse.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
3.57 Promise Keeper
The bad news for Promise Keeper and France Go de Ina is that American Pharoah is the only horse since 2004 to win a 1½-mile Belmont with a dosage index higher than 3.00.
Finally, in the last 14 normal runnings of the Belmont (in other words, ignore last year), the only two winners that had also been in the Preakness were Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify. That trend would seem to work against Rombauer, Midnight Bourbon, Keepmeinmind and France Go de Ina.
The message here is that a good, strong case may be made on behalf of most of the horses in the Belmont Stakes field. God bless France Go de Ina, but he seems to have come a long way just to get the same experience as a Jamaican bobsled team.