Making his stakes debut, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Robert LaPenta's Current won a three-way photo finish to take the $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon Stakes (G3T) Oct. 7 at Keeneland and stamped his ticket to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T).
War of Will, installed as the 7-5 favorite after finishing second in the Summer Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine, took the early lead, posting moderate times of :23.59 and :48.82 for the first half-mile while tracked by Ice City Ghost.
War of Will continued to dominate rounding the second turn in the 1 1/16-mile turf test and was racing well down the lane before first being overtaken by Henley's Joy and then Current, who unleashed a quick turn of foot under Jose Ortiz, aboard for the first time. As War of Will faded along the inside, Current won by a scant nose over Henley's Joy, with another late closer, Salvator Mundi, another nose back in third.
Stopping the timer in 1:45.10 over the firm course, Current paid $11.80 for the win, with Henley's Joy returning $4.80 for place and Salvator Mundi paying $14.60 for third.
The victory was the second in three starts for Current, a son of Curlin who finished third at Saratoga Race Course in his debut and then broke his maiden at Belmont Park for trainer Todd Pletcher. Bred in Kentucky by Hinkle Farms, the colt produced from the Storm Cat mare Crosswinds was purchased by Whitehorse Stables & Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners for $725,000 from Hinkle Farms at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
"He's been training very professionally," said Pletcher's assistant, Ginny DePasquale. "We've really thought a lot of this horse. Todd thought he had a good future, so he sent him here and, of course, he was right. We're really happy about today."
"When we straightened for home, I felt like he started running," Ortiz said. "I put him in the clear, but when I hit him left-handed, he drifted out in the two or three path. But he was running. Inside the eighth pole to the wire, I was hoping I'd get there. It was so close, I didn't know if I had it. He broke OK. He was very relaxed the whole time, and that's the point—get your horse to relax. He kicked home very well."
"I had a good trip, sat inside, waited for a spot, and asked him in the stretch," said Tyler Gaffalione, rider of runner-up Henley's Joy. "He finished up strong. He just didn't get the bob (at the wire). I had a lot of confidence when we hit the wire. I was a little worried because (Current) was running strong late. When we galloped out, he ran by us pretty quickly, but I was just hoping we got to the wire quick enough." |
