Trainer Chad Brown had not yet won a GI Gulfstream Turf H. title heading into Saturday, and the Eclipse Award winner scratched another race off his dwindling checklist when Shadwell's Almanaar (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) kicked past fellow Brown trainee Beach Patrol (Lemon Drop Kid) to earn a first Stateside victory. The Brown exacta was not meant to be this time, however, as the stewards demoted pacesetting Beach Patrol to fourth for drifting out and impeding War Correspondent (War Front) late. Longshot All Included (Include) was promoted to second, with War Correspondent rounding out the trifecta.
Saturday, Gulfstream Park
GULFSTREAM PARK TURF H.-GI, $350,000, GP, 2-11, 4yo/up,
1 1/8mT, 1:45.63, fm.
1–&ALMANAAR (GB), 118, g, 5, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Baqah (Ire) (GSW-Fr & G1SP-Eng, $193,014),
by Bahhare
2nd Dam: Filfilah (GB), by Cadeaux Genereux (GB)
3rd Dam: El Rabab, by Roberto
O-Shadwell Stable; B-Shadwell Estate Company Limited (GB);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Joel Rosario. $210,490. Lifetime Record:
MGSW-Fr, 14-5-3-2, $431,849. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click
for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
*2–All Included, 115, h, 6, Include–Eximius (GB), by Atticus.
O/B-Wertheimer Et Frere (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $67,900.
3–War Correspondent, 116, h, 7, War Front–Tempo West, by
Rahy. O-Calumet Farm, Sagamore Farm & Eclipse
Thoroughbred Partners; B-Joseph Allen (KY); T-Christophe
Clement. $33,950.
Margins: 3/4, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 3.00, 15.90, 22.10.
Also Ran: *Beach Patrol, Lukes Alley, Divisidero, Flatlined, Eirigh.
*Beach Patrol was DQ'd from second and placed fourth.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Very rank under a hard Joel Rosario hold early, Almanaar eventually settled around the first turn to sit off the pace while saving ground behind fractions of :23.59, :47.08 and 1:10.23. Showing a quick burst to slice his way out into the clear nearing the head of the lane, the chestnut sputtered for a stride or two before finding another gear to kick to the front convincingly.
A two-time Group 3 winner for Freddy Head in France in 2015, the Shadwell homebred resurfaced after more than a year absence to be fourth in a Belmont optional claimer in September, and went one better the following month. He was second by a neck last time to Flatlined (Flatter) in the Jan. 14 GII Fort Lauderdale S. Gulfstream Park Turf favorite Divisidero was third that day, and faded Saturday after a wide, up-close journey.
“He ran great the last race,” Brown said of the winner. “The other horse (Flatlined) beat him fair and square, he followed him the whole race… I think this horse today had a little more room to work at an mile and an eighth. He got a beautiful set up. Joel fits the horse perfectly; it's the second time in a row he has given him a flawless trip on this turf course. I'm proud of the way the horse drove him down the center of the track.”
As for what might be next for both Almanaar and last year's GI Secretariat S. winner Beach Patrol, Brown offered, “Everything is in play for these two horses–the Woodford Reserve on [Kentucky] Derby Day at Churchill is a Grade I I have interest in with both these horses. Down the road, races like the [GI] Manhattan at a mile and a quarter. Beach Patrol is already proven at a mile and a quarter in the Secretariat. There are lots of options. Hopefully, they stay healthy.”
Pedigree Notes:
Almanaar's fourth dam was 1986 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner and Eclipse champion Brave Raj. His dam, a Group 2 winner in France and Group 1-placed in England, produced an Exceed And Excel (Aus) colt in 2016.
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