On The Engine

By Steve Sherack

After just failing to reach his reserve when the bidding stalled at $145,000 at this year’s Barretts March Sale, the brain trust at Pegasus Training Center decided to hold on to Prime Engine (Northern Afleet) and prepare him for a late summer/early fall campaign. With a pair of daylight wins by a combined margin of 15 3/4 lengths–including Emerald’s Gottstein Futurity Sept. 28–the Dr. Mark DeDomenico colorbearer will put his unblemished record on the line in Saturday’s $1-million GIII Delta Downs Jackpot. 

“We liked him and weren’t going to give him away and just decided to bring him back home and give him some time,” said Mike Puhich, trainer/director of horse operations at Pegasus. 

The chestnut received the ultimate compliment from the chart caller earning an “In hand, eye catching” comment line after airing by 10 1/4 lengths as the even-money favorite in his Emerald debut Sept. 13, then returned on quick notice to easily capture his two-turn debut against five overmatched rivals in the Futurity. Subsequently transferred to Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer, Prime Engine has been lighting up the worktab at Santa Anita since, including a six-furlong bullet in 1:11 Nov. 2. Scratched from last weekend’s GIII Bob Hope S. at Del Mar, the $110,000 KEESEP graduate is listed at 8-1 on the morning-line for the Jackpot. Russell Baze has the mount. 

“You’re coming from Emerald Downs, so you don’t know what he beat,” Puhich admitted. “We do have some nice horses up here, though. Looking at all of the other horses in Jackpot, I don’t know what they beat either. I think he’s a really good horse and fits with those guys. Jerry [Hollendorfer] wouldn’t be saying, ‘Let’s go,’ if he wasn’t. We’re all pretty excited about him.” 

Prime Engine was also under consideration for the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, but time wasn’t exactly on his side, Puhich reports. 

“He had two quick races and already had experience going two turns and we thought, ‘Do we want to go to the Breeders’ Cup?’ It was probably a couple of weeks sooner than we liked, especially if you’re going to throw him to the wolves. If we had a couple more weeks with him, though, we definitely would’ve tried him in there. He was training that good.” 

DeDomenico and Glen Todd’s Majestic Presence (Majestic Warrior) will accompany Prime Engine to Louisiana for the GIII Delta Downs Princess S. on the undercard. A smart maiden winner at Del Mar Aug. 13, she ran a better-than-it-looked fourth with a wide trip in the GI Chandelier S. Sept. 27, then never fired when ninth in a tricky renewal of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 1. Training sharply for Hollendorfer in Arcadia in the interim, Majestic Presence adds blinkers for the Princess. Baze will ride. 

“I was down there last week when she worked with blinkers [in 1:00 4/5 Nov. 15] and it just looked like she was galloping around there,” Puhich commented. “We’re giving her another shot and tossing her last race out. If she runs to what our expectations are, she should get a good piece of it.” 

It’s been a fantastic 2014 season for Pegasus graduates on the racetrack. Millionaire Belle Gallantey (After Market)–a $30,000 purchase from the now-defunct Pegasus February 2-year-old Sale–posted wins in this term’s GI Delaware H. and GI Beldame S. before switching hands for $750,000 at the FTKNOV sale. Broken Sword (Broken Vow), a $60,000 PEGFEB graduate, came within a half-length when second-best in the GI Clement L. Hirsch S. at Del Mar Aug. 2. She also won last year’s GII Bayakoa S. 

Champion She’s a Tiger (Tale of the Cat); GISWs Shakin It Up (Midnight Lute) and Sweet Lulu (Mr. Greeley); graded winners Fury Kapcori (Tiznow); Hear the Ghost (Ghostzapper); Scherzinger (Tiz Wonderful); and Via Villaggio (Bernardini); and the promising Sam’s Sister (Brother Derek) are other standouts that have trained at DeDomenico’s state-of-the-art Redmond, Washington facility. 

While the aforementioned She’s a Tiger brought $2.5 million to dissolve a partnership at the FTKNOV sale, Puhich was an active shopper on behalf of the preeminent heart surgeon and partners a few months earlier at Keeneland September, purchasing a total of 15 yearlings for $1,138,000. 

“We kind of broke tradition [with our consignment at Barretts March] and our horse’s first breeze was their preview,” Puhich said. “We probably won’t send any to the [2-year-old] sales next year. We even talked about doing another one up here [at Pegasus], but we may wait until the following year–we’ve had three Grade I caliber horses come out of our sale with Belle Gallantey, Broken Sword and [2012 GI Hollywood Starlet S. runner-up and $95,000 PEGFEB graduate] Blonde Fog (Divine Park). We’ve got some really nice 2-year-olds out there right now too that are just getting ready to make some serious noise, so that should be some fun.” 

With two live chances on the Jackpot card, the fun just might begin this weekend.