One Stripe looked a picture in the preliminaries (via Keeneland video)
The Drakenstein Stud-bred One World colt One Stripe came close to capping a great day for Hollywood Racing, who reached 128 wins for the South African season earlier in the day, which is equal with their own record return they set last season.
The Graham Motion-trained One Stripe ran in the Gr 1 Makers Mark Mile at Keeneland and was up against the like of 2000 Guineas and Breeders Cup Mile winner Notable Speech in the turf event.
Flavien Prat is one of the best jockeys riding in America and he gave the winner, appropriately called Zulu Kingdom, a fine front-running ride.
One Stripe’s low draw of two was always going to be problematic for John Velazquez and after breaking well he was on the rail and was going to have to rely on luck to find a run in the straight as Prat dictated on Zulu Kingdom out in front.
Notable Speech’s jockey William Buick opted to take the favourite between horses approaching the final turn and Velazquez for a brief moment looked to be planning to follow him.
However, Notable Speech then became hopelessly hemmed in, which allowed Zulu Kingdom to steal a march out in front.
Velazquez angled back inward and managed to find a gap on the rail, which saw One Stripe charging home.
However, it was too late.
One Stripe, who is owned by Hollywood Racing in partnership with Rikesh Sewgoolam, was beaten by about 0,75 lengths.
The third-placed horse, Rhetorical, who was beaten about 1,25 lengths, also had a South African owner, the film producer Gary Barber.
Notable Speech managed fourth place after finally extracting himself from trouble and clearly had a lot left at the line.
Brilliant Berti, Aomori City and Tiz Dashing made up the rest of the field and finished in that order.
It was the Irish-bred Ten Sovereigns colt Zulu Kingdom’s second career Gr 1 win.
The victory gave top trainer Chad Brown his 3000th career win.
One Stripe has now finished second in two successive North American Gr 1s, which proves South African-breds can compete with the best under American conditions, in which the going is similarly on top like the tracks in South Africa, unlike the heavier tracks of Europe.
Equibase’s description of the race was thus:
ZULU KINGDOM (IRE) broke inwardly, set the pace along the inside, shook clear entering upper stretch then held sway. ONE STRIPE (SAF) saved ground off of the pace, awaited racing room behind foes in upper stretch, then sustained a rail rally in the final furlong, progressed to offer a late bid inside of the leader but needed more. RHETORICAL got fractious in the starting gate, stalked along the inside forged place while changing to his right lead nearing the furlong grounds, shifted out to the three path in pursuit shortly after, ran on but got outkicked for place by an inner rival. NOTABLE SPEECH (GB) got briefly antsy in the starting gate, rated at the rear two wide, awaited racing room reaching the lane, steadied when blocked behind and among foes in upper stretch, squeezed between rivals in the final furlong and ran on. BRILLIANT BERTI laid off of the pace while hung in the four path around teh turn, fanned to five path entering the lane then failed to menace. AOMORI CITY (FR) broke multiple lengths slow while tossing his head at the start, advanced outside of rivals approaching the first turn, pressed the eventual winner two wide into the backstretch, sustained pressure around the far turn, but yielded entering the lane then faded between horses. TIZ DASHING tracked in the three path and between horses, pursued within striking range outside of the top pair around the far turn, but chased in the four path in upper stretch then faded between foes.
Click here for a replay of the race and the post-race interview with winning connections.
Post-race comments:
Flavien Prat (winning rider of Zulu Kingdom-IRE)
“When I saw the scratches this morning, it sure changed the dynamic of the race. He’s very naturally fast, so (making the lead going into the first turn) was one of the options for sure. He was very brave. Honestly, I felt very comfortable on the lead. He gave me a good run when we turned for home. Obviously he hadn’t run for a while, so I knew he was going to be tired late, so I kept him busy and his talent showed.”
William Strauss (co-owner of the winner)
“Life doesn’t get better than this. I thought (Hot Rod) Charlie going to the (2021 Kentucky) Derby (G1 for Strauss and his brother Jeffrey) was great but this — having my brother here with me, and the partners I have are just great. That guy (jockey) Flavien (Prat), I just love him, he’s great. And (trainer) Chad (Brown) — Chad’s amazing. He’s a genius. I appreciate my partners, especially Sol Kumin (of Madaket Stables) for letting me in on this horse. It’s just great, and hopefully we move forward from here. That’s a scary thought, if we can move forward from here. If I ever leave Southern California, I’m moving to Keeneland — well, not Keeneland — to Lexington, Kentucky. This is great, and I always enjoy (being interviewed) in the (winner’s) circle.”
John Velazquez (rider of runner-up One Stripe-SAF)
“Not the trip that I was expecting, but I feel like I ran a good race. I was hoping to be a little closer than that. But I’m proud of him today.”
Will Walden (trainer of third-place finisher Rhetorical)
“He had a pretty good trip through and through. Good first run off the (five-month layoff). With the (slow) pace with this caliber of horses, it is tough to get by (the pacesetter.) He ran home well. The long-range goal is Breeders’ Cup (at Keeneland Oct. 30-31), so we will pencil everything in around that.”
Irad Ortiz Jr. (rider of Rhetorical)
“I wish I had a little more pace in front of me, but I didn’t. I just rode my race. I got a good trip. I was inside, saving ground, keeping an eye on the stretch. Just not his race.”
Charlie Appleby (trainer of favorite and fourth-place finisher Notable Speech-GB)
“That’s racing. We had plenty of traffic in front of us. We could never get the run. We will just put a line through (the race) and do what we did with Modern Games (IRE) (Woodbine for the Rogers Mile-G1 in September) and then the Breeders’ Cup (at Keeneland Oct. 30-31).
William Buick (rider of Notable Speech)
“I just got stuck behind horses and it never really opened up until it was too late. He closed very well. It was a very unlucky loss.”
