Louisville, Ky.
Kingsbarns was that other horse last spring. Undefeated
going into the Kentucky Derby, he went off at 11-1 and finished 14th,
overshadowed by his stablemates Tapit Trice in seventh and Forte in the barn with
an Eclipse Award and an untimely foot injury.
With about 300,000 fewer eyeballs on him Saturday, he had
his moment at Churchill Downs.
Click here for Churchill Downs entries and results.
Stalking a leisurely pace throughout as the fourth choice in
the field of nine older horses, Kingsbarns (9-1) pounced at the top of the
stretch and raced on to a 2 1/2-length victory in the $1 million Stephen Foster Stakes on a steamy, 91-degree afternoon.
Finally getting that coveted Grade 1 victory on his résumé, did
the real Kingsbarns stand up Saturday?
“We can ask the question, but I think he’s going to have to
tell us here down the road,” said general manager Ned Toffey of Spendthrift
Farm, which bought the now 4-year-old Uncle Mo colt for $800,000 in 2022. “But
look, he did it today. It was a tough group. … He put it together today, and
they don’t give away these Grade 1s easily.”
Trained by Todd Pletcher, who was not at Churchill this
weekend, Kingsbarns was expertly ridden by Luis Sáez, especially considering
the slow early fractions of 24.13, 48.38 and 1:11.86. They were set somewhat surprisingly
by post-time favorite First Mission (9-10) with Skippylongstocking (4-1) breathing
down his back in the 1 1/8-mile race. Kingsbarns was never more than two
lengths behind running fourth up the backstretch.
“The key was being close,” Sáez said. “We had a good
position. That was the key. We tried to break from there running, and we knew
the outside (Skippylongstocking) was the speed. First Mission had a lot of
speed, too. I used to ride that horse, and I knew he was going to be on the
engine. The plan was follow them. Have a target.”
Doing just that before wheeling outside First Mission and Skippylongstocking,
Kingsbarns swooped into the lead turning for home.
“At the top of the stretch,” Sáez said, “I had a lot of
horse.”
Kingsbarns led by 1 1/2 lengths through a mile in 1:35.67
and was widening the margin as he stopped the clock at 1:48.09 on the fast main
track.
“I thought Luis just gave him a great, great ride,” Toffey
said. “It set up well for us. He got a great stalking trip, and when Luis asked
him, I mean the horse just exploded.”
Pyrenees (10-1), who brought a four-race winning streak into
the weekend, rallied from a close fifth to finish second. Even though he had
not faced Grade 1 competition before, the 4-year-old’s most recent victory came
in the 1 3/8-mile Pimlico Special (G3) last month. The runner-up who was
three-quarters of a length behind that day was Kingsbarns.
“It was a big step up against a really tough field for him,”
trainer Cherie DeVaux said of Pyrenees. “Kingsbarns got us this time, so it’ll
be a fun little matchup every time we run.”
An Into Mischief colt owned by Bonnie Baskin’s Blue Heaven
Farm, Pyrenees had a homestretch brush with Skippylongstocking (4-1), who missed
the place money by a head and finished third. First Mission faded to finish
fourth.
Kingsbarns’s victory came with an automatic berth in the
Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2 at Del Mar, but the next four months carry a
lot of lucrative opportunities beforehand.
Asked about the possibility of going in the $1 million
Whitney (G1) on Aug. 3 at Saratoga, Toffey said, “Maybe, but we’ll let Todd
make that call, make that recommendation.”
After losing as the favorite in two stakes races, Toffey was
glad not only for the Grade 1 breakthrough but for a complete effort from
Kingsbarns.
“This is a horse that we felt like has had a lot of ability,”
he said. “Been a little unlucky here and there, but he really put it all
together today.”