Battle of Midway and Collected were each returning from vacations at Santa Anita Park on Saturday, and neither colt encountered any trouble in finding the winner’s circle.
Battle of Midway was first up in the $98,000 Affirmed Stakes (G3) and led all the way home to be 4 1/4 lengths clear on the wire. Jockey Flavien Prat simply hand rode the Jerry Hollendorfer pupil through splits of :24.50, :48.88, 1:12.86 and 1:36.73 before crossing under the wire in 1:43.25 for 1 1/16 miles over the fast main track.
B Squared ranged up to Battle of Midway’s outside rounding the turn, but could not keep up when Prat shook the reins at his mount. It was another 4 1/2 lengths back to Term of Art, while Quiet Dude completed the order under the line.
Sent off the 1-10 prohibitive favorite, Battle of Midway returned $2.20 while boosting his career mark to 6-3-1-2 and increasing his earnings to $550,000. The Jerry Hollendorfer pupil broke his maiden at first asking on January 21, then proceeded to run third in the San Vicente Stakes (G2), win an allowance/optional claimer and miss by only a half-length in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).
Campaigned by Don Alberto Stable and WinStar Farm LLC, the Smart Strike colt stalked the early pace in the Kentucky Derby (G1) last out and held well to be third on the wire.
Bred in Kentucky by Thor-Bred Stables LLC, Battle of Midway is out of the Grade 1-winning Concerto mare Rigoletta. This female family also boasts 2011 champion female sprinter Musical Romance.
AFFIRMED QUOTES
Flavien Prat, jockey Battle of Midway, winner
“It’s easier to win (when going in :24 quarters.) We didn’t go super fast the first part. I think it’s better to run at a target and a good pace but we were comfortable on the lead and he did a great job.
“I had to make sure he was focused in the lane, which was great actually because that’s when he starting running. He should improve from this race. Jerry (Hollendorfer) is one of the best trainers so I’m sure he’ll improve off of this. He’s always improving. I mean, physically and mentally he’s improving every time.”
Mario Gutierrez, jockey B Squared, second
“My horse ran huge. He tried very hard. Every time I tried to get close to the other horse (Battle of Midway), that horse responded and he gradually got away from us.”
Jerry Hollendorfer, trainer Battle of Midway, winner
“We talked about being in front. We thought we might end up being the speed, so I wasn’t surprised. I just told Prat to get on his way and if somebody does something different to adjust to it.
“I think he’s showing that he’s coming into being a good horse and able to run against top competition. We want to look at that race (the July 30 Haskell Invitational [G1] at Monmouth Park). That’s the race that we’ve talked about. That doesn’t mean we’re absolutely going to do that (run in it). There are a few real tough horses that might go in that race, but we might run in there anyway.”
Two races later, Speedway Stable LLC’s Collected pressed the pace through the opening six furlongs of the $100,000 Precisionist Stakes (G3) before taking command and pulling away in a 14-length romp.
With Martin Garcia aboard, the Bob Baffert-trained four-year-old kept the pressure on Donworth through fractions of :23.48, :46.80 and 1:10.52. Collected took over rounding the turn, effortlessly drawing off to complete 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.52 and returning $3.20 as the 3-5 favorite.
Cat Burglar got up to take second by 1 3/4 lengths over Accelerate, who in turn had a neck to spare on Donworth. Keane completed the order of finish.
Collected is now 10-7-1-0 in his career with $660,500 in lifetime earnings. The City Zip chestnut actually made his debut on turf, breaking his maiden and finishing second in the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3), the latter at Del Mar. He switched to the main track when making his sophomore debut in January 2016, taking the Sham Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park.
Collected went on the road after that, finishing fourth in the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park, capturing the Sunland Park Festival of Racing Stakes at Sunland Park, recording a four-length romp in the Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keeneland, and concluding his three-year-old campaign with a 10th-placing in the Preakness Stakes (G1) at Pimlico.
The colt is now unbeaten in 2017, having begun the year with a pair of wins in the Santana Mile and Californian Stakes (G2), both in April at Santa Anita.
Bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm Inc. and Peter J. Callahan, Collected is out of the Johannesburg mare Helena Bay and comes from the same female line as English and French champion Blushing Groom.
PRECISIONIST QUOTES
Martin Garcia, jockey Collected, winner
“He’s very special. He can be on the lead or off of it. He can be wherever you want him to be. I let him be where he wanted to be today.
“You can see that I was pretty comfortable and he just kicked on. I knew Accelerate would be closing so I looked back to see if he was there, but only the last sixteenth. I was just waiting. I had a lot of horse at the end.
“I think the older he gets, the calmer he is. He doesn’t have to be on the lead, I can take him back. He’s very professional. I think he can go a 1 1/4 miles but I don’t think that guy (motioning towards Bob Baffert standing to the side) wants me to because he might beat Arrogate.”
Bob Baffert, trainer Collected, winner
“We were going to run him in the Gold Cup (G1) but he just wasn’t working as well as I would have wanted for that. This middle distance is more his thing and I can see he reacts better. As long as I keep him like this, he’s going to be really tough to beat.
“I’ve always thought that when I get him to Del Mar I might try him on the turf, he was bred for it. We’ll get him down there and work him and see.
“This middle distance is his thing. I tried to do a little bit more with him this year and with some horses you can just tell the difference in them. We ran him in the Preakness (G1) last year, I thought he’d run well there…but I think he’s just matured since then. That time off we gave him really helped. Just like with Mor Spirit. You give them time off and you get all that Derby (season) nonsense out of the way. You back off them and start all over and you have a nice horse. That’s why I have these nice older horses.”
