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Race No. 1 -- The Century Dream Sprint (Six Furlongs)

By Paul Buckley

On a glorious Indian summer afternoon under the Twin Spires, 14 of the fastest equine athletes of all time face off in a dash for the ages. Here's the illustrious field in post position order:

Following are race records (year chosen and lifetime) for each horse, as well as notable accomplishments and other tidbits:

Now, for the race:

As the gates swing open, SAFELY KEPT gets the jump on the field, but is quickly joined by BOLD RULER and DR. FAGER to her inside, as well as NASHUA and AFFECTIONATELY to her outside. HOUSEBUSTER settles into sixth along the rail, with ACK ACK at his right flank and ROSEBEN on the far outside. The rest of the field breaks without incident, forming a third wave across the track. An aggressive BOLD RULER seizes the lead after a sizzling quarter-mile in :21 1/5, with DR. FAGER a neck behind to his inside and SAFELY KEPT a half-length back in third. AFFECTIONATELY presses from fourth on the outside while NASHUA bides his time in fifth. After breaking a step slower than the pacesetters, TA WEE and COALTOWN find their best strides, moving into sixth and seventh place, respectively. HOUSEBUSTER and ACK ACK get shuffled back a bit on the inside, as DR. FAGER and BOLD RULER vie for the lead. ROSEBEN moves in behind NASHUA while the early trailers cruise along within four or five lengths of the lead.

DR. FAGER wrests a short lead from BOLD RULER as those two accomplish a half-mile in :43 4/5. SAFELY KEPT and AFFECTIONATELY dig in outside of the leaders while losing a bit of ground on the turn. TA WEE's sustained burst carries her past NASHUA into fifth, and those two stalk the leading quartet from positions well off the rail. From the inside out, we then find ACK ACK, COALTOWN and ROSEBEN another length-and-a-half behind, with HOUSEBUSTER fading and the rest getting into gear.

At the top of the stretch, DR. FAGER extends his advantage over a game BOLD RULER to nearly a length while TA WEE ranges up on the outside in third. NASHUA begins to uncork his rally in fourth, and ROSEBEN blows past SAFELY KEPT and AFFECTIONATELY on the extreme outside, taking dead aim on the leaders. In the meantime, ACK ACK, who has saved ground on the inside under Bill Shoemaker, moves into sixth position, and TOM FOOL launches his bid just to their outside. After blazing the first five furlongs in :55 2/5, DR. FAGER approaches the sixteenth pole with a relatively safe 1 1/2-length lead over ROSEBEN, who is battling on gamely. However, it is the great TOM FOOL who is flying down the lane, passing "The Big Train" on the inside and cutting into DR. FAGER's lead with every prodigious stride. Approaching the wire, TOM FOOL is at DR. FAGER's neck, and with his last stride, closes to within a nostril, but ... to no avail. It's DR. FAGER, battling every step of the way, who prevails by a whisker in a time of 1:07 2/5.

Following is the complete order of finish:

More Century Dream Series:

Mile

Turf

Distaff

Juvenile

Juvenile Fillies

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