Sprint

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: