When Kevin Scatuorchio and Bryan Sullivan founded Let’s Go Stable, it was
with the classic races in mind, and while Divine Oath missed this year’s Triple
Crown, he could make his mark at the classic distances on turf.
Divine Oath stretched out to 1 3/16 miles to win the American Derby on July
12 at Arlington, and
now the son of Broken Vow will try 1 1/4 miles in the $500,000 Secretariat on
Saturday during the International Festival of Racing.
“We were really happy with the (American Derby) performance,” Scatuorchio
said. “It was a bit of a clever ride for (Florent) Geroux getting through. The
margin was a half-length, but he did well past the wire, so we think the added
distance will be in his favor.”
Let’s Go Stable purchased Divine Oath for $200,000 at the 2012 Keeneland
September yearling sale, and the colt debuted for trainer Todd Pletcher in
January at Gulfstream Park, winning his first two races. Let’s Go Stable
nominated Divine Oath to the Triple Crown and entered him in the Kentucky Derby
points races on Polytrack — the Spiral at Turfway Park and the Blue Grass at
Keeneland Race Course — but did not draw in.
So instead Divine Oath returned off a two-month layoff in the Lexington,
finishing second to eventual Belmont Derby winner Mr Speaker. He then finished
fourth in the Penn Mile before stretching out for the American Derby victory.
“Mr. Speaker that day was pretty impressive, and the Penn Mile did not pan
out to our advantage,” Scatuorchio said. “That race was only a mile, and we had
a lot to do with a lot of ground to make up. He was running hard at the end, so
after that race we knew we’d want some added ground.”
Scatuorchio said that Let’s Go Stable will be at Arlington on Saturday “in
full force” with about 20 people attending to cheer on Divine Oath. The stable
began buying horses in 2006 and has enjoyed success with three-year-olds in each
of the past two seasons with El Padrino in 2012 and multiple Grade 1 winner
Verrazano last year.
Divine Oath has won three of five starts and has earned $232.950.
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