Making his stateside debut for Chad Brown, Zulu Kingdom bravely came through a narrow seam on the rail to edge favored Tenacious Leader in Thursday’s $175,000 With Anticipation (G3) at Saratoga.
Jockey Flavien Prat’s heady ride might well have been the difference between victory and defeat, considering that there was only a neck separating the promising turf juveniles at the wire.
“It was a great ride,” Brown said. “I wasn’t really sure if there was enough room in there, but (Prat’s) the one on him, and he felt there was and he got through, luckily. He was traveling good the whole way. The final piece of confidence I had was in the paddock – the horse just acted super.”
Zulu Kingdom had raced only once for his original connections in France. Then trained by the maestro Andre Fabre for his wife, their homebred scored handily in a June 4 newcomers’ event at Saint-Cloud.
Bloodstock agent Hubert Guy swooped in to orchestrate a private purchase. Zulu Kingdom was acquired by the partnership of Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss, and Michael J. Caruso, and transferred to Brown.
The With Anticipation posed several simultaneous tests for Brown’s new recruit. Two turns, around a tighter circuit, on firm ground, with an American-style pace, delivered quite a different experience. At Saint-Cloud, Zulu Kingdom cantered around one sweeping bend while attending a slow pace on very soft going.
Prat added another variable with his bold gambit on the inside, putting Zulu Kingdom in a tighter spot than he’d faced in his debut. But the bay handled everything thrown at him in the manner of a classy colt.
Sent off as the slight 2.10-1 second choice, Zulu Kingdom broke well and thereby enabled Prat to secure good position in a ground-saving third. The two Todd Pletcher trainees, longshot Nudge and 1.90-1 favorite Tenacious Leader, went forward.
As Nudge carved out fractions of :24.20 and :48.70 on the inner turf, Tenacious Leader appeared to be working out the ideal trip. The favorite closed the gap to just a half-length at the six-furlong mark in 1:12.77 and ratcheted up the pressure on Nudge turning for home.
On the move at the same time was Godolphin’s British shipper Cavallo Bay, who loomed briefly on the outside. The Charlie Appleby pupil couldn’t maintain his bid, though, and flattened out by midstretch.
Meanwhile, Prat spied room on the fence for Zulu Kingdom. Scraping the paint, the son of Ten Sovereigns quickened past the Pletcher duo.
Tenacious Leader, still winding up himself, responded in the final yards to cut it close. Yet Zulu Kingdom held him off in a final time of 1:41.79 for 1 1/16 miles.
Cavallo Bay nipped Nudge and Test Score for third, another three lengths adrift. Without Caution, who got off to a troubled start, checked in last. Reach for the Rose, Dancing Bear, and Good Long Cry were scratched, along with the main-track-only hopes Joey Muscles and Uncaged.
Prat was racking up a record-tying 15th stakes win during the Saratoga meet, according to NYRA. John Velazquez established the mark in 2004, a feat equaled by Joel Rosario and Irad Ortiz Jr. in 2022. Ironically, Ortiz was riding Tenacious Leader here.
“I didn’t exactly know if Irad had any horse underneath him,” Prat said. “He looks like he could have some horse, so I wasn’t sure. So I stayed inside hoping that maybe I could split horses, and when Irad made a run, then I was able to get to the rail and he was very professional and brave enough to get through the hole. From there, he got the job done.”
Ortiz believed that Tenacious Leader wasn’t giving him everything until Zulu Kingdom burst onto the scene.
“I was riding my horse. I went after him and he never kicked, so I keep riding,” Ortiz said, “and then when my horse feel that horse, he fight with that one, but, just missed.
“I don’t lose too much ground the whole race, to be honest. He (Prat on Zulu Kingdom) cut the corner there, probably helped him. But I don’t feel like I lose too much ground, to be honest.”
Prat wasn’t sure what kind of passage he might have aboard an inexperienced import like Zulu Kingdom.
“I didn’t know,” the winning rider said. “Most of the time, horses from Europe, they break a tad slow and you quickly find yourself behind. So I was hoping he could break with the field, which is what he did, and from there, obviously we go into the first turn, and you’re right behind the speed and you’re on the inside – I thought it was a great (trip).”
Now 2-for-2, Zulu Kingdom has bankrolled $112,558.
“He’s a little bit of a curious horse in the mornings,” Brown said. “He looks around a little bit, but he’s always trained well. I thought the one obstacle he had was seeing everything here at Saratoga, but man he gave me a good feeling in the paddock. He acted like he’d been there before, and he sure ran professional.”
Zulu Kingdom was bred in Ireland by the Fabre family’s Ecurie Peregrine SAS. His half-brother, Zulu Warrior, captured last year’s Prix Turenne for Mrs. Fabre.
Their dam, Zindziswa, is also a homebred. Named after a daughter of Nelson Mandela, the Smart Strike mare is a full sister to Group 3 scorer Zanzibari. They were in turn produced by Group 2 heroine Zinziberine.
Brown credited Guy for sourcing Zulu Kingdom.
“He’s bought a lot of nice horses for us through the years – too many to name, but (current Grade 1 winner) Beaute Cachee is another horse he bought for us. It’s a nice group that owns the horse, and I’m lucky enough they transferred the horse to me.
“Sometimes when you get these Euros it’s not so straightforward. They have trouble adapting, and you can breeze them a couple times, and they end up not being able to adjust right away and you stop. It’s not straightforward that they just go on.
“This particular horse, he never missed a day. He came over here, and I’ve been so impressed with everything I put at him. He might look around a little bit, but he kept going forward. He never missed a day of training since he came to me, and I’m so proud of the way he put it together first time in the country.”
The Sept. 28 Pilgrim (G2) at Aqueduct, a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1), could be next.
“I’ve taken that path before – it’s worked,” Brown said, alluding to his 2019 Juvenile Turf winner, Structor, who captured the Pilgrim en route. “I do think he’d benefit from one more race before the Breeders’ Cup, if we decide to do that.”
