Alto Racing’s Archwarrior was a “talking horse” going into his career debut
in Thursday’s
3RD
race at Saratoga, going off at cramped odds of 1-4, and the Todd Pletcher
juvenile obliged with a 3 1/4-length decision.
Pletcher was asked if he had ever heard so much hype about a first-time
starter.
“No — I’m not really sure why,” Pletcher said. “The horse has trained well.
I think there are a couple of guys who work for the (Daily Racing)
Form that are clocking him in the mornings and maybe talking on the Internet
and giving out information on horses that are working out in the mornings. I
don’t know.
“I mean, we’ve brought a lot of first-time starters over here over the years,
but I’ve never had so many questions beforehand.”
One of those questions was whether Pletcher was nervous about Archwarrior’s
debut.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly like the Kentucky Derby,” the trainer deadpanned,
“but generally when you lead a first-time starter over here, you’re the one that
kind of knows what to expect. Not everyone else maybe expects the same thing.
But yeah, we were hoping he’d run as he’d been training.”
With John Velazquez in the saddle, the Arch colt chased in second through an
opening quarter in :22 1/5, began to challenge when reaching the half-mile mark
in :45, and asserted himself down the stretch. Archwarrior was 1 1/2 lengths
clear at the eighth-pole, getting five furlongs in :57 1/5, and opened up while
finishing six furlongs in 1:10 on the fast track.
“Everything went as smoothly as we hoped it would,” Pletcher said. “I thought
he ran very well, very professional. He finished up well and galloped out
strongly.”
Velazquez was similarly pleased.
“He ran very, very nice,” the Hall of Fame rider said. “He has been very
impressive in the mornings, and for him to come back and do it in the afternoon
was very nice.
“I worked him behind horses, so it’s not like he’s been on the lead in the
mornings. I knew that I could rate him. I didn’t think he would be on the lead
because he’s not very quick from the gate. He did everything very, very good.”
Velasquez was also asked about all of the buzz around the colt.
“I don’t know — I guess he’s so striking in everything he has done,”
Velazquez said. “Obviously when you put the time on him, every time that he
works he’s very, very fast. He has been very impressive in the mornings.
Any comparison to champion Uncle Mo, a 14 1/2-length winner in his debut on
Travers Day in 2010?
“No, he’s not as fast as Uncle Mo,” Velazquez pointed out. “He is much bigger
and heavier than Uncle Mo. Uncle Mo was smaller and faster.
“Archwarrior is more the type of horse who will really get good when the
distances get longer. He’s not going to win by 10 or 12 lengths, he’s not going
to open up on the field. He’s just kind of steady. He should run all day long.”
Indeed, the promising juvenile is bred on similar lines to Blame, the
champion older horse of 2010. Both are by Arch, out of Seeking the Gold mares,
with second dams by Nijinsky II.
Archwarrior, who paid $2.50, $2.40 and $2.10 to his burgeoning fan club,
deposited $48,000 in his new bank account.
Bred by Highfield Farm in Kentucky, Archwarrior sold for $75,000 as a
Keeneland November weanling, but was led out unsold after bids maxed out at
$140,000 at Keeneland September the following year. In March, the dark bay
commanded $375,000 as an OBS two-year-old in training.
Pletcher was in no hurry to announce plans.
“We’ll play it by ear and see how he comes out of it,” the trainer said.
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