Graydar returns from six-month break to take Kelso

Graydar didn’t let a six-month vacation stop him from scoring his third straight graded win in the Kelso (NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photography/David Alcosser)

Twin Creeks Racing Stables LLC’s Graydar returned to the track after a
six-month layoff and took down his third graded race in a row in Saturday’s
Grade 2, $400,000
Kelso
Handicap at Belmont Park.

“He had been training really well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We were
hoping for that type of performance, but any time you haven’t run since March
you’re always concerned.

“He didn’t break super sharp, but (jockey) Edgar (Prado) was able to get into
the position we wanted to be in, and the fractions were reasonable,” the
horseman added. “He was able to hold off some challenges. It was good.”

Graydar took over the lead shortly after the start and posted fractions of
:23 2/5, :47 and 1:10 2/5 on his way to wiring the field for a three-quarter
length score. The four-year-old crossed the wire in 1:34 for the one-mile test
over the fast main track as the 4-5 favorite and returned $3.80 to his backers
for the win.

“He broke a little slow, and then I put him in the race,” Prado said. “After
that, he was pretty much in command. When the runner-up came alongside him, he
picked it up and he finished strong.”

The gray colt dug in down the stretch to hold off a strong charge from the
11-1 second longest shot on the board, Brujo de Olleros, who got up by a neck
over third-place finisher Hymn Book. Souper Speedy, Easter Gift, Praetereo and
Jackson Bend rounded out the order of finish.

Despite winning at a mile in the Kelso, Graydar could stretch back out for the BC Classic (Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)

Graydar made a belated three-year-old debut in April 2012 at Gulfstream,
leading all the way for an 8 1/2-length maiden win, but was sidelined afterward
until last September, returning with a third versus entry-level allowance foes
at Belmont Park. After another three-month freshening, Graydar posted a
convincing 4 1/4-length score at Gulfstream on December 8 over second-level
allowance foes, then romped in the February 9 Donn by three lengths and was
exiting a 1 3/4-length score in the 1 1/8-mile New Orleans Handicap back on
March 30. His record now stands at 6-5-0-1, $841,560.

The Kelso was a “Win and You’re In” race for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile but
Pletcher didn’t rule out the Classic when asked about Graydar’s next start.

“We’re going to the Breeders’ Cup but I don’t know that we’ve decided which
race just yet (the Classic or the Mile),” he said. “We’ve got plenty of time to
sort it out.

“Even though they came to him, they never really got by him,” Pletcher added.
“He was still in front the eighth after the finish line and galloped out a
pretty decent mile-and-a-quarter. I think we got, conditioning-wise, enough so
that if he trains accordingly, he might be able to (get the Classic distance of
1 1/4 miles).”

Bred in Kentucky by Will Farish, the son of Unbridled’s Song is out of the
winning Dehere mare Sweetest Smile, who is also the dam of Grade 2-placed Union
Course and multiple Grade 3-placed Star of David. This is the female family of
multiple Grade 1 winner Ron the Greek, who was last seen finishing fourth in the
Woodward; and Grade 2-winning millionaire Musket Man, who finished third in the
2009 editions of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.