WinStar Farm’s Revolutionary broke slowly and suffered through an adventurous
“He didn’t break that sharp and I didn’t panic,” Castellano noted. “I think
Revolutionary got away tardily from the starting gate and had dropped back to
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Revolutionary was rating off the pace along the inside but never appeared to
be traveling well during the early stages, displaying signs of immaturity by
turning his head to the right and acting like he wanted to climb. He stayed
along the inside through the far turn but encountered a wall of horses upon
entering the stretch, forcing Castellano to wait for racing room. A seam between
rivals finally emerged in midstretch and he accelerated through into contention.
Escapefromreality rallied to the lead with less than a sixteenth of a mile
remaining and appeared to be in prime position to win, but Revolutionary kept
coming determinedly with a flying finish, splitting Siete des Oros along the
inside and Escapefromreality to his outside to get up in time.
“The horse has a tendency to not get away cleanly and got himself a little
farther back than we would have liked,” Pletcher’s assistant Michael McCarthy
said. “Things went from bad to worse from there, but Javier (Castellano) didn’t
panic and had faith in the horse. We’ve known all along the horse had ability.
When you are pointing for the Derby, this is a huge steppingstone. That was a
big, big step today against some proven horses.”
“I could have gone around horses at the three-eighths pole because I had so
much horse, but I just wanted to teach him something, have him learn something,”
Castellano explained. “I knew he could get it done; in my mind it was just
waiting for the best opportunity to make a move. That’s exactly what I did, and
he responded so well today. He’s a classy horse.”
Revolutionary earned 10 points in the new “Road to the Kentucky” points
system and the May 4 Run for the Roses is definitely in the plans for the
well-regarded colt.
“Very impressed. Obviously things didn’t go well out of the gate, but he hung
in there and Javier did a nice job of being patient. Finally, when he got some
room, he came running,” WinStar CEO and racing manager Elliott Walden said.
“When you’re looking at a race like the Derby, potentially down the road, to get
that kind of experience, it’s invaluable. Nice race. He couldn’t blow out a
match in the winner’s circle.”
Off at 3-4 odds, Revolutionary paid $3.50, $3 and $2.10 to his supporters
after stopping the teletimer in a respectable 1:44 1/5.
“He kind of got intimidated a little bit between horses, he’s a young horse,
but I really like the way he did it,” Castellano said. “He split horses,
finished very strong, and galloped out great. He’s a horse with potential.
Handicapping the race, I would have liked to be close to the pace — second,
third, or fourth. It didn’t work out that way, he didn’t break that good, and I
ended up almost last on the first turn. But the way the race developed, he
learned a lot and I think he’s going to go forward.”
Runner-up Escapefromreality, the 16-1 fourth choice in the wagering, finished
1 3/4 lengths clear of the 9-1 Siete des Oros. Amerigo Vespucci wound up another
length back in fourth and was followed by Champion Boy, Smooth
Bert, Valid and Long River.
Revolutionary placed in his first three starts sprinting before breaking his
maiden by an eye-catching 8 1/2-length margin in his two-turn debut at Aqueduct
on December 28. He is from the first crop of 2007 champion two-year-old colt War
Pass, who carried his speed to wins in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Grade 1
Champagne, but it’s no surprise to see the dark bay colt relish longer distances
given the stamina influences in his outstanding female family.
Bred in Kentucky by Will Farish, Revolutionary hails from an outstanding
female family. His dam, the A.P. Indy mare Runup the Colors, won the Grade 1
Alabama Stakes at 1 1/4 miles in 1997 and finished second in a pair of Grade 1
events, the Spinster and Ballerina, in 1998. She is also the dam of Grade 2
runner-up Tafaseel and Runup the Colors is out of the Grade 2-winning mare Up
the Flagpole, who produced four graded/group stakes winners including Broodmare
of the Year Prospectors Delite, the dam of Horse of the Year Mineshaft and
multiple Grade 1 queen Tomisue’s Delight.
After initially selling for $80,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September sale,
Revolutionary was purchased by WinStar for $235,000 at last year’s OBS March
two-year-old sale.
With the $120,000 payday from the $200,000 Withers, Revolutionary has now
earned $188,500 from a 5-2-1-2 record.
Walden was asked what’s next for the very promising colt.
“We’ll talk with Todd (Pletcher) and we’ll see,” Walden said. “I’d be inclined to take
him to Florida (to train) and regroup until that last round of preps. Probably
just one more race (before the Derby). This proved he’s worthy to keep on the
trail. This race was worth three in terms of education.”
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