Great races and exciting finishes are expected at the boutique Saratoga meeting but some races overachieve and that was the case with the Grade 2 Kelson Stakes on July 5.
Saratoga spoils us with fantastic racing every day in late July to August, and just 24 hours after a smorgasbord of graded stakes on Independence Day, July 4, there was more good racing on Sunday.
Canadian bred champion MY BOY PRINCE was among the turf stars gathered for the one-mile Kelso, stretching out in distance once again after confirming himself a turf sprinter. Trained by Mark Casse for Gary Barber, My Boy Prince won the Grade 2 Shakertown in the spring at Keeneland but the waters got deeper after that.
The Kelso drew a field loaded of horses who enjoy racing on the pace and one of those was another Barber and Casse charge, MI BAGO, a New York bred gelding by Vekoma, who was coming off a career best effort with a big win in the Kingston Stakes for state-breds in June. But he was 9 to 1 in the Kelso which also included ZULU KINGDOM, a brilliant, multiple Grade 1 winner from the Chad Brown stable.
When the Kelso got underway, it was apparent that no rider was intent on sending their horse to the lead, other than Jose Ortiz aboard Mi Bago.
Zulu Kingdom exited the inside post sharply, as Mi Bago emerged from post 7 inwardly but was hustled to the front by Ortiz to lead through an opening quarter-mile in 24.19 seconds over the firm turf.
Mi Bago was stalked by Itsallcomintogetha, Pass the Hat and Zulu Kingdom, who saved ground from fourth position in the first turn and down the backside through the half-mile in a slow 48.51.
“I wasn’t expecting to go that easy,” Ortiz said. “He was traveling very well the first part and when I asked to him go, he exploded.”
Mi Bago maintained his advantage in the far turn while Zulu Kingdom still traveled inside of Itsallcomintogetha and Pass the Hat, who upset him last out over course and distance in the Grade 3 Poker on June 7. After three-quarters in 1:12.13, Prat split those two rivals and Zulu Kingdom made a sustained run at Mi Bago.
Mi Bago dug in when met with his challenger in the final sixteenth, the win coming down to a head-bobbing photo finish. In a race that neither horse deserved to lose, the result, after a lengthy photo finish delay, was a dead heat in a final time of 1:34.08, with two lengths back to Pass the Hat in third.
Capitol Hill, Tiz Dashing, Itsallcomintogetha, the Casse-trained My Boy Prince, Cruise the Nile, the Brown-trained Cosmic Year and Neat completed the order of finish.
“I thought going into the first turn we were going to be having a decent pace and then they slowed it down,” Prat said. “It ended up being a slow pace and both horses sprinted home. I thought his body was in front of Mark’s horse, I just thought it was a bad situation. It sounded like after the wire he got beat, but I thought it was very tight.”
Casse was initially shocked when Zulu Kingdom was announced as the winner.
“They posted the winner as the ‘one’ [Zulu Kingdom] and then they put up the dead heat. Normally, it’s the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat. I went from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory,” Casse said, with a laugh.
“I’m happy. I was saying out there, ‘I’ll take half of it, I’m not greedy,’” Casse added.
Mi Bago, bred in the Empire State by Highclere, Inc., improved to 18-8-1-0 while securing his first graded victory in his seventh attempt.
“He’s an overachiever. You wish all horses were as tough as he is,” Casse said. Barber bought Mi Bago from Carlos Munoz following his winning debut at Colonial Downs in August 2024.
Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss and Michael Caruso’s Zulu Kingdom improved to 8-for-11 overall. The 4-year-old Ten Sovereigns ridgling began his campaign with a wiring of Keeneland’s Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile ahead of his aforementioned Poker defeat behind reopposing Pass the Hat and Capitol Hill.
“We thought there would be other speed and Mi Bago wouldn’t be loose on the lead,” Dubb said. “So, you know the track is favoring speed, it’s very hard. But you don’t want to go out there and go head-and-head. Flavien had a decision to make and he made the right one – let the speed go and make one run. That’s the way it worked out, it’s horse racing.
Mi Bago is from the Indian Charlie mare Wabanaki, who was unraced but who is a half sister to Canadian champion 2-year-old filly Wavering Girl.
Mi Bago (inside) and Zulu Kingdom, had a thrilling battle to the wire in the Grade 2 Kelso Stakes at Saratoga on July 5 – NYRA photo
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