Bruce Lunsford’s homebred Art Collector roared past the filly Swiss Skydiver at the eighth pole and drew off to a 3½-length victory Saturday afternoon in the 96th running of the $600,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G2) for 3-year-olds.
Lunsford has owned and bred horses for decades and has always been a big fan of racing at Woodbine. One of his best horses was STACKED DECK, a homebred who was Canadian champion sprinter in 2015.
Lunsford, a successful Kentucky businessman, co-founded Vencor, an eventual Fortune 500 company. Later, he was unsuccessful in two major political bids in the state, first for Governor in 2007 and later for a U.S. Senate seat.
Trained by Tom Drury Jr. and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Art Collector picked up 100 qualifying points toward the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) to be run Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs. With Saturday’s victory, Art Collector has 100 points, good for fourth place on the leaderboard. The Kentucky Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners that pass the entry box.
The filly Swiss Skydiver, who is the runaway leader in points for the Kentucky Oaks (G1), picked up 40 points in her first race against males. That total matches Toyota Blue Grass third-place finisher Rushie, who is not Triple Crown nominated. Enforceable picked up 10 points for finishing fourth to boost his total to 43, good for 12th place.
Breaking from post one, Shivaree shot to the early lead with slight favorite Swiss Skydiver and Art Collector in closest pursuit. Under Mike Smith, Swiss Skydiver moved to the lead midway down the backstretch with Art Collector following right behind.
The two leaders quickly opened daylight on the rest of the field, dueled on even terms through the top of the stretch before Art Collector drew clear. Art Collector covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast main track in 1:48.11. He received a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.
The victory was worth $360,000 and increased Art Collector’s earnings to $548,475 with a record of 8-4-1-0. Art Collector is a Kentucky-bred son of Bernardini out of the Distorted Humor mare Distorted Legacy.
Art Collector’s dam DISTORTED LEGACY won her career debut at WOODBINE in 2010 for trainer Barbara Minshall who trained her at the beginning and end of her career. Distorted Legacy was fourth to Perfect Shirl in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.
This is the second foal of the mare; her first was Soldier in Pink, who was placed for Minshall.
Toyota Blue Grass Quotes
Brian Hernandez Jr.: “We had picked (to ride) Art Collector after his allowance race (in November 2019 at Churchill Downs). Kenny (McPeek, trainer of Swiss Skydiver) wasn’t sure if he was going to try the Blue Grass or the Ashland. And I was committed to Art Collector for the Blue Grass. We had a lot of confidence in Art Collector but it just goes to show you what a tough decision it is.”
What stood out to you about his performance today? “He’s a really good horse. If you go back and watch all his replays, he’s just a very athletic horse. I think one of the most impressive races he ran was the day at Churchill he got shuffled around and almost fell down. I almost pulled him up, but he ran again. From that day on, we always believed he was a really good horse. It’s been a fun ride.”
Any hesitation about him getting the 1¼-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby? “No. You see him today going a mile and an eighth. They’re all 3-year-olds, and we’re all going to be trying to go a mile and a quarter. We’ve got one of the Derby favorites now, so you’ve got to be excited.”
Tom Drury on his journey with Art Collector: “It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster ride. Everybody was fighting the same thing with COVID-19 and the uncertainty. I’m at a loss for words. It takes a village to get these things; there’s a lot of people who have done their part. I’m just honored to be able to share this with my staff and everyone that worked to get him here.”
What makes this colt so good? “It’s just him. He’s very versatile, very classy. He’s just the whole package.”
Have you thought much about the Kentucky Derby? “It took me my whole life just to get to this one win. I’m going to enjoy this one and we’ll worry about that tomorrow.”
Mark Casse, Canada’s perennial Sovereign Award winning trainer, says John Oxley’s Enforceable (4th) is headed to the Derby also:
“He ran well. I don’t think there is any secret out there that there has been a pretty good speed bias and we had to run against it. We ended up fairly wide turning for home and it probably cost us third. But I just wanted a positive race and him finishing. I talked to Mr. (owner John C.) Oxley beforehand and told him we don’t have to win, we just want a good race.
“Now what we want is for him to come out of this race and do well and we’ll figure out one more. I was proud of him today. He broke well, and that’s something we worked hard on because he hadn’t been breaking very well. It was a real positive race.”
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