Ancient Rome and Violet Barton at Kentucky Downs Tuesday morning. (Tim Wilkin photo)
By Tim Wilkin
FRANKLIN, Ky.– The defending champ was chilling on Tuesday morning in the barn area at Kentucky Downs.
The 5-year-old Ancient Rome was in a grassy area outside his stall, munching on some grass while being attended to by Violet Barton, an assistant to English-based trainer Charlie Hills.
In four days, Ancient Rome will try to win the Grade 3, $2 million Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs. Last year, he took it by a half-length while going off at 6-1 odds. This time around, he is the 5-2 morning-line favorite.
“Good,” Barton said when asked what the expectations were heading into the Mint Millions. “He ran really well the last time out and he likes it here.”
The last time out was the Grade 1 Arlington Million at Colonial Downs on Aug. 11. He finished third in that race, 2 1/4 lengths behind Nations Pride, who isn’t here. Integration, who was second in the Arlington Million is at Kentucky Downs, but he is running in the Grade 2 $2 million FanDuel TV Kentucky Turf Cup. He is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in the 1 ½-mile race.
After the Arlington Million, Ancient Rome flew back to Hills’ base at Lambourn in the United Kingdom. After a few weeks rest, he was back on an airplane bound for the U.S. After a quarantine at Churchill Downs, he arrived at Kentucky Downs earlier this week to get ready for the Mint Millions.
Ancient Rome, a son of the Claiborne Farm stallion War Front, was bred in Kentucky so he eligible to run for the full purse.
“He shipped really well,” said Barton, who has worked for Mills for four years. “Traveling doesn’t bother him at all. He eats. He drinks. Doesn’t care about it at all.”
Since last year’s Mint Millions, he has gone winless in four starts, and he hasn’t received much respect at the windows. He was 7-1 in the Arlington Million, and those were his shortest odds.
“We were happy with it,” Barton, who accompanied Ancient Rome to Colonial, said. “He was stuck a bit far back.”
Before that, he was 18-1 in the Group 2 Summer Mile Stakes at Ascot where he was second and 28-1 in the Wolferton Stakes, also at Ascot. He finished 20th. Both of those races, he saw soft turf courses; he won the Mint Millions on firm ground.
Barton was on Ancient Rome when he went out for his morning gallop.
“I know him fairly well,” she said. “He is a lovely ride, and he is nice and fresh.”
Barton is also tending to another Hills-trained horse in the Irish-bred Khaadem, an 8-year-old gelding who is the 7-2 morning-line second choice in the wagering behind 6-5 favorite Cogburn in Saturday’s Grade 2, $2 million, six-furlong Ainsworth Turf Sprint.
He has nine wins, two seconds and four thirds in 36 career turf starts. At the six-furlong distance he has six wins in 25 tries. He will be ridden by Jamie Spencer, who is also the jockey for Ancient Rome.
