Keith Desormeaux in a post-race interview after Confidence Game won the Rebel at Oaklawn. (Coady Photography)
Oaklawn Barn Notes by Robert Yates
HOT SPRINGS, Ark.— Trainer Keith Desormeaux has returned to Oaklawn in search of another stakes victory with a modestly priced Keeneland September Yearling Sale graduate.
On the heels of My Boy Jack ($20,000) and Confidence Game ($25,000) comes former bad boy Surveillance, who is entered in Saturday’s $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3) for older horses at 6 furlongs.
A 6-year-old gelded son of millionaire multiple Grade 1 winner Constitution, Surveillance brought just $25,000 at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Now a multiple stakes winner armed with $470,367 in career earnings, Surveillance is another rags-to-riches story for Desormeaux, the older brother of Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.
“That was Constitution’s first year and out of a dam that was unproven,” Keith Desormeaux said Wednesday afternoon. “I could never get away with getting that horse for $25,000 now. Keeneland’s the source of the champion, but also a source of bargains.”
Illustrating those bargains, My Boy Jack won the $500,000 Southwest Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds in 2018 at Oaklawn. Confidence Game, in his last start, won the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) for 3-year-olds Feb. 25 at Oaklawn. While My Boy Jack and Confidence Game flourished as young horses, Surveillance needed 10 starts to break his maiden.
“He’s a good horse, but he was a battle,” Desormeaux said. “He defined the word rogue when he was younger. He would prop and refuse to train and rear up and take the gap at a full gallop. I just tried what I could with him, giving him breaks, trying to be the best horseman as possible. But I had to go to the ultimate equipment change, finally. That seemed to do the trick. He allowed himself to train and when that happened, the talent emerged.”
After being gelded, Surveillance broke his maiden Jan. 1, 2022, at Fair Grounds. He’s never been worse than fifth in 13 subsequent starts, highlighted by three sprint stake victories at Fair Grounds – $175,000 Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 24, $100,000 Richard R. Scherer Memorial Dec. 26 and the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Jan. 21.
“He’s a very talented horse,” Desormeaux said.
Desormeaux, who co-owns Surveillance, is seeking his fourth career Oaklawn stakes victory. His first came with Sonneteer, a Calumet Farm homebred, in the $125,000 Fifth Season for older horses in 2018.
Surveillance, 6-1 on the morning line for the Count Fleet, has a 6-3-5 record from 23 starts overall. James Graham is named to ride.
