Fandom rallies for the Palisades victory (Keeneland Photo)
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Keeneland Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.— Stonestreet Stables’ Fandom (GB) rallied five wide in the lane to pass Mansa Musa (IRE) in deep stretch and post a neck victory in the Palisades (L).
Trained by Wesley Ward and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Fandom covered the 5½ furlongs over a turf course rated as good in 1:02.83. It is the second victory in the race for Ward, who saddled Chasing Artie in 2021.
Favored No Nay Mets (IRE) shot to the front out of the gate and led the field through fractions of :21.59 and :44.53 while being pressured by Silent Heart and Refuel as Fandom raced in midpack.
At the top of the stretch, the top three remained unchanged with Mansa Musa launching a bid along the inside and Fandom coming from the outside. No Nay Mets began to retreat at the eighth pole with Mansa Musa taking over briefly only to be caught late by Fandom.
A winner on debut here last spring over this course by 6¾ lengths, Fandom is a son of Showcasing out of the Pivotal mare Brogan. Now two for three in his career, Fandom was making his first start since last June at Royal Ascot in England when he was 11th in the Coventry (G2). Fandom earned $113,150 for the victory that boosted his bankroll to $145,375.
Fandom returned payoffs of $17.50, $9.80 and $6.80. Mansa Musa, ridden by Junior Alvarado, returned $14.60 and $8.74 and finished three-quarters of a length in front of Refuel, who paid $6.30 to show under Luis Saez.
It was another neck back to No Nay Mets, who was followed in order by Mattingly, Silent Heart, Shards, My Boy Prince, Aspenite, Coin Miner, Ceepeegee and Committee of One.
Quotes for the $250,000 Palisades (L)
Wesley Ward (winning trainer of Fandom [GB]): “Last summer at Saratoga he had a lung infection, so we sent him back to (Stonestreet Stables owner) Barbara (Banke’s) farm to Ian (Brennan) and they got him healed up. They trained him all winter long and did a fantastic job. The first day he got here I knew all I had to do was put him on cruise control. We had Julio Garcia breeze him from the gate to sharpen him up out of there a little bit. Last week when (Fandom) worked with Love Reigns (IRE), and Julio was on Love Reigns, he said, ‘Wesley, the colt was a little better,’ so I knew we were going to be really, really good coming in here. I have to give all the credit to Ian. He did a great job getting him here. He ran a great race today. We’ll have to sit down with Barbara and her team and Ian and (Ben) McElroy, who bought the horse, and see what they decide. Royal Ascot (in England in June) is always on the top of my list, but we don’t want to overmatch anything. We’ll see where we’re at and hopefully the horse can continue to get better.”
Jose Ortiz (winning rider): “I anticipated there was going to be a lot of speed. He (Fandom) was coming off the layoff, so I wanted to sit off the speed a little bit. (Trainer) Wesley (Ward) told me to. He knows the horses very well, and he said the horse was ready. He did an amazing job. The horse was ready to go. Actually he dropped his speed when we were going into the turn but when he felt the 3 horse (Mansa Musa-IRE) coming inside of him he picked it up again, and that’s when I decided to go outside and he gave me a very nice kick.”
Junior Alvarado (rider of runner-up Mansa Musa [IRE]): “I had a great trip today. He just kind of missed the break. Sometimes those European horses don’t like many people in the gate. He was a little hesitant but after that we had a great trip on the rail when I turned for home. He got through there and just barely missed.”
Luis Saez (rider of third-place finisher Refuel): “Good trip. We broke from the 12 hole on the outside. He was traveling pretty nice. He kind of feels a little bit green. When we came to the straight, he was a little bit everywhere. He’s learning, today is his third time running, but he ran with tough horses. I feel like he will have a big future.”
