Mi Bago and Zulu Kingdom nose to nose at the wire, NYRA Photo
Christian Abdo
The pacesetting Mi Bago and the oncoming favorite Zulu Kingdom finished on even terms as dead-heat winners of Sunday’s Grade 3, $225,000 Kelso, a one-mile inner turf test for older horses, at Saratoga Race Course.
Gary Barber’s New York-bred Mi Bago, trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, wired the 1 1/16-mile state-bred Kingston last out on June 3 here under returning rider Jose Ortiz. The 4-year-old Vekoma gelding attempted the same tactics in the Kelso, but the five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown-trained dual Grade 1-victor Zulu Kingdom enjoyed a ground-saving trip under Flavien Prat, and following a lengthy photo finish review, nothing separated the pair.
“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.
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 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 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. Maycocks Bay, as well as main track-only entrants Castle Chaos, Kinetic and Dr. Kraft were scratched.
“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.”
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.
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.
“Congratulations to Mark Casse and Gary Barber, they’re both class acts and I couldn’t be more thrilled to dead heat with them,” Dubb added.
A logical next start for turf milers could be the Grade 1, $750,000 FanDuel Fourstardave on August 8 here, a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile in October at Keeneland.
The winners each earned an $84,375 share of the purse in victory, Zulu Kingdom returning $3.66 for a $2 win bet and Mi Bago a respective $8.40.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Saratoga with a nine-race card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.
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