Schwarzenegger shows his moxie. (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Favored Schwarzenegger muscled his way to the front out of the gate and never trailed in posting a half-length victory over Obliteration to win the Indian Summer (L) Presented by Keeneland Select for 2-year-olds.
Trained by Wesley Ward and ridden by John Velazquez, Schwarzenegger completed the 5½ furlongs on a firm turf course in a stakes-record 1:02.28. It was the fourth stakes win of Fall Stars Weekend for Velazquez.
Schwarzenegger led the field through fractions of :21.17 and :44.05 while under token pressure from Zeus’s Echo. At the top of the stretch, Schwarzenegger increased his margin and had enough left to hold off Obliteration, who rallied up the inside.
A Keeneland sales graduate, Schwarzenegger is a Kentucky-bred son of Not This Time out of the Lemon Drop Kid mare Soothsaying. Now 1-for-2 in his career, Schwarzenegger has earned $199,025.
Schwarzenegger returned $6.64, $4.30 and $3.30. Obliteration, ridden by Jose Ortiz, returned $4.70 and $3.28 and finished a neck in front of Rogue Legend (GB), who paid $3.72 to show under Flavien Prat.
It was another nose back to Bobrovsky with Trendsetter, Azizam (GB), Uncle Bucky and Zeus’s Echo following in order.
Racing resumes Wednesday with an eight-race program beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Keeneland will offer a Super Hi Five carryover of $50,245.
Quotes from the $300,000 Indian Summer (L) Presented by Keeneland Select
John Velazquez (winning rider of Schwarzenegger) On winning five races yesterday and another stakes today: “It’s so exciting to be around at my age and get an opportunity from the trainers and owners, getting opportunities to ride these kinds of horses. It’s exciting. It’s hard to be in the game, being competitive and winning races. It puts a fire on me, so it’s very nice.”
On how the race was run: “We know he’s super-fast. Even out of the gate, he’s so fast out of there I had to let him jump for three or four jumps before I tried to get a hold of him. He came out running, and all I tried to do was to save him for the end. I don’t think the grass was a favorite today, so I got a good hold of him all the way to past the three-eighths pole to try to save it for the end and lead them all the way around. (Trainer) Wesley (Ward) had him ready, to go from a maiden (special weight) to running against winners in a stakes race — that’s a big tip for him.”
Wesley Ward (trainer of Schwarzenegger and third-place finisher Rogue Legend-GB): “We always thought a lot of him. (Jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) has been winning races for me for 25 years, so early on in the year we tried to come up with what we thought was the best 2-year-old for him. (Jockey) David Flores was on (Schwarzenegger) too, and I said, ‘Which one, David?’ and he said, ‘This is (Johnny’s).’
“We got here to Keeneland in the spring and (Schwarzenegger) didn’t quite work on the dirt like (that surface) was going to be it, but as soon as we got him over to the grass, it was like, wow, David was right. We really saw his potential. We had a lot of unfortunate things at Saratoga. He’s the unluckiest horse. We couldn’t get the race to go, because every time he was in on the grass it rained; they took it off and we had to scratch. Finally, we got him in, and he ran a good race, his first start (finishing second in a maiden special weight Aug. 29), and that race really tightened him down. He really showed his true ability today.
“We’re heading to the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf Sprint-G1). He’s a sprinter and that’s a very fast track out there at Del Mar. It’ll be firm; we won’t have any weather issues, and it won’t be 5½ (furlongs) like it was today. Johnny said there was a lot of moisture in the track today; they watered it pretty good. So, when we get to Del Mar it should be great for him, and it’s also 5 (furlongs) instead of 5½. So, everything’s heading our direction now.”
Jose Ortiz (rider of runner-up Obliteration): “(My trip) was good. I actually got shuffled back a little on the turn. The horse in front of me stopped so I had to back off a little and follow Junior (Alvarado on Bobrovsky). That cost me the race for sure. I think he could have won the race with a better trip.”
Flavien Prat (rider of third-place finisher Rogue Legend-GB): “I had a good trip. I saved ground when I tipped him on and had a good run. At one point, I thought I had a chance to run them down, but just not good enough today.”
