Think Big captures the Kelso (Susie Raisher)
Keith McCalmont/NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Think Big proved a stretch out in distance was well within his range, surging late to overtake 9/5 favorite Intellect and capture Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Kelso, a one-mile inner turf test for older horses on Day Three of the July 4th Racing Festival, at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Michael Stidham, the 4-year-old Twirling Candy gelding had made his six previous starts at 5 1/2-furlongs, taking the Grade 2 Shakertown in April at Keeneland and the Grade 2 Turf Sprint in May at Churchill Downs. With his Kelso score, he avenged a troubled off-the-board effort as the favorite last out in the Grade 1 Jaipur here and opened up options for potential targets down the road.
Stidham said the idea of stretching Think Big out in distance had always been on his mind.
“At some point, we were going to try stretching him at least up to a mile,” Stidham said. “After what happened last time where he got off bad and had no chance, we thought, ‘OK, here’s our chance to do it.’ He had won two Grade 2s in a row going five and a half [furlongs], so it wasn’t something we were going to do out of those races, but when the last race went sideways, we decided now’s our chance.”
Donegal Momentum, last-out winner of the Grade 3 Poker here, broke alertly from post 4 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano but the Irad Ortiz, Jr.-piloted Arzak was hustled from post 6 and led the field into the first turn as Win for the Money traveled up alongside Donegal Momentum.
Arzak established a clear advantage into the backstretch to mark the opening quarter-mile in 23.14 seconds before Castellano asked Donegal Momentum to advance and narrow the margin through a half-mile in 46.43. Meanwhile, Ortiz and Think Big were content to stalk from fourth position to the outside of Intellect with that pair advancing smartly into the final turn, avoiding Donegal Momentum, who stumbled suddenly when otherwise traveling well.
Intellect, with Flavien Prat up, and a wide-rallying Win for the Money loomed large late in the turn with the former overtaking a tiring Arzak in upper stretch. However, Think Big was full of run and reaching for more ground with his terrific turn-of-foot, angling to the outside of Arzak and surging to the inside of Intellect at the sixteenth pole to score by one-length in a final time of 1:32.81.
“That was a good trip. Horse was traveling good every step of the way,” Ortiz said. “Unfortunately, something happened with the four [Donegal Momentum], I don’t know what, it was a bit scary, but I was able to make it through without any contact. I was able to get a nice trip, I split horses, and my horse gave me an explosive kick.”
Prat said he felt he had to move a little early due to Donegal Momentum’s misstep.
“The trip was OK. I had to move soon because the horse, [Donegal Momentum] I don’t know if he slipped or something, but it changed my plan and then I got to the front, and you wait on horses after that,” Prat said.
Stidham said he wasn’t sure Think Big was going to have the momentum to secure the win as the field straightened away.
“It looked like we were dropping back and really, I didn’t think we were going to have much of a shot,” Stidham said. “Then all of a sudden, he did what he did going five and a half, which is rare for a horse to have the turn-of-foot at five and a half and going a mile. That’s what made it impressive to me.”
It was 1 1/4-lengths back to Win for the Money in third with Neat, Mountain Bear, Arzak and Donegal Momentum rounding out the order of finish. Nantasket Beach and main-track only entrants Wynstock, Yo Daddy, Bank Frenzy, and Game Warden were scratched.
Tom Morley, trainer of Donegal Momentum, said all appeared to be in good order with Donegal Momentum, who kept his footing and raced through the wire.
“He went down on his nose, Javier said, ‘I was a foot off the ground, he came up underneath me, and galloped through the wire fine, jogged back fine,’” Morley said. “Thank God he appears to be OK. We’ll check him out top to toe obviously, but thank God he appears to be OK.”
Stidham said Think Big’s performance likely earned him a shot in the Grade 1, $750,000 FanDuel Fourstardave on August 2, a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile in November at Del Mar.
“It certainly [comes into play], without a doubt. Hopefully that could be our Grade 1 that we missed out on last time,” Stidham said.
Think Big, out of the stakes-winning Street Sense mare Always Thinking, banked $96,250 in victory while improving his record 11-6-0-1. He returned $15 for a $2 win bet.
Live racing resumes Sunday at Saratoga with a 10-race card to close out the four-day July 4th Racing Festival, kicking off at 1:10 p.m. Eastern. Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.
