Drafted Eyes Stateside Return After Dubai Success

A well-traveled gelding from humble beginnings is back in the United States for the first time since his 2-year-old season and could appear among the entries for the Nov. 29 Fall Highweight Handicap (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Drafted, who spent the past few years competing in Dubai and Saudi Arabia for owners John and Kathy Hyde of Misty Hollow Farm, returned to the U.S. this summer and has been training steadily at Belmont Park for David Duggan. The 6-year-old son of Field Commission was a $10,892 purchase by Brian Gleeson for Misty Hollow from Godolphin's Racing in Dubai September Sale in 2017 and went on to win multiple grade 3 events at Meydan for trainer Doug Watson after recovering from an injury that almost ended his career. 

"He was very well bought," recalled John Hyde. "The sale over here has worked out beneficially to a lot of people, and he's done fantastically well. He's been like a part of the family, so we're missing him, but we're hoping he can do well there in the U.S., and one of the main reasons he's gone there is because we know he'll be well taken care of by David Duggan." 

Hyde and Duggan executed their plan to bring Drafted back to the States when racing in Dubai was canceled due to COVID-19. The longtime friends and fellow Irishmen had another Irish native to thank for Drafted's early days—trainer Eoin Harty, who bought the gelding for $35,000 from Kim Harrison's consignment to the Ocala Breeders' Sales March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

"I went to the 2-year-old in training sale just looking for something affordable and precocious," Harty recalled. "I went to April Mayberry's barn, who has been a good friend of mine, and asked if she had anything that would fit the bill. She said she really didn't, but her friend next door in the same barn had a very nice horse that did fit the bill, and I really should take time to look at it. Kim brought out this horse by an obscure stallion, but he looked like he was fast. Kim is very honest and you get so many stories at these sales, but Kim had no reason to (B.S.) me. His pedigree didn't indicate he would cost a lot of money, but he looked like a runner."

Drafted was bred in Florida by John Foster, Barbara Hooker, and Field Commission Partnership out of the Darn That Alarm mare Keep the Profit. His dam was a nurse mare the breeders had leased the year before for an orphan foal, Harty said, and they were contractually obligated to put the mare back in foal for the following season.

"They didn't have a teaser but they had Field Commission, and that's where Drafted came from," Harty recalled. "The only reason I bought him was because April told me to look at him and Kim vouched for him. I think I still have a picture on my cell phone of the day I bought him. He looked the part, and as it turned out, I was quite shocked at myself for finding this little gem. 

"You have to hit all the boxes all the way. The breeders wanted to stay in for a piece and I didn't need any partners on the horse, but I agreed and told them I planned on getting the horse ready as quick as possible because I planned on running at Keeneland," Harty continued. "I took him from OBS to Tampa in 10 days and put a gate work in him, put a gate work in him up at Keeneland before the race, he won there and set a track record, which still stands, and Godolphin came along and bought him. The whole thing happened so quickly—it couldn't have been 90 days from the time I bought him until the time I sold him. We got a good return on him."

Racing for Harty and P.R. Laird, Drafted made his debut in April at Keeneland, where he smoked 4 1/2 furlongs in :50.45 to set a track record, which stands today (eventual group 1 winner Lady Aurelia ran the closest, :50.85, a few days prior).

The fleet display intrigued Godolphin, which boldly sent him to the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot, where he ran 17th on "bottomless ground," Harty said. "I think it was the wettest Royal Ascot in history, and he was in trouble from the get-go."

Back in the States, Drafted made an August bid at the Best Pal Stakes (G2) at Del Mar but was sixth after stumbling at the start. It was after that race, in a morning workout, that his career almost came to an end.

"He suffered a nasty condylar fracture, and Dr. Wayne McIlwraith put all sorts of screws, wires, and pins in there," Harty recalled. "It looked like a science project, but Dr. McIlwraith has the reputation he has for a reason. Initially, I didn't think he could be saved, and then I didn't think he would amount to anything more than a riding horse. But he's been an overachiever his whole life, and he's been good to everybody he's been connected with."

Harrison remembered going to visit Drafted in Kentucky and taking pictures with him when he was recovering from his surgery. "They gave him all the time he needed to recover," she said. "They had all the right equipment, the cold-water spa, all the treatments he needed."

Drafted was sidelined until December 2017, when he returned at Meydan in his first start for Misty Hollow. The Hydes named their operation in honor of Kathy Hyde's mother, Carol Merrill, who grew up on a sheep farm in New Jersey named Misty Hollow Farm.

"We have a huge emotional attachment to Drafted," John Hyde said. "The money came for us to spend for him on a whim—Kathy's mother passed away and left us a bit of money, and we decided to buy a racehorse."

"When they took him over to Dubai for the sale, nobody called me on the horse except for Doug Watson," Harty recalled. "I said, 'He's a very nice horse and if he comes back from the surgery, he's well worth taking a chance on.' And I'm happy to see he's been a success story for his new connections."

"He's done fantastically well since his second start here. He's run up his conditions and made the transition from handicaps to graded stakes racing and stakes racing, which is a big step," John Hyde said. "Last year he qualified for the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) and got a little unlucky there and was also unlucky that X Y Jet turned up."   

Drafted last ran in the Feb. 29 Saudia Cup Sprint, where he finished sixth. His victories include the 2018 Garhoud Sprint Sponsored By Al Tayer Motors and the Al Shindagha Sprint Sponsored By Jebel Ali Port (G3) and Mahab Al Shimaal Sponsored By Emirates Skywards (G3) in 2019.

"He has an extremely unusual style of dirt racing in that he comes from a bit off the pace—actually, 'a bit off' is an understatement," John Hyde said. "Last year, he just didn't seem to have that closing kick that he usually has. We're hoping he can regain the form he showed in 2019 and do well in the States."

Duggan, whose stable ranges between 12-15 horses, has had plenty of time to get a good handle on Drafted.

"He did a stint in Maryland on the Aquatread and we got him in the barn and he's been working very well," the trainer said. "I want to get another work in him and see, but it's hard to get the type of races to go where he's eligible. He's won so much money ($686,633), I'd have to look out of town at Laurel or Parx. 

"On his best form, he belongs here. If I can get him back to the form Doug Watson had him in—he did a great job with the horse. So if I can regain that form, it'll warm up the winter for me."