Conditions Suit First Captain in Spa's Curlin Stakes

If First Captain  goes on to win the Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) three little words could wind up playing a huge role.

After the undefeated 3-year-old son of Curlin   won his stakes debut, the July 5 Dwyer Stakes (G3) for a third-straight win, trainer Shug McGaughey said First Captain would either train up to the Midsummer Derby at Saratoga Race Course or be tested around two turns for the first time in the July 31 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2). In the Jim Dandy, Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1) winner and the division's 2-year-old champion Essential Quality  would be a formidable presence.

Then a caller mentioned the aforementioned trio of words to Terry Finley, president and CEO of West Point Thoroughbreds—the largest stakeholder in the colt's ownership group that also includes his breeder Bobby Flay, Siena Farm, and Woodford Racing. While there's a widespread mistaken belief that the July 30 Curlin Stakes at Saratoga is restricted to horses that have not won a graded stakes at 3, the conditions actually say it's restricted to 3-year-olds who have not won a graded stakes "over a mile in 2021."

Since First Captain had just won the grade 3 Dwyer at a flat mile—not longer than a mile—there was a mini-celebration over the capability to take another patient step with the $1.5 million yearling buy, allowing him to prep for the Travers in restricted company while racing around two turns for the first time in the $120,000 Curlin for 3-year-olds at a 1 1/8-mile distance.

"It's always good to have a chance to take another step forward and that put a smile on all of our faces when we learned we had the option in the form of the Curlin," Finley said. "It won't be a pushover. There are some really nice horses in the race who are doing the same thing we are. We're not taking anyone lightly but we have a lot of confidence in our colt and so does Shug and his team. He's in the right hands."

First Captain has been the center of attention for the past two years since he was consigned by Stone Farm and became the $1.5 million co-sale topper at The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's New York Sale of Selected Yearlings. Though he did not make his debut until April 24 of his 3-year-old season, he quickly made up for lost time by winning a seven-furlong maiden race and a mile allowance contest before the Dwyer.

Yet with just three starts under his belt and none beyond a mile, McGaughey was happy to give First Captain an all-important first race around two turns against 3-year-olds with the same limited resume as his colt, instead of knocking heads with proven and more experience graded stakes winners in the $600,000 Jim Dandy Saturday at the same nine-furlong distance as Friday's Curlin.

"I'd much rather face Essential Quality down the road than right now. He's a very good horse and he's well-advanced with more racing and maturity than our horse has," McGaughey said. "First Captain is still playing catchup because he didn't race at 2 and didn't make his first start until late April. But his future is in front of him and I think he's going to be a very good horse. He's been doing very well. He came out of the Dwyer better than how he went into it. He likes it up here in Saratoga and we're looking forward to running him two turns and seeing how he does."

Bred by Flay, First Captain is the first of four foals from the A.P. Indy mare America, who hails from the family of Better Than Honour, dam of classic winners Jazil  and Rags to Riches . He has 2-year-old and weanling full sisters and a yearling half brother by Uncle Mo  .

The connections of First Captain are not the only ones viewing the Curlin, which drew seven, as a steppingstone to bigger and better things.

"This will be the real test to see where our horse is at," said Saffie Joseph Jr., who trains Collaborate . "It's a good race to meet good horses but not the heavy shooters. Hopefully there aren't any heavy shooters in there."

Owned by Three Chimneys Farm and e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Collaborate was an auspicious maiden winner in late February at Gulfstream Park, romping by 12 1/2 lengths at a flat mile. He returned a month later in the Curlin Florida Derby Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G1) and was sent off at 9-2 odds, but wound up fifth, beaten by nearly 15 lengths. Joseph suspects the son of Into Mischief   flipped his palate during the race and had his breathing restricted. After a third-place finish at 2-5 odds in the Roar Stakes, the ownership group had a minor throat procedure performed on the colt to correct the issue.

The result was rather profound: a sparkling 5 1/4-length score in a June 20 allowance optional claimer at Gulfstream Park.

"He's always made some gurgling noises as he runs and in the Florida Derby he shut down so quickly it's likely he had some breathing issues. It wasn't like he tired at the eighth pole. He was traveling fine and then was empty," Joseph said. "He had a throat procedure which seemed to help him and this will be the big test. He came back and won convincingly in an allowance race and will face much better horses here, so we'll find out if he's legit. I think he has the class to do it. He's very capable of competing in races like this."

Bred by Three Chimneys and sold to Mike Ryan, agent, at The Saratoga Sale for $600,000 from the Denali Stud consignment, Collaborate, like every other runner in the field, could punch his ticket to the Travers with a strong effort Friday.

"If you look at him physically and from a pedigree standpoint, he wants to go a mile-and-an-eighth or a mile-and-a-quarter. The Curlin will tell us where to go. If he wins convincingly, we'll definitely go to the Travers. But it's one step at a time," Joseph said.

Though First Captain is the field's lone graded stakes winner, Dynamic One  finished within a head of collecting a 1 1/8-mile graded stakes win that would have excluded him from the Curlin. The son of Union Rags   was the leader in midstretch of the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) but was collared in the final strides by 72-1 longshot Bourbonic  and settled for second.

Owned by Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable, he subsequently finished 18th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and has not raced since.

"He got a good freshening after the Derby, and we've been thinking about the Curlin since then," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "He's trained accordingly, and we'll see if he can make a move forward. He and (Longines Kentucky Oaks [G1] winner and Coaching Club American Oaks [G1] runner-up) Malathaat  trained quite a bit together at Belmont Park and made good companions on a similar schedule."

Bred by the Phipps Stable, he was bought by Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable for $725,000 from the Claiborne Farm consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

The field also includes Beren , who may be cross-entered in the Aug. 1 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at 6 1/2 furlongs; Snow House , who was third in the Dwyer; allowance winner Harvard ; and maiden winner Miles D .

Entries: Curlin S.

Saratoga Race Course, Friday, July 30, 2021, Race 9

• STK
• 1 1/8m
• Dirt
• $120,000
• 3 yo
• 5:39 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Miles D (KY)	Joel Rosario	118	Chad C. Brown	10/1
2	2Snow House (KY)	Manuel Franco	120	Brad H. Cox	8/1
3	3Harvard (KY)	Luis Saez	120	Rodolphe Brisset	6/1
4	4First Captain (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	124	Claude R. McGaughey III	7/5
5	5Beren (PA)	Frankie Pennington	124	Robert E. Reid, Jr.	5/1
6	6Collaborate (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	120	Saffie A. Joseph, Jr.	6/1
7	7Dynamic One (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	118	Todd A. Pletcher	4/1