Prevalence Prevails in Commonwealth Stakes
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Photo: Rick Samuels
Prevalence pulls clear in the Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland
Godolphin's homebred Prevalence sat off a brisk pace set by 6-5 favorite Nashville April 9 before drawing clear to win Keeneland's $300,000 Commonwealth Stakes (G3) for older sprinters. The 4-year-old son of Darley stallion Medalgia d'Oro covered the seven furlongs over the sloppy (sealed) strip in 1:22.47.
The victory was foretold by the score of his younger half brother, Emirates Road (by Quality Road ), who won the day's second race, a maiden special weight at the Lexington track. Both are out of the Ghostzapper mare Enrichment , now a producer of three stakes winners. Enrichment is a daughter of Sahara Gold, a grade 2 winner at Keeneland in 2000 for Robert McNair's Stonerside Stable.
Prevalence, the 5-2 second choice, was a 2 1/2-length winner of the Commonwealth over 45-1 outsider Long Range Toddy .
"He's a really good horse," said trainer Dallas Stewart of the runner-up. "He ran his last couple of races at (Oaklawn Park) and I really felt like he just didn't like Oaklawn. He had liked it in the past, but just wasn't the same.
"He has new owners (Redha Al Tajer, Faisal Chunawaka, Kanwal Sandeep, and Mohammed Ali Farooq's Zenith Racing)—Willis Horton sold him. I told them, let's get him out of Oaklawn and find a place and he'll be fine. He showed up today."
Nashville was quick out of the gate under Luis Saez and zipped through an opening quarter-mile in :22.12 while being chased by Prevalence and Long Range Toddy. They remained in the trifecta through a half in :44.61. Nashville soon relinquished the lead while the winner came with a three-wide bid and the runner-up remained along the rail. Long Range Toddy held off O Besos for the second slot by a head. Surveillance , who was fourth early, held that spot on the wire.
Nashville yielded readily and finished last of 10.
Tyler Gaffalione was aboard the winner for trainer Brendan Walsh. The bay was given an extended break after a sixth-place effort in the Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) and an eighth-place finish in last spring's Pat Day Mile Presented by LG&E and KU (G2) at Churchill Downs. He made his 4-year-old bow Feb. 5 at Gulfstream Park with a fifth-place effort at seven furlongs, then popped with a 4 3/4-length score March 5 at a mile against allowance optional claiming runners in South Florida.
"He ran great the last time," Walsh said. "We gave him a break last year and he came back unbelievable. He's super physically, as well as everything else. He's been training super and we were hoping he would confirm it today. It was a tough field, but I think he was impressive.
"We just gave him a little bit of time last year; there was nothing major wrong with him," Walsh continued. "He just got to a point where we had to back off and give him a chance. His brother, who won earlier—he had a similar deal last year which took us a while to get him to the races, too. But they've shown that they are worth the wait."
The $174,375 first-place purse pushed Prevalence's earnings to $288,225. He has four wins from seven starts.
Enrichment has an unnamed 2-year-old colt by Frosted and an Uncle Mo yearling colt. She was bred to Medaglia d'Oro for 2022.