Juddmonte's Artorius Posts Promising Maiden Victory
Image:
Description:
Photo: Coglianese Photos
Artorius wins a maiden special weight at Belmont Park
When a stallion with grade 1 wins at a route is paired with a mare who was a grade 1-winning sprinter, the hope is that the offspring will possess the speed of mom and the stamina of dad.
Of course, it doesn't always work out that way as Juddmonte USA general manager Garrett O'Rourke knows all too well.
"Sometimes they get the speed of the sire and the stamina of the mare," he said with a laugh.
Yet for now it seems that combo is working out quite well for Juddmonte's homebred Artorius , who broke his maiden June 10 at Belmont Park while displaying all of the correct and promising attributes of his sire and dam.
A son of the late Arrogate, a multiple top-level winner at 1 1/4 miles, and the Ghostzapper mare Paulassilverlining, a grade 1-winning sprinter, the 3-year-old Artorius scored a three-quarters of a length victory for trainer Chad Brown in a mile $90,000 maiden special weight test that gave off the impression of big things to come.
"He's a nice mix of the sire and dam," O'Rourke said. "He had a few issues early on but Chad always had a very high opinion of him. He ran well the first time and confirmed his quality today. Fingers crossed we can move on to something bigger."
Artorius closed from sixth at the eighth pole in a six-furlong sprint to finish second by 1 1/2 lengths in his April 16 debut at Keeneland.
A 3-5 favorite Friday, Artorius ($3.30) was fourth after a half-mile in :46.61 and covered the one-turn mile in 1:35.07 under Irad Ortiz Jr.
He is the first of three foals from Paulassilverlining, a $1,516,230 earner who won the Humana Distaff Stakes (G1) and Madison Stakes (G1) in 2017 after she was bought by Juddmonte and turned over to Brown. She has also produced a 2-year-old Into Mischief filly named Parameter and a Tapit filly born this year.
Arrogate, who died in 2020, won the Travers Stakes (G1), Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1), and Dubai World Cup Sponsored by Emirates Airline (G1), all at 1 1/8 miles or more. He earned $17,422,600 in his spectacular career for Juddmonte and trainer Bob Baffert.
As for what's next, O'Rourke said he would talk with Brown and the Juddmonte family but listed the July 29 restricted Curlin Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for 3-year-olds at a two-turn distance as a possibility—if the breeding continues to hold up.
"You hope he continues to get that balance from his sire and dam," O'Rourke said. "At the moment he is answering the question that he can stretch out."
Harrell Ventures and CHC's Gasoline , a 3-year-old Curlin colt trained by Todd Pletcher, was second in the field of seven by five lengths over Whisper Hill Farm's Winit , a son of Tapit trained by John Kimmel making his 3-year-old debut.