Collected to Prep for Pegasus in San Antonio
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Photo: Skip Dickstein
Collected gallops in the early morning at Del Mar
The questions about Collected during much of his racing career were never about his talent.
As a son of City Zip, the concern about his ceiling was always related to distance. Handicappers questioned whether he could go long, and even his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, had his doubts about whether the colt could go nine furlongs or farther.
But in the back of co-owner Peter Fluor's mind, a personal connection to a horse deep in Collected's pedigree gave him an inkling distance wouldn't be a problem. Collected's fouth dam, Allicance, was sired by two-time Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Alleged, a horse Fluor's father, Bob Fluor, owned 25% of.
The impact of five generations deep of pedigree may not be measurable, but it was enough for Fluor—who co-owns Speedway Stable with partner K.C. Weiner—to not rule anything out.
"It just all clicked. Maybe that's an omen," Fluor said. "Everybody says, 'How far can a City Zip run?' But I know Alleged could run very far. He could run all day."
At a certain point, however, pedigree was no longer an issue for a horse like Collected. Since he returned from an extended layoff at what Fluor calls the "Speedway Spa" in Lexington after a sloppy, 10th-place run in the 2016 Preakness Stakes (G1), Collected's will to win, regardless of the distance, has never been in question.
Collected rolled into the 2017 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) on a four-race win streak, which included an upset of stablemate Arrogate in the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic (G1), and he never stopped trying to the wire after a duel with Gun Runner Nov. 4 at Del Mar and finished second behind the overwhelming favorite for Horse of the Year.
BALAN: Collected Outlasts Arrogate in Pacific Classic
"All horse owners deal with, 'What happened today and why didn't he run better?'" Fluor said. "Thus far, his deportment on the racetrack, as far as trying—he has a very enviable record. He always tries."
With that in mind, Speedway and Baffert have their eyes on another shot at Gun Runner in the Jan. 27 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park, but first comes the prep for the Pegasus Dec. 26 at Santa Anita Park, in the $300,000 San Antonio Stakes (G2).
Collected will be favored in the 1 1/16-mile San Antonio. The only question that remains is what that price will be. He's undefeated in five starts at Santa Anita, and with an outside draw in the field of six, should be able to carve out an ideal trip under jockey Mike Smith.
In to challenge Collected is grade 1-winning stablemate Hoppertunity, the defending San Antonio winner, and Hronis Racing's Accelerate, who stunned Arrogate in the July 22 TVG San Diego Handicap (G2), but has finished third to Collected in their two meetings in 2017—the Pacific Classic and the June 24 Precisionist Stakes (G3).
BALAN: Hoppertunity Grinds Out Another San Antonio Score
The other graded winner in the field is Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) winner Giant Expectations, who is winless in five tries at two-turn races, including a sixth-place run last time out in the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1).
As Collected shifts from the horse seemingly everyone had doubts about, to potentially the top runner in the handicap division once Gun Runner retires, the fortunate nature of Speedway's tremendous early success is not lost on Fluor. Along with Collected's achievements, since the partnership began racing in 2015, Speedway has won the grade 1 Diana and Gamely stakes with Hard Not to Like and the 2016 Chandelier (G1) with Noted and Quoted.
Knowing the difficult aspects of owning horses since the age of 6, Fluor again looks back to a connection with his father.
"He taught me a lot of good things and a lot of things he'd do differently, from the time I was 6 until (his death in 1984)," Fluor said. "My dad was in the game for so many years, and he didn't win the Pacific Classic, didn't win the Diana (G1), and didn't have a horse in the Breeders' Cup. I fully understand how fortunate we are."
Santa Anita Park, Tuesday, December 26, 2017, Race 3Entries: San Antonio S. (G2)
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Hoppertunity (KY)
Flavien Prat
122
Bob Baffert
5/1
2
2Top of the Game (KY)
Kent J. Desormeaux
120
Vladimir Cerin
6/1
3
3Giant Expectations (NY)
Gary L. Stevens
120
Peter Eurton
15/1
4
4Prime Attraction (KY)
Victor Espinoza
122
James M. Cassidy
6/1
5
5Accelerate (KY)
Javier Castellano
124
John W. Sadler
5/1
6
6Collected (KY)
Mike E. Smith
124
Bob Baffert
3/5
