Synchrony Looks to Take Next Step in Shadwell Mile

Take a look just below the radar in the turf male ranks and you will spot Synchrony, the Pin Oak Stable homebred traveling along with a workmanlike diligence that hints at something bigger on horizon.

The son of Tapit  hasn't yet claimed a top-level win in a division laced with parity this season, but if you are handing out accolades for stone-cold consistency, go ahead and etch the chestnut's name on that trophy right now. Since joining trainer Michael Stidham to begin 2017 and switching surfaces to the lawn, Synchrony has won four graded stakes and not finished worse than third in nine starts.

He has quietly put himself in position to cause a fair amount of disruption at this point in the year. The site of Synchrony's first career victory has a chance to become the place where he officially kicks his way out of the shadows. The 5-year-old takes on grade 1 company for the second time as part of an overflow field of 14 entered for the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1T) Oct. 6, the headline event of Keeneland's opening FallStars Weekend.

Synchrony's two prior visits to Keeneland came during his previous incarnation as a dirt runner who once flirted with the Road to the Kentucky Derby. Under the care of previous trainer Donnie Von Hemel, Synchrony broke his maiden on the main track in October 2015 and went on to run third in the Lexington Stakes (G3) there the following season before going to the sidelines for nearly 10 months.

When he was transferred to Stidham, the plan was always to see how he would respond to a surface switch. He answered that query with a 1 1/4-length score in his first try on the lawn at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in March 2017. After a pair of runner-up efforts against stakes company, Stidham gave his charge the next eight months off to heal old ailments in hopes of giving the potential he was seeing every chance to blossom.

"He did run some good races on the dirt for Donnie but … the reason for sending him to me was to explore the turf angle because Donnie goes to (Oaklawn Park) and there is no grass there," Stidham said. "(Synchrony) had battled through some remodeling into the cannon bone stuff, and when I got him, he had had some time off but he still wasn't quite 100%. After he ran a couple of pretty good races on the grass, we decided we need to get this horse 100%.

"We gave him more time, and when he came back, he's never looked back. He's been really healthy and sound and really remained that way."

Synchrony has left many well-regarded runners in his wake since returning to the races in February.

He scored back-to-back wins in the Fair Grounds Handicap (G3T) and Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2T) to start his 2018 campaign—beating the likes of fellow Shadwell Turf Mile entrants Mr. Misunderstood and Great Wide Open—and he comes into the Shadwell Turf Mile off a pair of victories in the July 29 Oceanport Stakes (G3T) and Red Bank Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park. Even in Synchrony's two losses this year, Stidham gleaned enough positives to believe Saturday's eight-furlong test will go down as the best yet for his charge.

In Synchrony's third-place run over yielding going in the May 5 Old Forester Turf Classic Stakes (G1T) at Churchill Downs, he finished ahead of Channel Maker—who has gone on to win two graded stakes, including the Sept. 29 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Stakes (G1T). And while the 1 3/16 miles of the Arlington Handicap (G3T) proved a bit beyond his scope, Synchrony was still third, beaten only a length by multiple grade 1 winner Divisidero.

"(The Arlington Handicap) was kind of an experiment to see if adding a little distance was going to help or hurt him, and we felt like it definitely didn't help him," Stidham said. "It felt like it took a little of that punch away, that real good turn of foot. … So that is when we backed up in distance, and he's just really moved forward going back to the mile, 1/16 miles.

"We feel real good about him. I think this time of year, after horses run some really hard races, you might catch a horse who is maybe starting to go the wrong way on you. If anything, I think he's really going the right way. From a physical standpoint, he just looks a picture, and his coat and weight are as good as they've ever been."

Synchrony will break from post 6 in the Shadwell field, in which Zulu Alpha and Holiday Stone are also-eligibles.

The Keeneland course has been the venue for some of Heart to Heart's biggest triumphs and worst heartaches. The Brian Lynch-trained son of English Channel  suffered a brutal beat in last year's Shadwell Turf Mile when he was caught late by Suedois, but he left no doubt of his affinity for the course when he captured the Maker's 46 Mile Stakes (G1T) in his typical frontrunning style this spring.

Heart to Heart is the only turf male runner who has multiple grade 1 wins this season, having gotten over the hump in the Feb. 10 Gulfstream Park Turf Stakes (G1T). Getting to the front is key to making his best run, and so is catching the right ground. When he was forced to rate off Voodoo Song over good going in the Aug. 11 Fourstardave Handicap (G1T), he ended up fading to last in the field of six.

Shadwell Stable's Qurbaan served notice in his first North American start this summer, winning the Bernard Baruch Handicap (G2T) by a nose over Forge. The 5-year-old son of Speightstown  was a multiple stakes winner in France before coming over to join trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's shedrow, and the Bernard Baruch marked his first start since October 2017.

"He's a good-feeling (horse), and he's done everything right," McLaughlin said. "He has a beautiful stride and covers a lot of ground. We were not overly confident that we could win (the Bernard Baruch), but we liked the horse. He's won all over the world, literally, and we hope he can improve a bit because he was coming off a long time off."

With Heart to Heart expected to dictate the pace, McLaughlin is hopeful Qurbaan can get a similar setup to his stateside debut.

"We might be having a similar trip mid-pack," the trainer said. "He's a really neat horse, and we hope all goes well."

Analyze It is the lone 3-year-old in the Shadwell lineup and is trying to regain the explosive form he showed over the Keeneland turf in the spring. The Chad Brown trainee was unbeaten in his first three career starts, including the April 6 Kentucky Utilities Transylvania Stakes (G3T), but has been run down late in his past three starts—twice getting caught by eventual Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) hero Catholic Boy and most recently being bested by longshot Carrick in the Aug. 11 Secretariat Stakes (G1T).

Entries: Shadwell Turf Mile S. (G1T)

Keeneland, Saturday, October 06, 2018, Race 10

• Grade IT
• 1m
• Turf
• $1,000,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:49 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Next Shares (KY)	Tyler Gaffalione	126	Richard Baltas	15/1
2	2Divisidero (KY)	Jevian Toledo	126	Kelly Rubley	15/1
3	3Great Wide Open (IRE)	James Graham	126	Conor Murphy	50/1
4	4Imperative (KY)	Albin Jimenez	126	Anthony T. Quartarolo	30/1
5	5Heart to Heart (ON)	Julien R. Leparoux	126	Brian A. Lynch	7/2
6	6Synchrony (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	126	Michael Stidham	8/1
7	7Qurbaan (KY)	Mike E. Smith	126	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	5/1
8	8Multiplier (KY)	Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.	126	Peter Miller	30/1
9	9Analyze It (KY)	John R. Velazquez	123	Chad C. Brown	9/2
10	10Voodoo Song (NY)	Jose Lezcano	126	Linda Rice	6/1
11	11Almanaar (GB)	Javier Castellano	126	Chad C. Brown	9/2
12	12Mr. Misunderstood (KY)	Florent Geroux	126	Brad H. Cox	12/1
13	13Big Score (KY)	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	126	Tim Yakteen	30/1
14	14Bound for Nowhere (KY)	Julio A. Garcia	126	Wesley A. Ward	15/1
15	15Zulu Alpha (KY)	Luis Saez	126	John Alexander Ortiz	15/1
16	16Holiday Stone (KY)	Feargal Lynch	126	George Weaver	20/1