Glorious Empire Can't Be Caught in Ft. Lauderdale

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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Leslie Martin
Glorious Empire runs gate-to-wire to win the Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park

As recently as June, Glorious Empire was there for the taking. For the claiming price of $65,000, someone could have picked up the 7-year-old gelding with the spotty record and history of bleeding to see if there was any life in those old legs. 

The lens of hindsight can showcase some remarkable images, and for trainer James Lawrence II and owner Matthew Schera, that June 28 day at Delaware Park is one they look back upon with enormous gratitude. No one thought it was worth it take the son of Holy Roman Emperor off their hands. Six months and three graded stakes wins later, it turns out there is real potential for them to have those same hands full of Eclipse Awards hardware next month.

Five years after his debut at Kempton Park in November 2013, patience, faith, and circumstance have come together in perfect-storm fashion for the venerable Glorious Empire. Left to his own volition on the front end in the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream Park Dec. 15, the brown gelding made easy work of a dozen challengers when he headed every point of call en route to his 2 1/2-length victory over Qurbaan.

If there is a division that has lacked consistency, the turf male ranks have been it this year as only Heart to Heart—who hasn't won since April—notched more than one grade 1 win in 2018. With victories in the Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) and Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T), Glorious Empire launched himself into the conversation of those with Eclipse Award potential. While those aspirations appeared to go by the wayside following his last-place finish in the Nov. 3 Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), his late-career surge in the second half of the season has made him, at the very least, a strong candidate to be a finalist for divisional honors.

"Someone called me and said maybe he'd be in line for an Eclipse Award, so we really targeted this as the squeaky wheel gets the oil," Lawrence said of his charge. "We had a great campaign in Saratoga and went into the Breeders' Cup pretty confidently, but … ultimately, he just didn't handle the turf. We took good care of him, and this was the next target for us. As he keeps checking off the list for us, he takes all the credit."

Lawrence's time with Glorious Empire has been well-spent, to put it mildly. The gelding joined his barn following a disastrous run in the Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup Stakes (G2T) in September 2017 that saw Glorious Empire eased through the lane after suffering the latest in what had been a series of bleeding incidents.

He was then freshened until April, when he finished sixth in the Henry S. Clark Stakes at Laurel Park. He rebounded next time out to win an optional-claiming allowance race at Delaware Park by four lengths and then headed to the Spa, where he notched his first shocker by dead-heating for the victory in the Bowling Green with eventual grade 1 winner Channel Maker.

Those thinking that run was a fluke had a position to reconsider after Glorious Empire couldn't be caught at odds of 15-1 in the Aug. 25 Sword Dancer.

"It's an incredible feeling to have a horse like this and an owner like Matt Schera," Lawrence said. "Even when you talk about it, I get cold chills up the back of my neck."

Glorious Empire's early speed was certainly put to use when he landed in post 1 in the 13-horse field for the Fort Lauderdale. With Hall of Famer Edgar Prado guiding him through the 1 1/8-mile race over good ground, he was allowed to cut fractions of :23.57 and :48.13 while holding a 2 1/2-length advantage over fellow grade 1 winner Hi Happy tracking him in second.

Hi Happy had a brief moment of trying to threaten Glorious Empire as they reached the far turn, but the latter kicked away entering the top of the lane and was unchallenged to the wire.

"The instructions were very easy. The horse loves to be on the lead," Prado said. "My only concern was (Blacktype). If the horse didn't chase me, I was able to take a nice, easy lead and try to slow it down and have something left in the end, and that's exactly what happened in the race.

"When I asked him, he really gave me a good kick. He finished running really strong."

Sent off at 7-1 odds, Glorious Empire covered the distance in 1:48.44, with Qurbaan finishing three-quarters of a length in front of Hi Happy in third. Inspector Lynley and Divisidero completed the top five, with race favorite Almanaar sixth.

Bred in Ireland by Patrick Grogan out of the Pivotal mare Humble And Proud, Glorious Empire improved his record to 10 wins from 25 starts, with earnings of $966,227. Having demonstrated his affinity for the Gulfstream course, Lawrence said the next target for the gelding could be the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1T) Jan. 26.

"We'll definitely think about the Pegasus World Cup (Turf), but it'll all be up to Matt," Lawrence said.

Video: Ft. Lauderdale S. (G2T)