Bobby's Wicked One Upsets Commonwealth
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Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt
Miguel Mena pumps his fist after Bobby's Wicked One's victory in the Commonwealth at Keeneland
Highly regarded by his connections, Bobby's Wicked One broke through in a big way April 6 in the $250,000 Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.
The 4-year-old son of Speightstown took the lead and never relented in the seven-furlong sprint, holding off Warrior's Club by 1 1/4 lengths to pick up his first graded stakes score. It was the colt's third straight win for trainer Al Stall Jr. after back-to-back allowance scores in February and March at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Bobby's Wicked One benefited from a perfectly measured ride by Miguel Mena, who nursed him along on the front end and had plenty of horse in reserve off the turn for home. The chestnut colt put up fractions of :22.88, :46.30, and 1:10.37 before kicking clear to win in a final time of 1:22.80.
The Commonwealth marked the second time in graded company for Bobby's Wicked One, who finished fifth in the Dec. 26 Malibu Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park in a better effort than it appears on paper.
"We sent him out to the Malibu and he ran his eyeballs out—couldn't have run any better," Stall said. "He hooked McKinzie and was in a photo for second (finishing fifth by a narrow margin). He came back to New Orleans, we gave him a little breather, and I've never had a horse get in such good form as he's been his last two races. We came into this race with a ton of confidence."
On Warrior's Club, Jon Court expected the frontrunner to fade, but he had to settle for second when Bobby's Wicked One dug in.
"Heck, I thought I'd sure run down the winner, but no one was running him down today," Court said. "I thought I had him measured, but he had the whole field measured. I felt like I had enough (horse) to run the leader down and he wasn't one of my target horses, so I wasn't sweating it. … I felt comfortable up there, I felt like I was in a position to run them down. The horses in front of me, I was right there within a half a length. I thought I could just pull the trigger and run them down, but I couldn't catch him. He outfoxed us all."
Bred in Kentucky by Ramona S. Bass out of the Ghostzapper mare Wicked Charm, Bobby's Wicked One was a $130,000 purchase from Claiborne Farm's consignment to the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The mare produced an Algorithms colt named Super Wicked Charm in 2017, did not produce a reported foal in 2018, and was bred to Tourist for 2019.
According to Stall, the $500,000 Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Twinspires.com (G1) over seven furlongs May 4 at Churchill Downs could be next for his contender.
"Most probably (he'll run in the Churchill Downs)," the trainer said. "He'd be coming back in 28 days in a grade 1, so we'll see, but most likely."
Limousine Liberal, winner of the Churchill Downs in 2017-18, finished half a length back in third. Runaway Ghost, winner of the Sunland Derby (G3) in 2018, was in traffic two wide early and never factored en route to a last-place finish in the field of 12.
"He had a good trip, but the pace on paper looked like it was going to be a lot hotter than the half in :46," trainer Ben Colebrook said of Limousine Liberal. "He was running on at the end picking up horses. I think it will set up up good for winning the Churchill Downs race for the third year in a row. It's always going to be tough for him to win this race coming off a layoff like that, but he always runs good and it's like a building process.
"I think we'll go right back to Churchill for the next race and then do what we did last year: go from there to the (grade 1 Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap June 8 at Belmont Park, where Limousine Liberal ran third in 2018) if everything goes well."