Royal Anthem blasts to an easy win in the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap

He spent a year in the shadows.

From Great Britain to Ireland to the United States last year, The Thoroughbred Corp.'s regal and majestic Royal Anthem always seemed to be in pursuit, chasing after a gray champion named Daylami (Ire).

Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup H. (G1)
Gulfstream Park, February 12, $194,000, 1 3/8 miles, turf, firm, 2:11.34

1-ROYAL ANTHEM, h. 5, Theatrical (Ire)-In Neon, by Ack Ack.
2-Thesaurus, h. 6, With Approval-Written Word, by Vice Regent.
3-Band Is Passing, c. 4, Pass the Line-Fairforband, by Fairway Fortune.

He came within three-quarters of a length of Daylami at Epsom last June, was not close in Ireland in September, and finished second by 2 1/2 lengths, still in the champion's shadow, in the Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) in November.

But under blue skies on February 12 at Gulfstream Park, and with Daylami retired to stud duty in Ireland, Royal Anthem emerged from the shadows with a glorious performance before a crowd of about 20,000 in the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap (G1).

Under a confident ride by Jerry Bailey, Royal Anthem galloped to the lead around the final turn before drawing off from six opponents to an impressive three-length victory over Gus Goldsmith's Thesaurus, who had run second in the Mac Diarmida Handicap (G3) last month. It was another 3 3/4 lengths to Appleton Handicap (G2) winner Band Is Passing.

Royal Anthem, a five-year-old son of Theatrical (Ire) trained by Bill Mott and purchased by The Thoroughbred Corp.'s Ahmed bin Salman for $500,000 at the 1997 Barretts two-year-olds in training sale, covered the firm 1 3/8-mile turf course in 2:11.34, four-fifths off Yagli's track record set a year ago. Royal Anthem has now won 6-of-12 starts and $1,876,876.

"Nice," said Mott as he entered the winner's circle. "Very, very nice."

Indeed. During a Gulfstream meet that has not produced many memorable moments, Royal Anthem supplied a performance that surpassed most expectations. Simply put, it was a beautiful performance by a wonderful animal. He went off at 2-to-5.

"I would have been disappointed if it was anything less," Mott said.

Not that Royal Anthem's performance was a surprise. Bred in Kentucky by John Franks, Royal Anthem had always performed well, winning the 1998 Canadian International (G1), the '99 Juddmonte International (Eng-G1), and the '98 King Edward VII (Eng-G2) Stakes for previous trainer Henry Cecil. But after finishing fifth in the Irish Champion Stakes (Ire-G1) last September, Royal Anthem was shipped to Mott to prepare for the Breeders' Cup Turf. After finishing second on the Gulfstream turf course in the Breeders' Cup, Mott took aim at the Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Handicap for Royal Anthem's five-year-old debut.

Breaking cleanly from the gate and running on Lasix for the first time, Royal Anthem raced in fourth past the grandstand the first time while longshot Atiba took the field through fractions of :23.63, :47.35, and 1:12.66. As Atiba began to fade, Band Is Passing and Shamrock City took a half-length advantage over Royal Anthem going into the final turn. But midway around the turn, Royal Anthem could not be denied and tugged Bailey to the lead. It was all over after that. Bailey only had to wave his whip at the winner as Royal Anthem increased his lead down the stretch.

"He pretty much did it on his own," said Bailey, aboard Royal Anthem for the first time. "He rated nicely and went to the lead without me really asking. The only time I did ask anything from him was when we headed for home, and he just took off. I had a lot of horse under me at the finish."

The victory was a special one for Mott. The meet's leading conditioner had trained Royal Anthem's sire, Theatrical, to an Eclipse Award as outstanding turf male in 1987.

"He might be as good as his daddy," Mott said. "Sometimes those daddys don't live up to expectations (as sires). But this one does. I was saying earlier in the day we've been feeding off Theatrical for a long time, since 1987. But this one is pretty special for me."

Mott, who trains Royal Anthem for The Thoroughbred Corp., said his long-term goals for the horse this year are the $2-million Arlington Million (G1) and the Breeders' Cup Turf. But before he takes aim at those races, Mott said Royal Anthem may head to Dubai.

"We're considering going to Dubai for a $2-million race at the end of March," Mott said. "If we go to Dubai, he might not run for two or three months. He may run once before the Arlington race, but he may just go into that race, too. It's something we're going to have to decide pretty soon."

Pico Teneriffe's Suwannee

If Gulfstream's meeting extended year-round, Eugene Melnyk's consistent four-year-old filly Pico Teneriffe could be a millionaire by now.

Suwannee River H. (G3)
Gulfstream Park, February 13, $75,000, 1 1/8 miles, turf, firm, 1:47.83

1-PICO TENERIFFE, f. 4, Red Ransom-Ballerina Princess, by Mr. Prospector.
2-Dominique's Joy, m. 5, Strawberry Road (Aus)-Madeleine's Joy, by Theatrical (Ire).
3-Crystal Symphony, f. 4, Red Ransom-Tappity Tap, by Mr. Prospector.

A daughter of Red Ransom trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Jorge Chavez, Pico Teneriffe won her fourth stakes race on Gulfstream's turf course when she ran down Madeleine Paulson's Joe Namath Handicap (G3) winner Dominique's Joy inside the final sixteenth to win the $75,000 Suwannee River Handicap (G3) by three-quarters of a length on February 13. Another 2 1/2 lengths behind in third was Kinsman Stable's Crystal Symphony.

Pico Teneriffe ran the Suwannee River's 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.83 on a firm course, and has won the Sweetest Chant (G3), Herecomesthebride (G3), and Pebbles Stakes on Gulfstream's grass. In five starts on the course, she has never finished worse than third and has earned more than $200,000.

In fact, Pletcher said the filly could still be undefeated on this course if he had not made a poor decision prior to her third-place finish in the Joe Namath on January 16. "I told Jorge to take her back (in the Namath), and we allowed her to get too far back," Pletcher said. "Today, we wanted to make sure we didn't leave her with too much to do."

Unhurried early by Chavez, Pico Teneriffe was sixth down the backstretch but only seven lengths off pacesetter Circus Charmer, who posted fractions of :24.49, :49.26, and 1:12.51 for the first six furlongs. On the final turn, Dominique's Joy drew alongside Circus Charmer, and Chavez followed with Pico Teneriffe.

"I waited early with her outside of horses, but I followed (Dominique's Joy) through along the inside on the final turn," Chavez said. "I swung my horse to the outside in the stretch."

Dominique's Joy was game, but Pico Teneriffe drew alongside her inside the furlong pole before pulling away in the final 70 yards.

"She loves this Gulfstream course," Pletcher said. "We want to stretch her out if we can since the bigger races in the fall are at longer distances. We'll take a look at the Orchid (Handicap [G2] on March 5) because that's a mile and a half. It will be an experiment to see if she'll handle the distance."

Out of the Mr. Prospector mare Ballerina Princess, Pico Teneriffe was purchased by Melnyk for $340,000 at the 1997 Keeneland September yearling sale. Her earnings now total $416,748.

The Very One off turf

There is a running gag at Gulfstream that if someone spits on the turf course, the races will come off the grass. Well, it seems a steady drizzle will supply the same punchline.

The Very One Handicap, scheduled for February 9 over a 1 3/8-mile turf course, was taken off the turf and contested over 1 1/4 miles on the main track after rain fell the previous day and night. The change depleted a race that drew 18 entries to six, and left Frank L. Jones Jr.'s My Sweet Westly, who drew in from the also-eligible list, to take the $75,000 purse. The surface switch cost The Very One its Grade 3 status for 2000.

Trained by Dale Romans and ridden by Pat Day, My Sweet Westly rallied down the stretch to win The Very One by a length over I'm Indy Mood. Manoa, the 4-to-5 favorite, was a half length behind in third. My Sweet Westly, a four-year-old filly by West by West, covered the distance in 2:06.79.

"I'm happy that they took it off the turf," said Romans, whose filly was part of the pari-mutuel field on the turf. "If they hadn't, she probably wouldn't have gotten into the race. I wanted to run her on the turf, but I'll take a win however I can get it."

A winner of 1-of-7 previous turf starts and coming off a fifth-place finish on January 19 on the grass in the Joe Namath Handicap (G3), My Sweet Westly saved ground under Day while racing sixth past early fractions of :24.55 and :49.19 set by Manoa. But after moving My Sweet Westly into third entering the stretch, Day angled his filly outside and got up for the win.

"She started to come on about the three-eighths pole when I called on her and got the job done," Day said. "She was very professional about the whole thing."

Romans said he was not sure where or when My Sweet Westly would run next.

NOTEBOOK-Jeanne Vance's Postponed, beaten favorite here on November 7 in the Rhythm Stakes when he finished sixth, made amends on February 12 when he won an allowance race at 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.35. A son of Summer Squall purchased for $835,000 as a yearling, Postponed was racing for the first time on Lasix for trainer Flint S. "Scotty" Schulhofer. Postponed is nominated for the Florida Derby (G1) on March 11. É Unlike Royal Anthem, who won impressively in his first race since the Breeders' Cup, Mark Stanley's Super Derby (G1) and Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) winner Ecton Park did not find the going smooth on February 12. Despite being in what appeared to be perfect position entering the stretch of a 1 1/16-mile classified allowance race, Ecton Park appeared to flatten out down the stretch under Bailey and finished third. "I'm baffled," said trainer W. Elliott Walden, who was using the race as the colt's only prep before the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1). "I don't think he ran very well." Ecton Park finished 12th on the Gulfstream course in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Dave Joseph is the Turf writer of the Fort Lauderdale News/Sun Sentinel.