NEWS
Regal Ransom easy winner, Kelso on the radar
Posted: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 5:05 PM
by Mike Curry
Godolphin’s Group 2 and Grade 2 winner Regal Ransom dispatched Grade 2 winner Cool Coal Man in early stretch and cruised to a 3 1/4-length win in the fourth race on Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course.
The four-year-old Distorted Humor colt completed the 1 1/8-mile optional claiming race in 1:49.33 on a track rated as fast. Regal Ransom earned his first win since he defeated Blame by 1 1/4 lengths to win the Super Derby (G2) last September at Louisiana Downs.
After the Super Derby, Regal Ransom finished eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) in November which was followed by a long freshening. He returned on July 3 and finished fourth in the Suburban Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park in his only start prior to Wednesday’s win.
“We thought the comeback spot was a good place to run, but the one-turn, mile and an eighth clearly makes it tough on a horse like him,” Rick Mettee, assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, said of the Suburban. “In a race like [today’s], you can steal away a length or two just on the turn.”
Regal Ransom set the tempo through a half-mile in :48.33 and six furlongs in 1:11.99 with Cool Coal Man stalking from second. Grade 3 winner Atoned finished 11 3/4 lengths behind Cool Coal Man in third.
Mettee said Regal Ransom could use Wednesday’s front-running score as a prep for the Kelso Handicap (G2) at Belmont on October 3.
“He had his ears pricked out of the gate, and I thought he relaxed a lot better than he did first time out,” Mettee said. “He’s a fast little horse, so he’s always going to take a little bit of a pull. It was good that he was able to get in a small field without a lot of pace in there because he’s been in some tough spots, so it’s good for him to win a race again.”
Out of the Red Ransom mare Kelli’s Ransom, Regal Ransom is a half brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Devil May Care. He improved to four wins from ten starts, including the 2009 S & M al Naboodah Group United Arab Emirates Derby (UAE-G2), and earnings of $1,799,400.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
