When high-dollar action is on the line, Colonel Liam finds his way into the spotlight.
He first did so in April 2019 when he lit up the ring at Ocala Breeders' Sales, bought for $1.2 million during the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Then he commanded attention again Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park by winning in the $981,700 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T).
The Todd Pletcher-trained son of Liam's Map shed traffic on the second turn and accelerated down the stretch to edge stablemate Largent by a neck in an exciting renewal of the 1 3/16-mile contest. He earned $549,000 for owners Robert and Lawana Low, and the prestige of the race likely assures him an eventual career at stud.
Trainer Todd Pletcher had his fingerprints all over Saturday's result, not only with a 1-2 finish but having also trained Liam's Map, winner of the Woodward Stakes (G1) and the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) in 2015.
Although Liam's Map achieved his success on dirt, it wasn't until Colonel Liam shifted to turf last summer that he began to realize his potential. Following two modest efforts in dirt races, he debuted on grass at Saratoga Race Course in July and immediately won an allowance by 2 3/4 lengths—leading his connections to pursue stakes with him. He next ran a troubled fourth in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes last August and returned to take the Tropical Park Derby Dec. 26 at Gulfstream.
Though he lacked any graded stakes experience heading into the Pegasus World Cup Turf, the betting public accurately pegged him as the 5-2 favorite. After sitting in midpack for the first mile under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., as 2019 juvenile champion Storm the Court set the pace with fractions of :48.69 and 1:12.85, Colonel Liam justified his backing with his late kick. Angled out into the center of the course, he outkicked the inside-rallying Largent, winner of last month's Ft. Lauderdale Stakes (G2T) at Gulfstream.
The winner finished on firm turf in 1:53.09, paying $7.
Ortiz pumped his fist in jubilation as the colt galloped out past the wire. It was the jockey's second win in the Pegasus World Cup Turf after winning the 2019 race aboard the Chad Brown-trained Bricks and Mortar, the eventual 2019 Horse of the Year for owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence.
"This is just unreal. It's fantastic," Robert Low said in a post-race television interview. "I've got to give the credit to our wonderful trainer, Todd Pletcher, (our) wonderful rider, Irad Ortiz. We had a great combination. We had the horse, we had the trainer, we had the rider, and they got it done."
Only the Mike Maker-trained Cross Border prevented a 1-2-3 sweep for Pletcher with his trio of runners when he grabbed the show over Pletcher's Social Paranoia, who settled for fourth.
"I couldn't be more pleased with the way they all ran," said Pletcher. "It was a heck of a race between Largent and Colonel Liam at the end. I thought Social Paranoia put in a huge effort from the 12 post. Just really, really happy with all three of them."
The Pegasus World Cup Turf drew horses from the East and West Coast, but the race's invaders from California didn't contend late. Next Shares ran the best of the western group to be sixth, while the others finished in the rear half of the field. Anothertwistafate, the 7-2 second choice after taking the Jan. 2 San Gabriel Stakes (G2T) at Santa Anita Park, faded to last after pressing the pace.
Colonel Liam, bred in Kentucky by Phillips Racing Partnership, improved his record to 4-for-6 and advanced his earnings to $690,965. He is the first stakes winner from six foals out of the unraced Bernardini mare Amazement and one of her two winners overall. She also has a placed 3-year-old filly named Lovely Dee (Shackleford), a 2-year-old Tapiture colt, a yearling colt by Arrogate, and was reported bred to Copper Bullet .
Colonel Liam appears to have inherited some of his turf prowess from his second dam, Wonder Again (Silver Hawk), winner of the 2004 Diana Handicap (G1T) at Saratoga.
"He showed us a lot of ability in his couple of starts on the grass," Pletcher said of Colonel Liam. "We felt like he was getting better and better. We loved the way he handled the turf in the Tropical (Park) Derby and he had trained great. We were very optimistic. He's a little less experienced than some of the other horses but I think this proves his quality."
Bloodstock agent Jacob West purchased Colonel Liam for his owners from Wavertree Stables' consignment at OBS, where the colt had turned heads by working a quarter-mile in :20 4/5. He had previously been a $50,000 purchase by Ron and Suzanne Fein in the name of Waves Bloodstock at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, where he was consigned by Darby Dan Farm.
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