Grandview Equine, Cheyenne Stable, and LNJ Foxwoods’ Olympiad established himself as a contender to reckon with amongst the older horse division with a commanding, track-record setting victory Feb. 19 in the $250,000 Mineshaft Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The Bill Mott-trainee stalked a quick early tempo set by Silver Prospector and turned away that stubborn foe in the final furlong to land his first graded stakes win.
The lightly raced son of Speightstown turned heads last month with a dominating allowance optional claiming score at Gulfstream Park and was no secret heading into Saturday’s Mineshaft. He was sent off as the slight favorite over fellow Payson Park Training Center shipper Miles D from the Chad Brown barn.
Multiple graded stakes winner Silver Prospector, a consistent player in the Midwest circuit over the past few years for trainer Steve Asmussen, was gunned to the front under jockey Joel Rosario and led the field past a quarter-mile in :24.18 and half-mile in :48.11. Prompted by Olympiad around the bend, the duo slugged it down the lane until Olympiad overpowered Silver Prospector inside the eighth pole, surging clear by 3 lengths under the wire.
Silver Prospector held second by a length over second choice Miles D, who made a mild bid in the stretch and finished a neck ahead of O Besos in third.
Olympiad clocked the 1 1/16-miles on a fast main track in 1.42.01, besting the old Fair Grounds track record by .01 second.
“That’s the kind of horse that makes your job really easy,” said jockey Junior Alvarado after the race. Alvarado had partnered Olympiad to his Gulfstream allowance win and believed the added distance of the Fair Grounds stretch only helped the long-striding colt.
“I think the longer stretch helped him a lot,” said Alvarado. “He’s a horse that doesn’t quicken too quick, he needs a sixteenth of a mile or longer before he starts picking it up and he showed that today.”
The run to the wire at Fair Grounds is 1,346 feet in comparison to the 898 feet at Gulfstream Park.
Chad Brown felt the 1 1/16 miles of the Mineshaft was too short for Miles D and said the Curlin colt would "concentrate on 1 1/8 mile and 1 1/4 mile races from now on and hopefully get back to the winner's circle."
Olympiad, fourth in the 2021 Cigar Mile Handicap presented by NYRA Bets (G1) in his only other stakes attempt, increased his earnings to $348,440 after the Mineshaft. Bred in Kentucky by Emory Hamilton, he brought $700,000 as a yearling at the 2019 Keeneland September Sale from Solis/Litt agent out of the Gainesway consignment. His dam, the graded stakes-placed Tokyo Time (Medaglia d'Oro ) is a half sister to graded stakes winners Hungry Island and Soaring Empire in addition to Flying Dixie, the dam of grade 1 victor and sire Preservationist .
Tokyo Time has an unraced 2-year-old filly by War Front who sold for $450,000 at last fall's Keeneland September Sale to Larkin Armstrong from the Gainesway consignment, and a weanling American Pharoah colt. She was sent to Quality Road for 2022.
Video: Mineshaft S. (G3)
Calvary Charge Ekes Out Score
The third-longest shot on the board at 35-1, Calvary Charge dashed to the front and held off a late-charging trio to claim the $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes (G3T).
While Calvary Charge floundered over the softer turf in his previous start at Fair Grounds, he relished the firm grass Saturday, breaking alertly and vying for the early lead with last year's Mr. D Stakes (G1T) winner Two Emmys. After a reasonable first quarter in :24.79, Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. nursed the son of Honor Code through a sluggish half-mile in :49.70 and six furlongs in 1:14.10, leaving his mount with plenty left in the tank as they turned for home.
Halo Again and Santin made bids at a determined Calvary Charge half-way down the stretch as did the Chad Brown-trained European import Adhamo, who, comprised by the languid fractions, made a late seven-wide run down the center of the track but fell short of catching Calvary Charge by a head at the wire.
Owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, William Sandbrook, and Robert Masiello, Calvary Charge raced the 1 1/8 miles in 1:53.06. Adhamo, making his North American debut, saved second by a head over Halo Again. Santin was another neck back in fourth in an exciting four-way blanket finish.
"It got close," said Hernandez after the race. "We felt them coming. Our horse was running hard but you know with horses like that in a graded race, they're going to keep coming at him, which they did, but he's gutsy and fought it out to the end."
"We ran into a wet turf course last time and he struggled but today Brian (Hernandez) rode (Calvary Charge) great," said trainer Dallas Stewart. "He knows him really good.
"We're just going to keep on rolling with him. We'll be here at the end of the meet for the big one (the March 26 Muniz Memorial Classic (G2T)."
Upping his earnings to $394,956, Calvary Charge landed his first black-type victory in the Fair Grounds Stakes.
The 5-year-old gelding was bred in Kentucky by Glencrest Farm and is out of the winning Candy Ride mare Sweet Talkin, a half sister to grade 1 winner Adieu and graded stakes winner Rapport. Masiello and West Point Thoroughbreds picked up Calvary Charge for $375,000 at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale from the Four Star Sales consignment.
