For the last few months, the connections of Kentucky Derby (G1) beaten favorite Angel of Empire have been saying, the more distance the better for their 3-year-old.
Come Saturday afternoon, Angel of Empire will get plenty of distance. More than he's ever raced and most likely more than he will ever have to travel in the future.
The grade 1-winning Pennsylvania-bred son of Classic Empire will stretch out from a taxing mile-and-a-quarter distance in the Run for Roses when he was a closing third. He'll be asked to handle an even more grueling mile-and-a-half assignment June 10 in the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (G1) when all of the conjecture about Albaugh Family Stables' Angel of Empire's distance-loving nature will be put to a marathon test at Belmont Park.
"This is as far as he'll ever go. At the end of the mile and a quarter (in the Kentucky Derby) he was running and I think a mile and a half is right up his alley," said Jason Loutsch, an owner and racing manager for the Albaugh stable. "It's an exciting time. I think this race fits him perfectly. We could have skipped it and pointed for a race at Saratoga but you only get one year when you can run in the classics. They're important and we're excited about being in this race.
"The big million-dollar question is who can get a mile and a half. It's a tough race but we're excited for the opportunity to see if he belongs."
Trained by Brad Cox, Angel of Empire inherited the role of Kentucky Derby favorite when Forte was scratched on the morning of the opening jewel in the Triple Crown, but it was certainly warranted.
A winner of two of three starts at 2, he opened 2023 by rallying from seventh to finish second in the mile Smarty Jones Stakes. The colt bred by Forgotten Land Investment and Black Diamond Equine then closed from ninth to take the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and in his final Triple Crown prep moved up from seventh to take the Arkansas Derby (G1) by a convincing 4 1/4-length margin.
"It looked like he hit his best stride in the Risen Star at the sixteenth pole. He stayed on," said Cox, who won the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality , who was also the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby. "In the Arkansas Derby he won by open lengths and stayed on again."
In the Kentucky Derby, Angel of Empire was 16th early and trailed by 13 lengths at one point, then rallied seven wide on the turn. He closed with some late life in the stretch but finished a half-length behind runner-up Two Phil's and 1 1/2 lengths in back of the victorious Mage .
"He was getting to the other horses in the Kentucky Derby," Loutsch said about the $70,000 purchase from the Warrendale Sales consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale who has earned $1.3 million. "I've probably watched the race a thousand times just to see different things and what went on in the race, but I thought the way he was on the rail and then weaved to the seven path on the turn we had a chance. But the other horses didn't back up. He was close at the end, but it wasn't meant to be."
Since the May 6 Run for the Roses, the son of the To Honor and Serve mare Armony's Angel has put in a pair of unusually fast works in :59 4/5 at Churchill Downs and will race with blinkers on Saturday, indicating he should be considerably closer to the pace than he was five weeks ago.
"Like Essential Quality, he's doing well at this point and he is continuing to develop. He's definitely getting bigger and stronger and better. We like what we've seen in his works since the Derby," said Cox, who will also start Hit Show and Tapit Shoes for different connections in the 155th Belmont. "He appears to be a horse who can get a mile and a half. He has plenty of leg underneath and plenty of scope. Hopefully he likes the track."
How he handles the track is indeed a mystery. He's never raced at Belmont Park. But the distance? That's what Angel of Empire and his connections have been eagerly awaiting.
"People have their doubts about him, but he gives his best every time and I hope he can give us one more big run. He has a big shot if he runs like he has been," Loutsch said. "It should be a tremendous race."
