Apr 27

Apr 27 Sid Fernando: Training for Classic

SID FERNANDO, NAT

John C. Oxley's champion two-year-old colt Classic Empire made both a literal and figurative come-from-behind run to put his name back into the Kentucky Derby picture when he won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, a $1 million classic prep with 100 Derby points to the winner, at Oaklawn Park on April 15. Trained by Mark Casse, the son of Pioneerof the Nile's classic aspirations had looked bleak earlier in the season. He'd run third in his highly anticipated season debut, the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park on February 4, behind Irish War Cry and Gunnevera -- a surprising result, not so much because he lost to two good horses, but because he was well back in third place and didn't offer much of a challenge. A heavy favorite in the race, Classic Empire had shown none of the fighting spirit in the Holy Bull that had characterized his two-year-old campaign, which had begun early -- he'd successfully debuted over four-and-a-half furlongs on May 4 at Churchill Downs -- and included close but battling victories in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill and the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita. In the latter race, he'd repelled the highly regarded Not This Time by a neck after a furious fight in the stretch, with the pair finishing seven-and-a-half lengths clear of Practical Joke, the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner. The Juvenile was the type of performance that was defining the ethos of the champion, though he did win the Grade1 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland by three lengths. This pugilistic impression had enabled Classic Empire to compile a record of four wins from five starts at two. His only "loss" last year, in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, was a "DNF," or "did not finish," the result of his rider falling off at the start. Classic Empire appeared to be more like Nyquist, the previous year's juvenile champion who also had a reputation for fighting out finishes, than American Pharoah, the two-year-old champion from 2014 who appeared far superior to his contemporaries. Together, Nyquist and American Pharoah have started a mini trend of two-year-old champions going on to classic success at three, and Classic Empire resembles them in one way or another. There have been plenty of recent juvenile champs that haven't made the transition to classic winners at three -- Shanghai Bobby, Hansen, Uncle Mo, Midshipman, and War Pass are a few examples -- but Classic Empire, despite being an early juvenile colt, has a pedigree similar to American Pharoah's and one that suggests he'll be even better this year as the distances increase. His sire, Pioneerof the Nile, ran second in the Derby and is a son of Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker, himself a son of Derby winner Unbridled. At stud, Pioneerof the Nile got the 2015 Triple Crown winner in his second crop. There are other similarities to American Pharoah. Classic Empire and American Pharoah are both out of Storm Cat-line mares. Classic Empire's broodmare sire, Cat Thief, by Storm Cat, was third in the Derby and won the Breeders' Cup Classic in 1999. American Pharoah's broodmare sire, Yankee Gentleman, also by Storm Cat, was a speedier horse whose lone stakes win came at six furlongs. If the surface reading of their pedigrees gives Classic Empire the edge in stamina, this is further bolstered by the class of his female family. Classic Empire's fifth dam, William Haggin Perry's foundation mare Alanesian, was a font for class and a daughter of the influential Alablue. Alanesian's daughter, the Princequillo matron Quillesian, who is Classic Empire's fourth dam, produced Perry's champion three-year-old filly Revidere; the third dam, Forever Waving, by Hoist the Flag, was bred by Claiborne, Perry's partner. The long story short: there's depth and class and a combination of speed and stamina in this family, and a classic victory for Classic Empire would make him an outstanding stallion prospect. Ironically, both American Pharoah and Classic Empire were under the gun to make the Derby. The former suffered a foot injury that forced him to miss the Juvenile, and his trainer, Bob Baffert, needed every day from then to the Arkansas Derby to put the finishing touches to American Pharoah's Derby preparations. Likewise, Casse has had to retool Classic Empire's preparations since the Holy Bull, and we've since found out the colt has had a foot abscess, a back issue, and some mental challenges to overcome. Regarding the latter, there was evidence before the Holy Bull that the colt wasn't quite right as he sweated and fretted before the race, and afterwards it was well publicized that he had balked at training. Casse's expert horsemanship, like Baffert's, saved the day. Casse moved the colt to a new location, Winding Oaks; treated Classic Empire's mind and body; and got Classic Empire to Oaklawn ready to run. And the colt won in the manner we've come to expect from him -- not by a flashy eight lengths, like American's Pharoah's Arkansas Derby, but by a half-length. The race should set him up well up for the Kentucky Derby, which is the goal for any owner of a top three-year-old. Oxley is lucky. He won the Derby with Monarchos in 2001, and he knows there are financial rewards for winning the classic. But he also knows there's only one Kentucky Derby, and it's the race everyone wants to win.

First published in North American Trainer issue 44 - May - July 2017

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