John Kimmel and Nick Sallusto were the direct underbidders on a 2-year-old colt by Flatterat the Ocala Breeders' Sales March 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale this year. Working on behalf of Sean Flanagan's Flanagan Racing, they were unable to match the winning bid of $1.3 million.
A month later, they snagged a colt by freshman sireMcKinziefor Flanagan at the OBS Spring juvenile sale, and on Sept. 2 at Saratoga Race Course, that colt won a thrilling stretch duel with the one they lost out on in March, with Flanagan's Chancer McPatrick edging out Ferocious at the wire in the $300,000 Hopeful Stakes (G1).
Ferocious, favored at 3-5, and Irad Ortiz Jr., in the saddle replacing the injured Javier Castellano, sat off the rail several lengths behind pacesetters Smoken Wickedand Mentee. Moving wider approaching the three-eighths pole, Ferocious was in a perfect position to take the lead. Meanwhile, Chancer McPatrick had circled the field six-wide after lagging at the back of the pack.
Appearing to tire and drifting out while Chancer McPatrick was surging, Ferocious nonetheless refused to give in when Chancer McPatrick approached. Ferocious accelerated to keep pace with his rival, who hit the wire a half-length in front after seven furlongs in 1:23.44. He paid $10.80 to win.
"I thought Ferocious might have been dead, but he picked up Chancer McPatrick on the outside, and they both came on very strong," said a grinning Kimmel.
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Watching from the clubhouse boxes, Flanagan's eyes were glued to the live race and not the television.
"My eyeballs aren't that good, but I knew he was coming," said Flanagan, who admitted that he was more nervous than he'd ever been at a race. "He was right there with Ferocious, who is such a great horse, too."
It's perhaps a good thing that Flanagan's eyes didn't pick up what happened at the start of the race, or those butterflies in his stomachmight have felt like pterodactyls.
"I hit the gate and lost my stirrups," said jockey Flavien Prat. "It was pretty bad. The first jump he went right into the starting gate. From there, I regrouped.
"I was basically trying to give him a good race and see if he would make a run. I got to the three-eighths pole and I found I had horse underneath me.I was like, 'Wow, I'll give him a chance,' and he responded right away.'I never thought from there I could regroup. He did it, and he showed that he's very talented."
Gustavo DelgadoJr., assistant and son to trainer Gustavo Delgado, said of Ferocious'runner-up performance: "He seemed to be a little bit distracted. When the winner passed him by, he got engaged in the race. On the gallop out, he passed the winner again. They're still learning every race and expectation is there for all of them—but it was still a huge race."
Delgado Jr. also said that Ferocious lost his left front shoe during the race.
McKinzie (Street Sense) stood this season for $30,000 at Gainesway near Lexington. Chancer McPatrick is his sire's most accomplished runner to date and first stakes winner. Entering Monday, McKinzie was the seventh-ranked first-crop stallion in North America and is now the first member of his stallion class to sire a grade 1 winner.
The bay colt is out of the Bernardini mare Bernadreamy, and his second dam is the grade 1 winner Dream Empress (Bernstein), who retired with earnings of more than $763,000. He was bred by Rigney Racing.
"I have to give credit to Nick and to John for picking the horse out," said Flanagan. "I had shoulder surgery the day before the sale, so I was a little bit out of it.
"John called and said, 'I really don't want to bother you, but there's one horse at this sale that I think you need to buy.'
"I told them to give it a shot. I was on the phone with them and I just told them to keep raising their hands."
They did, and $725,000 later, they've got a grade 1 winner with a bright future.
"If he stays healthy, he's got a big chance in his 3-year-old career," said Kimmel. "I'm very excited for Mr. Flanagan, because he's put a lot of money in the game, and it's nice to see him have some success."
Chad Brown closed out the Saratoga meet in fine fashion, winning five races Monday and running away with the training title with 45 wins. He summed up the last stakes of the meet succinctly.
"Man," he said in the winner's circle. "What a run and what a finish."
