2020 Eclipse Awards: Volatile
Volatile made a significant impression on the sprint division in 2020. He won all three of his starts by a combined margin of 16 3/4 lengths, capped by a cruising victory in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in July at Saratoga Race Course.
For a campaign in which Volatile also earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 112 for a tour-de-force performance in the Aristides at Churchill Downs, he is an Eclipse Award finalist for outstanding male sprinter of 2020. Volatile, who was retired in September, is a son of Violence who raced for Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbred III. He is from the female family of Grade 1 winner Lady Tak, who like Volatile was conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
The Vanderbilt marked the graded stakes debut for Volatile, who overall won five races from six starts for earnings of $341,040. He swept into Saratoga on the heels of his Aristides coming-out party June 6, and led throughout for 1 1/2-length win in the Vanderbilt.
“This race was very important to us for who he is,” Asmussen told Daily Racing Form in July. “With Phoenix and Three Chimneys owning him, his pedigree, the look he has about him, this was a very significant win for his next career. His first two races this year were absolutely brilliant, I felt very good about getting those two races into him before he met accomplished horses like these. But from an ability and a speed level, I think he has it all.”
Volatile started his 2020 campaign with a 7 1/2-length win in an allowance in April at Oaklawn Park. From there, he rolled by eight lengths in the Aristides, winning the six-furlong race in an eye-popping 1:07.57. He was just .02 of a second off the track record at Churchill.
:: Full list of 2020 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
After the race, Asmussen talked about the horse’s similarities to his second dam, millionaire Lady Tak. Volatile was bred in Kentucky by Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings Inc. and Stretch Run Ventures. He was a $850,000 purchase as a yearling at the 2017 Keeneland September sale.
“He has her freak-like ability,” Asmussen told Daily Racing Form. “We’re hoping that he shows the same affinity for Saratoga’s course like she did. We are definitely expecting to step him up into graded stakes company from here.”
It was mission accomplished at Saratoga, where regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. guided Volatile to victory in the Vanderbilt. It would end up being the horse’s swan song. Volatile was retired in September due to injury and is set to stand stud at Three Chimneys Farm in 2021.
“Volatile is a beautiful horse that breeders will like when they see him,” Goncalo Torrealba, owner of Three Chimneys, said in a press release. “He exudes class and is a great physical. He was brilliant, and that is what can make a stallion special.”