Blue Grass: Dance With Fate loves synthetic, but how about dirt?

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dance With Fate might well be the best 3-year-old in North America on a synthetic surface, but whether that will translate into outstanding dirt form is something trainer Peter Eurton will be pondering over the next week or two.

Eurton is faced with whether to run Dance With Fate back in the May 3 Kentucky Derby after the Florida-bred colt, ridden by Corey Nakatani, posted an emphatic 1 3/4-length victory Saturday in the 90th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring showcase at Keeneland.

“I don’t know,” Eurton said in the immediate aftermath of the Blue Grass. “I know he loves synthetics better, turf.”

But as to whether he can actually resist running in the Derby?

“I know I’m going to hear it from everybody,” he said with a laugh.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

A key Derby prep that drew a full gate of 14 3-year-olds and appeared very well-matched on paper actually resulted in a strung-out field, with only Medal Count still running with Dance With Fate at the end. Pablo Del Monte, who led most of the way, faded to third, another 1 3/4 lengths back, with Big Bazinga another 5 1/4 lengths back in fourth.

Dance With Fate, from the first crop by the hot Florida sire Two Step Salsa, returned $14.80 as third choice after finishing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:50.06 over Polytrack. It was his third win from eight starts and followed a runner-up finish in the Grade 3 El Camino Real Derby over the Golden Gate Fields synthetic Tapeta surface in February.

Dance With Fate is owned by Sharon Alesia, Bran Jam Stable, and Ciaglia Racing. The colt has run twice on dirt, both times as a 2-year-old at his home track of Santa Anita, finishing second in the Grade 1 FrontRunner and eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Rafael Bejarano had ridden the colt in all but one prior start.

In the post-race press conference, Eurton expressed skepticism about the colt’s ability to handle the dirt, saying Bejarano “tells me when the dirt hits him in the face, it changes his way of going. Maybe he’ll grow out of that as he matures, but I don’t know.”

Before a sun-splashed crowd of 39,722, second highest in track history, Pablo del Monte went in fractions of 23.58 seconds, 47.59, and 1:12.74, with Bobby’s Kitten, the 7-2 favorite, among those giving closest chase. Dance With Fate and Medal Count both settled into good spots toward the back.

Leaving the half-mile pole, as Bobby’s Kitten and Coastline began to labor, Pablo del Monte clung to the lead, but then Medal Count and jockey Robby Albarado made a huge move on the outside at the quarter pole. Right behind him was Dance With Fate, who had even more momentum after following in Medal Count’s path, and he zipped to the lead nearing the eighth pole en route to his first graded stakes triumph.

“They were actually going a little slower than I anticipated, but you never really know with Polytrack,” said Nakatani. “Peter had told me before the race, ‘Make your best run when you can,’ and so I said, okay, let’s do it.

“All I needed was to get him switched off and in a rhythm,” Nakatani added. “Robby was one of the others I had my eye on. I had all the confidence we could win if we could just get the right trip.”

The Blue Grass, sponsored by Toyota since 1996, is worth 170 points toward eligibility to the Derby, with 100 to the winner, 40 for second, 20 for third, and 10 for fourth.

Medal Count, trained by Dale Romans for B. Wayne Hughes, most likely will head to the Derby. Pablo Del Monte joins a slew of horses on the threshold with 20 points.

For Eurton, a California native, the Blue Grass victory gave him his second graded stakes at Keeneland, following the Raven Run last fall with Madame Cactus.

“They treat us extremely well here,” said Eurton, a 56-year-old former jockey.

The $2 exacta (8-13) paid $127.60, the $1 trifecta (8-13-3) returned $724.40, and the 10-cent superfecta (8-13-3-9) was worth $1,333.54.

After the top four, the order was Coltimus Prime, Gala Award, So Lonesome, Asserting Bear, Casiguapo, Extrasexyhippzster, Bobby’s Kitten, Harry’s Holiday, and Vinceremos.

The attendance was second only to the 40,617 here two years ago for the Blue Grass.