Colonel Liam gets excellent tuneup in Muniz Memorial

Colonel Liam not only won his third turf stakes in a row Saturday, capturing the Grade 2, $300,000 Muniz Memorial by 1 1/2 lengths over longshot Two Emmys, he got what looked like an ideal bridge race between the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf, which was run Jan. 23, and the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on May 1 at Churchill Downs.

“Part of the plan running there was to bridge the gap between the Pegasus and the Churchill race, and I thought we got exactly what we were hoping for,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.

Colonel Liam got a great trip under Irad Ortiz Jr. in the Muniz, clocking 1:48.33 over a grass course officially listed as “good” but likely closer to firm, a raw time that yielded a 99 Beyer Speed Figure, the same number Colonel Liam got in the Pegasus. Four-year-old Colonel Liam, who cost owners Robert and Lawana Low $1.2 million at a 2-year-old-in-training sale, finished fourth, beaten less than one length following a difficult start, in the Saratoga Derby Invitational last summer and has won his four other grass races.

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The Saratoga Derby was a super-key race, producing subsequent graded turf stakes winners Domestic Spending, Gufo, Get Smokin, and Field Pass. Decorated Invader and No Word later finished second in graded turf races.

Colonel Liam worked his way into a perfect inside stalking trip in the Muniz; from one angle that takes a little shine off his performance, but there also is the fact that Colonel Liam has the mental acuity and physical tools to put himself in favorable spots.

“That’s what’s great about him,” Pletcher said Sunday. “He’s very handy, which helps in a scenario like yesterday, where there wasn’t a lot of pace. If they were to go real fast, he could settle off that.”

Pletcher said his Fair Grounds travel team reported Colonel Liam had come out of the Muniz “in excellent condition.” The colt ships back to Pletcher’s Florida base at Palm Beach Downs and will go from there to Churchill, though it’s not yet determined if he ships the week of the Turf Classic or goes 10 or 12 days out, Pletcher said.

The Muniz lost a major contender and primary pace factor when Factor This had to be scratched because of a foot bruise. “He’s improved, and it’s minor, but it was just bad timing,” trainer Brad Cox said. “I don’t know where we’re going with him next.”