Conquest Warrior impresses in troubled victory

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s never too early to catch a little Derby fever, especially around South Florida this time of year, and especially after watching a performance such as the one Conquest Warrior put on winning his maiden here Saturday for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

Conquest Warrior, a $1 million purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September sale, came into his 3-year-old debut with one previous start, a troubled third-place finish behind the sensational debut winner El Capi, who earned a 99 Beyer Figure over a muddy track at Aqueduct on Dec. 2. Conquest Warrior wasted little time encountering trouble once again when he broke a step slow and then was slammed between a pair of rivals immediately after the break of the one-mile maiden race.

With Jose Ortiz aboard, Conquest Warrior settled near the rear of the 10-horse field, advanced to closer contention on the second bend, then checked briefly awaiting clearance leaving the turn. He angled sharply out to the middle of the track for the stretch run before surging late, readily overtaking Antiquarian to register a seemingly improbable and eye-catching win.

The son of City of Light, who also broke slow in his debut, earned an 84 Beyer.

“He didn’t break great again and he’s still got a lot to learn,” said McGaughey. “I knew he’d be back and finish but I’m surprised with the effort he put in today considering the trip he had, especially for a young horse.

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“He’s a nice big horse, he’s got a good mind, and he’s got a heck of a stride on him, so I think the more distance the better. I also think he’s going to benefit a lot from a race like this.”

McGaughey said he’s in no rush to put Conquest Warrior on the Derby trail just yet.

“I’d like to run him back in a one-other-than around two turns and then see where we go from there,” said McGaughey, who trains another top 3-year-old prospect, Change of Command, a winner of his last two starts including a first-level allowance race going 1 1/16 miles here last week.”

McGaughey also unveiled the promising 3-year-old filly prospect Mystifying here Sunday. A homebred daughter of Curlin owned by the Phipps Stable, Mystifying withstood race-long pressure on the lead to win her debut in game fashion going six furlongs. She too was ridden by Ortiz, who followed his hat trick on Saturday with a riding double Sunday.

Ortiz’s brother Irad also had a big weekend, capped off with a four-bagger on Sunday that vaulted him over Paco Lopez and back into the lead in the jockey standings. Included in those four tallies was a hard-fought but extremely popular win astride the 1-5 favorite Sweet Dani Girl for trainer Christophe Clement in the $75,000 Sunshine Filly and Mare Turf.

Pegasus hopefuls work

Hopefuls for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational were busy getting in major works in all corners of the country over the weekend. The list was topped by the Bob Baffert-trained and likely heavy favorite National Treasure, who was confirmed a definite starter after working five furlongs in 59.60 seconds at Santa Anita on Saturday. The work was the sixth in a solid series of drills for National Treasure since he was beaten a nose by Cody’s Wish in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile in November.

Other top names tuning up for the Pegasus World Cup on Saturday included First Mission, five furlongs in 1:00 at Fair Grounds; the Todd Pletcher duo of Dynamic One, five-eighths in 59.31, and Aspen, a half mile in 48.40, at Palm Beach Downs; and trainer Saffie Joseph’s pair of Harlan’s Holiday winner O’Connor, an easy half in 50.35, and Skippylongstocking, a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.25, at Palm Meadows.

Locally based Il Miracolo had a bit of an eventful weekend before getting in his penultimate workout for the Pegasus World Cup. Third in the Grade 2 Clark in his 2023 finale, Il Miracolo was scheduled to work here Saturday but had to abort the breeze shortly after it began due to an incident that closed the racetrack while he was in the midst of his work.

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Trainer Antonio Sano brought Il Miracolo and jockey Javier Castellano back the following morning to go five furlongs in 1:01.40 before continuing out a full seven-eighths under steady pressure in 1:28.60.

Burnaway tries dirt again

Racing resumes Wednesday with a nine-race card topped by a modest feature, a $59,000 allowance race for statebred fillies and mares that lured a pretty well matched field of six starters to go a mile on the main track.

Burnaway owns the highest last race Beyer Speed Figure in the race, a 70 for a maiden win over the Tapeta track one month earlier, although she remains winless in four starts on dirt. Burnaway may vie for favoritism with Esoteric, third under similar conditions in her last start, and the recently clamed I Believe in Magic.

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