Count Again vs. Subconscious rematch possible in Kilroe Mile

ARCADIA, Calif. - Count Again and Subconscious were first and second in the Grade 3 Thunder Road Stakes at a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Saturday, and a rematch is possible in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf on March 5.

Count Again closed from fifth in a field of six to finish a half-length in front of 3-5 favorite Subconscious. The $100,500 Thunder Road was Count Again’s first win since the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar in November 2020 and first race since a last-place finish in a field of five in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile last August.

“I think he needed some time,” trainer Phil D’Amato reflected on Sunday.

D’Amato noted that Count Again had an extensive year of travel from autumn 2020 until last summer.

“He went from Ontario to California to Kentucky to California and it caught up with him,” D’Amato said.

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Last March, Count Again was third by a half-length in the Kilroe Mile, finishing behind Hit the Road and Smooth Like Strait, two of the leading turf milers in California.

“Hopefully, we will make it a win this year,” D’Amato said.

Subconscious, 4, had his stakes debut against older horses in the Thunder Road. Subconscious stumbled at the start and stalked pacesetter Super Kitten before taking the lead in the stretch. Subconscious was caught by Count Again in the final sixteenth.

“He got off a little bad,” said Richard Mandella, who trains Subconscious. “It got his mind off to a bad start. He looked edgy a little bit and lugged in.”

The $500,000 Kilroe Mile field is expected to include Tell Your Daddy, who won the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga last summer.

Race plans have not been determined for Hit the Road, who finished eighth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 29 in his first start since October. Smooth Like Strait, second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar in November, recently resumed training but will not be ready for the Kilroe.

Royal Ship, fifth in the 2021 Kilroe Mile, recently resumed training for Mandella for a return to racing later in the spring. Royal Ship is not a candidate for the Kilroe, and has not raced since a seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar last August.

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