Dead heat: Zulu Kingdom, Mi Bago inseparable at Kelso's wire
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Zulu Kingdom crossed the wire first eight times in his first 10 starts - he lost one win in the stewards’ stand - but his margin of victory was rarely that big over the second-place finisher. On Sunday, Zulu Kingdom crossed the wire first in the Grade 3 Kelso Stakes at Saratoga and this time there was no second-place finisher.
That’s because Zulu Kingdom crossed the wire in tandem with Mi Bago as the two 4-year-olds dead-heated for the win in the $225,000 Kelso. It was two lengths back to Pass the Hat in third.
Mi Bago, under Jose Ortiz, led by himself for virtually every stride into deep stretch, where it became a matter of bobbing heads between him and Zulu Kingdom, ridden by Flavien Prat, to the wire. It took nearly eight minutes for the placing judges/stewards to decipher the photo and even when they did, the tote board initially flashed that Zulu Kingdom was the winner. Seconds later, it was shown as a dead heat.
“I’m great with the way it ended,” said Michael Dubb, co-owner of Zulu Kingdom.
“Normally, it’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, I went from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory,” said Mark Casse, who trains Mi Bago for Gary Barber. “I’m happy. I’ll take half of it, I’m not greedy.”
For Zulu Kingdom, the win was his eighth from 11 starts, four of those wins coming by a neck or less. More importantly, the win was a rebound performance from a third-place finish as the 1-5 favorite in last month’s Grade 3 Poker at Saratoga. Leading into that race, Zulu Kingdom was dealing with a quarter crack that interrupted his training. He had better preparation this time, trainer Chad Brown said in the days before the race.
Zulu Kingdom had won from on or off the pace. On Sunday, he raced a joint fourth with Pass the Hat - who beat Zulu Kingdom in the Poker - as the two sat two lengths behind Mi Bago, who ran an opening half-mile in 48.41 seconds pursued by Itsallcomintogetha.
In upper stretch, Mi Bago kept on going on the lead, but Prat got Zulu Kingdom off the rail and he set sail after the leader. They were inseparable at the wire.
Zulu Kingdom ($3.66), an Irish-bred son of Ten Sovereigns, and Mi Bago ($8.40), a New York-bred son of Vekoma, covered the mile in 1:34.08 over firm ground.
“Going into the first turn I thought we were going to have a decent pace, then they slowed it down and it ended up being a slow pace,” said Prat, who had four wins on Sunday’s card. “Both horses really sprinted home. I thought his body was in front of [Mi Bago]. I thought it was a bob situation, it sounded like Jose after the wire thought he got beat. I thought it was very tight. It was quite tight.”
For Mi Bago, the win was his first in a graded stakes, though he had won five previous listed or restricted stakes, including the Kingston for New York-breds here last month.
“He’s an overachiever,” Casse said. “You wish all horses were as tough as he is.”
The Kelso is a prep for the Grade 1 Fourstardave here on Aug. 8. One would expect Zulu Kingdom and Mi Bago to meet again in that spot.
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