Fire At Will back on familiar footing for Transylvania

LEXINGTON, Ky. – They gave it the ol’ college try with Fire At Will, to no avail. Now it’s back to the drawing board in the Grade 3 Transylvania, the longstanding Keeneland fixture that honors the prestigious university nearby.

As winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf here last fall, Fire At Will was given a chance to become a Kentucky Derby contender when he ran on dirt in the Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. The test graded out to a D or an F, as the colt finished eighth, beaten 21 lengths.

“We thought it was worth trying, but obviously it didn’t work out,” said Mike Maker, who trains Fire At Will for the Three Diamonds Farm of Kirk Wycoff. “He’s back to doing really well, and he’ll be back on a surface he likes. We expect a big effort.”

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Fire At Will, with Tyler Gaffalione riding from post 4, is one of six 3-year-olds in the $150,000 Transylvania, a 1 1/16-mile turf race carded as the ninth of 10 races on opening day of the Keeneland spring meet. The Declaration of War colt is the logical one to beat off his three-length triumph as a 30-1 shot in the Nov. 6 BC Juvenile Turf.

Two opponents figure fairly close to Fire At Will on the tote – Scarlett Sky and Earls Rock. The remaining three all will be longer odds, those being Palazzi, Breadman, and Barrister Tom.

Scarlett Sky (post 1, Joel Rosario) is in from Florida for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey, who won this race 10 years ago with Air Support. A Stuart Janney homebred, Scarlett Sky has not raced since the Feb. 27 Fountain of Youth card, when he closed stoutly when beaten just a head in the Palm Beach Stakes by Annex, who further flattered their form by winning the Cutler Bay last Saturday at Gulfstream.

Earls Rock (post 6, Florent Geroux) will be stretching out off back-to-back wins over the Santa Anita turf, having won a one-mile maiden race in January before taking the 6 1/2-furlong Baffle on Feb. 5.

“I don’t think distance is an issue at all,” trainer Phil D’Amato said from California. “When he broke his maiden going a mile, he was drawing away at the end.

“The main reason I sent him there is because he’s been doing so well in his training and there’ve been no races for him out here. The turf there at Keeneland is a little different, but I’d like to think he’ll handle it just fine.”

Remarkably, D’Amato already has sent out the winners of nine stakes – all on turf – through the first three months of 2021. The 45-year-old trainer will not be here this weekend, but will be represented by a small string on the Kentucky circuit for a third straight year.

This is the 33rd running of the Transylvania. Maker and Three Diamonds won it last July with Field Pass.

Ward has two in Palisades

One of the deeper stakes of the opening two days of the meet is the $100,000 Palisades (race 7), which was thrown wide-open with the defection of Golden Pal, winner of the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint last fall. A field of 10 3-year-olds will go 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

Wesley Ward, expected back in town Thursday after a few days in Florida, will saddle a pair of top contenders in Chasing Artie and Fauci. Chasing Artie comes off a sharp maiden win over the Gulfstream turf, while Fauci will make his seasonal debut following back-to-back runner-up finishes in stakes last summer.

The Ward pair could have Bodenheimer and Blameworthy as their top challengers. Bodenheimer won the Indian Summer here last fall for trainer Valorie Lund before fading to eighth behind Golden Pal in the Breeders’ Cup. Bodenheimer ships in from Oaklawn Park, where he has been working steadily.

Blameworthy will be making his grass debut after earning a field-high 87 Beyer Speed Figure in a March 11 allowance at Fair Grounds for trainer Chris Davis.

The Palisades leads off the 50-cent late pick four (races 7-10), which will have a $200,000 pool guarantee every Friday of the meet except closing day, April 23.