Highland Falls catches Cagliostro at wire in Blame Stakes

Highland Falls led for five strides during the Blame Stakes, but those were the ones that counted. The 4-5 favorite, coming hard late under Florent Geroux, nailed Cagliostro just before the wire to win the Grade 3, $275,000 Blame Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Highland Falls, a 4-year-old Godolphin homebred by Curlin out of Round Pond, by Awesome Again, won his first graded stakes race while making his seventh start. Highland Falls had been fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, his stakes debut, and second to Skippylongstocking in the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap.

Skippylongstocking is bound for the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 29 at Churchill, but Highland Falls isn’t. His stablemate, the Godolphin homebred First Mission, a horse of higher quality, won the Alysheba last month and is awaiting the Foster. Trainer Brad Cox will find a different race for Highland Falls – likely a longer one.

:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.

Geroux put Highland Falls into a great spot, stalking the speed while saving ground around the first turn, down the backstretch, and into the second bend. Frosted Departure led, tracked by Cagliostro, and the pace was solid enough, the half-mile going in 47.72. That ought to have given Highland Falls something to run into, but when Geroux asked his mount to close on the leaders at the three-eighths pole, he got no response. Geroux went to his crop at the five-sixteenths trying to motivate Highland Falls, steering about three paths off the fence to make a final push, and it wasn’t until he’d passed the eighth pole that Highland Falls really began bearing down. Though he passed Cagliostro late in the game, Highland Falls quickly drew out to win by one length.

“I had to work a little bit harder than I’d like to on mine,” Geroux said. “He’s a horse that keeps on coming. I think the farther you go, the better this horse will be.”

Cox has little doubt Highland Falls can go farther than the 1 1/8 miles he ran Saturday. Geroux, perhaps only half-joking, told him afterward that 1 1/2 miles could work.

“We always thought he’d be a horse who would relish a classic distance. He has a lot of stamina in his pedigree,” Cox said.

Cagliostro ran too well to lose in his first start since being privately purchased by Wathnan Racing. Tracking the pacesetter under Jose Ortiz, Cagliostro came to the head of the homestretch still in the bridle, his jockey not yet asking for anything. Cagliostro kicked clear and looked like a winner at the furlong grounds but was run down late while making his second start following a long layoff.

Cagliostro finished two lengths ahead of third-place Dreamlike, who also had to be ridden around the far turn and went extremely wide coming into the homestretch, well beaten as the second choice.

Uncle Jake, Tapit Trice, Classic Causeway, and Five Star General were scratched, leaving a field of seven. Highland Falls was timed in 1:48.51 over a fast track and paid $3.90.

It probably won’t be that long before Highland Falls wins his second graded stakes. It might happen in a longer race than the Blame.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.