Keeneland: Global View primed for good effort in competitive Transylvania

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Global View was a $500,000 yearling purchase who won a Santa Anita maiden race in his second start and the Grade 3 Generous Stakes at Hollywood Park after that.

No wonder Tom Proctor now says, “I’ve always thought he was a pretty nice horse.”

Well, duh. And after chasing Bobby’s Kitten – arguably the top 3-year-old turf horse in North America – all the way around the Tampa Bay Downs turf in his 2014 debut four weeks ago, Global View is primed for a big year, one that can begin in earnest Friday in the Grade 3, $100,000 Transylvania Stakes, the opening-day feature at the Keeneland spring meet.

“The Tampa race was a good one, against a good horse,” Proctor said. “It should set us up nice for this one and whatever else we’ve got for him down the road.”

Global View, with Jose Lezcano to ride for Glen Hill Farm, will break from post 9 in the 26th running of the Transylvania, a 1 1/16-mile turf race with a very competitive look. High-profile trainer Chad Brown surrounds Global View with two major threats in Pleuven (post 8, Alan Garcia) and Storming Inti (post 10, Javier Castellano), while others worthy of mention are Ry’s the Man (post 2, Florent Geroux), Woodfield Springs (post 3, Julien Leparoux), Picozza (post 11, John Velazquez), and Can’thelpbelieving (post 12, Joel Rosario).

Brown, based primarily in New York, is here by way of south Florida with 18 horses, most of them to run in stakes or allowance races. Pleuven, he said, has acclimated well to North America after being imported from France and “could be sitting on a big race,” while the Pennsylvania-bred Storming Inti “has proven himself” by winning 4 of 6 starts, with two of those victories coming in turf stakes.

Picozza, trained by Todd Pletcher for Starlight Racing, has earned improved Beyer Speed Figures in every start and appears to have enough upside to pull what would be a mild upset off a maiden victory.

The longer shots in the field include the uncoupled Dale Romans duo of Medal Count (post 1, Robby Albarado) and Hesinfront (post 4, Corey Lanerie).

“We’re in there taking a couple shots,” said Romans, who won the Transylvania two years ago with Silver Max. “They’re both fit and coming into this well.”

The Transylvania goes as the ninth of 10 races on an opener that also includes four allowances (races 4, 5, 7, and 8). First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the feature set for 5:13.

The Transylvania, named for the Lexington university founded in 1780, was first run in 1989. Velazquez and Pletcher teamed to win it last year with Jack Milton.