Limousine Liberal staying home to prep in Kelly's Landing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the July 8 Belmont Sprint Championship expected to get such top sprinters as Mind Your Biscuits, Unified, and A. P. Indian, trainer Ben Colebrook thought he’d wait a little longer before sending Limousine Liberal to New York to try the heavy heads again.

Yes, the $350,000 purse for the Grade 2 Sprint Championship is five times bigger than that of the $70,000 Kelly’s Landing here on Friday, a race in which Limousine Liberal figures as a heavy favorite. But Colebrook and his clients Mike and K.K. Ball preferred to prep Limousine Liberal in a lighter spot while pointing him to the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt on July 29 at Saratoga.

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“The Vanderbilt is the goal,” said Colebrook. “Running here instead of at Belmont gives us an extra week. Plus, the Belmont race looks like it might be the best sprint of the year so far. We’ll catch those horses a little later on.”

Limousine Liberal, a 5-year-old homebred gelding by Successful Appeal, became the richest horse ever campaigned by the Ball family when his victory in the Aristides increased his bankroll to $832,500. Mike’s parents, the Lexington homebuilders and political operatives Don and Mira Ball, have raced horses as Donamire Farm for some 50 years.

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