Private Creed's rail rally gains Franklin-Simpson triumph

FRANKLIN, Ky. - Since he won the Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs 366 days ago, Private Creed has been aimed at the Grade 2, $1 million Franklin-Simpson Stakes, and on Saturday at Kentucky Downs, under a perfect ride from Joel Rosario, the colt hit his mark.

Rallying up the rail from surprisingly close to the pace, Private Creed made the lead with a little more than a furlong left to run and drew clear to a 2 3/4-length victory.

Playlist, a filly taking on colts and geldings, was clearly second-best, finishing 2 1/4 lengths in front of a four-horse scrum for third won by pacesetting Sweet Cherry Pie.

“It’s great to have a horse that has an affinity for this course because of how great the purses are,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, who won his first race of this meet.

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Indeed, $1 million for a 3-year-old sprint race is off the charts. Private Creed and owner Mike McCarty picked up the $585,960 winner’s share of the purse to go with the $310,000 Private Creed earned here a year ago.

From Kentucky Downs last fall, Private Creed went on to win a Keeneland turf sprint stakes and was a fine third there in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. His 2032 season has been more ragged and, until last month, it was fair for someone not close to the horse to wonder if Private Creed had developed much from age 2 to 3.

Private Creed tried two turns for the first time while making his 2023 debut at Sam Houston, and when he finished a close second connections gave him a look on dirt in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds. That did not go well at all, and when Private Creed returned to a turf sprint at Keeneland in April, he finished a tame fifth. Then came the William Walker on May 13 at Churchill Downs. Private Creed was a close fifth, but clipped heels during the face and suffered a nasty cut that sent him to the sidelines.

“We just waited and waited. It was at a point in his ankle; we didn’t train him at all until it healed up,” Asmussen said.

Private Creed returned to racing in the Mahoney Stakes on Aug. 13 at Saratoga and looked more like his better self, finishing second.

“We had a lot of confidence in him off the race at Saratoga. It was a little soft for him but he needed it and he trained beautifully for this,” Asmussen said.

The Franklin-Simpson, run at an extended 6 1/2 furlongs, worked out beautifully for Private Creed. Breaking from post 2, Private Creed was out of the gate as well as he’s ever been, racing fourth down the backstretch. Rosario, who already had won the $1 million Ladies Marathon on Vergara and a rich allowance race here on Saturday, had to tap on the brakes into the turn, but subsequently worked his mount into the pocket. Playlist had broken on top, but soon was supplanted by Sweet Cherry Pie, who got a very brief challenge from Golden Bandit but came into the long homestretch still leading.

While Rosario clearly had a lot of horse underneath him, things were too tight in upper stretch to squeeze between the pacesetter and the rail, but when Sweet Cherry Pie drifted farther off the fence, Rosario filled the gap and Private Creed took care of the rest.

Off a strong 45.90-second half-mile pace, it took Private Creed 6.57 to run his final half-furlong; that’s a modest finishing time for a turf sprint stakes, but no one was closing any better than the winner on a course playing slower than firm.

Private Creed’s final time over a course officially rated “firm” was 1:17.03, and he paid $14.02 as the fourth choice. Just behind Sweet Cherry Pie in third came Closethegamesugar, Behind Enemy Lines, and Mo Stash. Longshots filled out the rest of the finish order.

Trainer Wesley Ward said Playlist “got beat on the squares” and plans to point the filly to a turf-sprint stakes race at Keeneland in October.

Asmussen said Private Creed, a son of Jimmy Creed and the Sky Mesa mare, South Andros, would be pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. Asmussen wasn’t sure whether Private Creed would race before then. He is sure that he’d like to see Private Creed back at Kentucky Downs a year from now.

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