Ramses the Great hopes to break through in starter allowance
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Ramses the Great has demonstrated greatly improved form since switching to turf in February, but he remains winless on the surface in two near misses at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Nolan Ramsey has taken bittersweet solace in those two performances and is hoping for clear skies and a winning ride in the eighth race Thursday, a starter allowance for 3-year-olds.
“Thursday looks to me like the field’s maybe a little bit weaker and there seems to be some pace in there,” Ramsey said. “He’ll be able to sit just off of it. Obviously, the weather’s going to be a concern, so we’ll have to watch, but he’s training great and I think he fits very well in there.”
The intention behind Ramses the Great’s name is a small matter of debate, as co-owner Kenneth Ramsey has previously told Nolan, his grandson, that it is purely an homage to the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramses II. The trainer has his doubts.
“You’d have to ask him because he claims that it has nothing to do with him and has everything to do with the Egyptian ruler,” Ramsey said. “But I’m calling B.S. on that.”
In his November debut, Ramses the Great was never involved on dirt and later gelded ahead of a switch to synthetic in December. He earned his maiden victory by 5 3/4 lengths, but after a poor effort on the Tapeta in January, Ramsey finally tried the turf in a starter allowance on Feb. 12.
The trainer said he always suspected that the gelding was a turf runner, and he immediately proved it when he stalked for the first time and held second by a length with a 72 Beyer Speed Figure.
The story was much the same March 6, as Ramses the Great cut back to a mile and came up short by a neck in third. Chicken Dance, who finished third behind him the prior month, improved to win the photo over next-out winner Empire of Glory. In both of his recent losses, Ramses the Great led at the top of the stretch.
“It looked like he made the lead [in February] and I thought he was going to win, but he’s become a bit of a hanger,” Ramsey said. “Last race, maybe a little bit of excuse on the trip, but I thought he had a winning trip. Just couldn’t get the job done.”
Back at a mile on Thursday, Ramsey’s gelding will face a field of seven 3-year-olds in search of a similar breakthrough. He has been listed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite, just ahead of 2-1 second choice Madagascar, who finished fourth behind him last month.
After two starts on synthetic as a juvenile, including a distant seventh in the Grade 3 Grey at Woodbine, Madagascar made his 3-year-old debut on turf last month and was far from disgraced, finishing fourth by a half-length. He dueled with Ramses the Great at the top of the stretch before both runners gave in at the wire.
Outside contenders Bolero Bay and Forza Azzurri finished behind Ramses the Great and Madagascar in March. Bolero Bay, who had to duel early before fading to fifth in that race, offers upside as the likely pacesetter Thursday for Michael Yates.
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