Rescheduled Transylvania has a chance to stay on grass
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Three days later than planned, Keeneland hosts the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes – with an actual chance now to keep the race on turf.
Part of the April 4 card that was moved to Monday, April 7, the Transylvania, a 1 1/16-mile contest, drew an overflow field. The large number of entries comes as no surprise: The Transylvania, worth just $150,000 as recently as 2019, got a $200,000 purse bump this year and now is worth $600,000, a massive pot for an early-season 3-year-old grass race.
Had the Transylvania gone as scheduled, it almost certainly would have been rained onto the main track, and even the move to Monday offers no assurance the Keeneland grass course will have dried sufficiently to be used after several days of rain. But the sand-based course drains quickly, and because the track runs two short meets a year, Keeneland keeps turf stakes on grass under conditions that would trigger a surface switch at nearly every other North American venue.
On grass, Reagan’s Wit looms large, likely at a price meaningfully lower than his 4-1 morning line. Reagan’s Wit is by Triple Crown winner Authentic and out of a mare by Sunday Break. That’s a dirt-leaning pedigree, but Reagan’s Wit’s three starts came on turf and he’ll be scratched if the Transylvania rains off, trainer Cherie DeVaux said.
Second in an Ellis Park turf mile last summer, his lone start at 2, Reagan’s Wit beat 11 Fair Grounds foes in winning a maiden turf route on Jan. 20, his first outing since Ellis, by eight lengths. That dazzling performance earned a trip to Tampa Bay Downs for the $100,000 Columbia Stakes, where Reagan’s Wit stalked the pace, moved into contention in upper stretch, and had dead aim on highly regarded race favorite Zulu Kingdom. Instead of passing, Reagan’s Wit switched to his wrong lead and settled for a close second.
“It was a tough ask,” DeVaux said. “We shipped a couple days before, and he’s kind of a high-strung colt. He got a little green, came up to the winner and idled, then galloped out well. He has every right to continue to improve.”
Tom’s Magic, another horse who won’t start on dirt, debuted Nov. 28 at Fair Grounds with a distant turf-route second behind another sharp DeVaux maiden winner, Deep Manhattan. Tom’s Magic came back with a front-running two-turn turf maiden score, then rallied up the fence to capture the Black Gold on March 1. Tom’s Magic, a Canadian-bred with King’s Plate ambitions, has the body type and comportment of a later-developing colt who should continue coming forward, trainer Michael Stidham said.
Mi Bago already has come forward, reeling off three straight front-running stakes wins in Florida for trainer Mark Casse and owner Gary Barber. Mi Bago’s most recent outing also was his best, a 4 3/4-length romp in the $200,000 Colonel Liam, but Mi Bago won’t make the Transylvania lead over speedy Clock Tower without being forced into an intemperate pace. While the Wesley Ward-trained Clock Tower figures a likely runner on dirt, Casse said he wasn’t sure whether Mi Bago would start if the Transylvania comes off the grass.
That’s the same status trainer Todd Pletcher applied to Barricade, who’s first on a list of four also-eligibles who didn’t make the race’s 12-horse main body. Deeper among the also-eligibles is Valentinian, who’s entered strictly for dirt, said Pletcher. Valentinian, a $1.5 million yearling purchase, debuted March 1 at Tampa Bay and saw off his stablemate Last Man Standing to win a route by more than three lengths, galloping out much farther in front than that.
“He’s a colt that’s trained a little bit inconsistent, but putting blinkers on made a difference in his training. It’s not easy to win going long on dirt first time out anywhere, and he seems to have come on since then,” Pletcher said.
The Transylvania was supposed to come on a Friday. A few days later, racing surface still uncertain, it remains a tough race to figure.
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