Seeking the Soul shows versatility in Ack Ack win

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A year ago, trainer Dallas Stewart and owner Charles Fipke brought a lightly raced horse on the season into the Breeders’ Cup and came away with a victory in the Distaff with Forever Unbridled. Now in 2018 with a different but similarly managed runner in Seeking the Soul, they figure to return to the Breeders’ Cup – though in which Breeders’ Cup race on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs is to be determined.

In decisively winning Saturday night’s Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack going a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs, Seeking the Soul certainly left his connections in position to examine their options – whether they bring him back under the same conditions in the $1 million Dirt Mile or choose to stretch him out to pursue the 1 1/4-mile, $6 Million Classic.

Largely a two-turn competitor since summer 2017 in a career highlighted by winning Churchill’s Grade 1 Clark at 1 1/8 miles last fall, Seeking the Soul showed off his versatility in the Ack Ack, as well as his ability to rally effectively behind little pace.

A late-runner, he stalked favored C Z Rocket as that one coasted to the lead with splits of 24.03 seconds and 47.63 under token pressure from Warrior’s Club. When the tempo began to quicken on the turn, so did Seeking the Soul. He advanced to third at the head of the stretch with six furlongs in 1:11.48 and outkicked longshot Nice Not Nice and California invader Giant Expectations in a quarter-mile sprint for home.

A 5-year-old son of Perfect Soul bred by Fipke, he crossed the wire 1 1/4 lengths in front, completing a mile in 1:35.01. He paid $9.20.

“He’s a Grade 1 winner,” winning rider Brian Hernandez Jr. said. “I knew turning for him he’d have the turn of foot like he did, and he showed it.”

Stewart credited Fipke after the race for letting him regroup with Seeking the Soul after a fifth from the horse in the Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream, from which he exited with an injury. He said he would confer with Fipke before making a decision on which Breeders’ Cup race, though Stewart clearly came away impressed by the manner in which his horse performed in the Ack Ack.

“I mean, he ran pretty fast, right?” he said.

Behind the winner, Nice Not Nice gamely outfinished comebacking Giant Expectations by a nose for the place, though Giant Expectations was hampered by a tardy start that followed the horse flipping in the gate and ejecting jockey Julien Leparoux.

“He still made a move around the turn like he was going to win it,” said Leparoux, who escaped injury.