Shancelot explodes onto scene with 121 Beyer

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – By early Monday morning, Shancelot and Imperial Hint were back at Monmouth Park after turning in two of the most impressive performances ever seen in the 156-year history of racing at Saratoga.

On Sunday, Shancelot lit up the main track with a scintillating 12 1/2-length victory over 11 rivals in the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes for 3-year-olds. In just his third career start, Shancelot stormed the lead under Emisael Jaramillo and ran 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:14.01, just .27 off the stakes and track record set by Quality Road in 2009.

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Shancelot, a son of Shanghai Bobby, earned a 121 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest number assigned to any horse this year and the highest figure in a sprint race since Midnight Lute won the Grade 1 Forego here in 2007.

“He’s probably one of the top horses in the nation,” trainer Jorge Navarro said Monday morning before leaving Saratoga to reunite with his speedster. “This is the best horse I ever trained.”

Navarro knows about fast sprinters, having trained the likes of Private Zone, X Y Jet and Sharp Azteca, a trio that has combined to win 30 races, including 20 stakes, and earn more than $8.3 million.

Shancelot did it off just two races, one back in February. Following that neck victory going seven furlongs on Feb. 16, Navarro sent Shancelot to the farm for 45 days. Navarro said Shancelot was not a Kentucky Derby horse so he convinced the owners to let the horse mature some more and point for a summer and fall campaign.

Navarro’s plans for the rest of the year include the Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens here on Aug. 24. While Navarro did not rule out the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in November, he mentioned possibly skipping that to point Shancelot for the Cigar Mile in late November at Aqueduct and then the Grade 1 Malibu, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita, typically run on Dec. 26.

“We want to do the right thing by him, run him in the right spots,” Navarro said. “I’m not counting out the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, but we’ll take it step by step.”

Navarro said he likely will send Shancelot back to Saratoga two weeks out from the Jerkens and give the horse one work over Saratoga’s main track, but this time leave him here. Navarro shipped Shancelot to Saratoga for a workout on July 21 then shipped him back to Monmouth before shipping him back for the race.

Shancelot’s performance came 24 hours after Imperial Hint set a track record for six furlongs (1:07.92) in winning the Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap by four lengths. He earned a career-best 114 Beyer Speed Figure, which equaled the highest figure earned by a horse this year until Shancelot’s Amsterdam.

Imperial Hint, who won the Vanderbilt for a second straight year, made an electrifying move approaching the top of the stretch under Javier Castellano and cruised right on by Strike Power and Mitole, who was coming off back-to-back Grade 1 wins as part of a sevenrace winning streak.

“When he came around that and showed that quick turn of foot it was a flashback to last year,” trainer Luis Carvajal Jr. said. “When he did that around the turn it was hard to describe.”

Imperial Hint came out of the race in good order, Carvajal said, and will likely make his next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Vosburgh at Belmont Park on Sept. 28. Imperial Hint won last year’s Vosburgh before finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Churchill.