Shoemaker Mile a perfect fit for Exaulted
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The way Exaulted has thrived at a mile on turf this year can lead to questions why the 6-year-old wasn’t tried in that sort of race earlier in his career.
“He kept teasing us with some nice races on dirt in some of those bigger events,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “It was never the right timing. This year, we focused on it and said, ‘Let’s see what happens.’”
What has happened is a three-race winning streak for Exaulted that includes the Grade 3 American Stakes on April 2. The win has led to an appearance in Monday’s Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on turf, by far the most important race of Exaulted’s career.
The winner of the $500,000 Shoemaker Mile receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. The Shoemaker Mile is the seventh race on a 10-race program on Monday, and is part of the 20-cent Rainbow pick six, which will have a mandatory payout.
The Shoemaker Mile drew a strong field of 11, including three prominent graded stakes winners trained by Phil D’Amato – Balnikhov, Gold Phoenix and Hong Kong Harry. D’Amato has won the Shoemaker Mile four times.
There are five other stakes winners in the field – Cabo Spirit, Du Jour, Flavius, Il Bellator, and Irideo. While Lamplighter Jack will be a longshot, there will be support for the French import Salesman.
Trained by Richard Mandella, Salesman was a three-time winner in France who has displayed a series of fast workouts in the last six weeks in advance of his American debut on Monday.
Exaulted, owned by Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable, won the first stakes of his career in the American Stakes, his fourth win in his 14th start. In 2021, Exaulted finished third in two graded stakes for sprinters.
In the Shoemaker Mile, Exaulted drew post 6, which should aid his stalking style. Exaulted raced from slightly off the pace when he won allowance races in January and February, and was within a length of the lead throughout the American Stakes.
Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at Santa Anita this year, was aboard for those wins and has the mount.
“I’ve always liked him forwardly placed,” Eurton said. “He’s naturally fast. Even when he was going seven-eighths on the dirt, he was forwardly placed. He’s quick, but he’s controllable.”
Lamplighter Jack, who faded from the front to finish sixth in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields on April 29, is likely to set the pace in the Shoemaker.
The D’Amato-trained runners are closers who are capable of winning.
Gold Phoenix won the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf on March 4, closing from sixth in the final quarter-mile. Gold Phoenix broke from the inside post in the Kilroe and has the same draw in the Shoemaker Mile.
“I like the post,” D’Amato said. “He’ll save all the ground.”
Gold Phoenix finished fourth in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf in his last start after bumping with a rival who slipped and fell on the turn.
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“I think he had a valid excuse,” D’Amato said. “The horse that slipped took him to the outside part of the track.”
Hong Kong Harry was a three-time graded stakes winner in 2022, and highly regarded by D’Amato at the beginning of this year. A closer, Hong Kong Harry was fourth in the Kilroe Mile and second in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 6 in his first two starts of 2023.
“He’s not running in easy races this year,” D’Amato said. “He’s run in great races. I thought he gave a credible effort last time. The time before he was coming off a layoff, and he didn’t get the best training pattern with the rain we had.
“I hope he’s rounding into form. He can stalk or come from farther out of it.”
Balnikhov will be closing. The style worked in the San Francisco Mile, when Balnikhov rallied from last of nine in the final quarter-mile to win by a nose.
“I think that’s the way he wants to be ridden,” D’Amato said. “He just needs to be covered up and come with a run. He’s not a horse that you can put in the race and expect him to finish.”
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