A Thread of Blue shows new dimension in Palm Beach win

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Victory and lessons learned – not a bad day’s work for a colt named A Thread of Blue.

Outgunned to the first turn Saturday at Gulfstream Park, A Thread of Blue rated kindly for Luis Saez before surging to command and holding off a persistent Casa Creed to register his third straight win – and first from off the pace – over the local turf course. He paid $3 as the heavy favorite in a field of eight 3-year-olds in the 32nd running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Palm Beach, the first of nine graded stakes on the huge Fountain of Youth card at Gulfstream.

Hard Belle, a 136-1 shot, was hurried to the early lead in the 1 1/16-mile race from his outside post, with King Ottokar slipping up the rail soon thereafter to take command while A Thread of Blue settled into a comfortable rhythm in third. Leaving the backstretch, Saez gave his mount his cue.

“When I asked him and let him go, he had a big turn of foot,” said Saez.

Casa Creed, lapped just off the outside flank of A Thread of Blue for most of the trip, made a sustained run down the stretch – pulling within about a neck with about 100 yards to go – but A Thread of Blue gradually edged away to win by three-quarters of a length. Louder Than Bombs rallied late to be third, with Art G Is Back up for fourth over a tired King Ottokar.

“When he took the lead, he was like playing around,” said Saez. “When he felt the other colt, he took off again. Very nice.”

Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin for Leonard Green, A Thread of Blue has emerged as a serious player in the 3-year-old turf niche. The Kentucky-bred son of Hard Spun won a first-level allowance here on Dec. 22 before capturing the Grade 3 Dania Beach on Feb. 3, both times in wire-to-wire fashion.

“It was nice to see him rate like he did,” said McLaughlin. “We knew he could, because that’s the way we train, but it’s really gratifying when you see them do it in the afternoon.”

McLaughlin said A Thread of Blue probably will make his next start in the Grade 2 American Turf on the May 4 Kentucky Derby undercard. The July 6 Belmont Derby is a logical summer goal, he added.

The $2 exacta (5-7) paid $13.40, the $1 trifecta (5-7-6) returned $12.90, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-7-6-2) was worth $5.92.