As usual, Zulu Kingdom does everything right in Manila Stakes
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Zulu Kingdom is not only good, he’s versatile. Fast pace, he can come from out of it. No pace, he can be right there. Yielding turf? No problem. Firm ground? Bring it on.
That’s why Zulu Kingdom has won all but one of his starts. Friday, he improved his record to six wins from seven races, sitting close to the pace over a speed-favoring turf course, and holding off a late charge from Capitol Hill to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Manila Stakes for 3-year-olds by three-quarters of a length at Saratoga.
Perhaps the only thing that’s not determined about Zulu Kingdom is how far he wants to run. Trainer Chad Brown had the option of Friday’s one-mile Manila or the 1 1/8 miles of the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby on the same card.
Brown’s instinct is that he’s a better miler, a division in which he’s trying to replace the uber-talented Carl Spackler, who has been sold and is headed to Australia. Moreover, with Zulu Kingdom having just won the Grade 1, $1 million American Turf at Churchill Downs, Brown felt like he didn’t have to go chasing prize money by experimenting with a longer distance.
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“It’s not what I think he wants to do,” Brown said about the nine furlongs of the Belmont Derby. “He just won a big purse. I’m just trying to develop the horse, not chasing prize money. I like what happened here. He had to adapt a little bit to the lack of pace in the race and the turf course which has been insanely fast.”
Zulu Kingdom, under Flavien Prat, broke on top and actually was on the lead heading into the first turn. Around the turn, Maui Strong, under Junior Alvarado, assumed the front and Prat was content to sit right to his outside in second.
The two were a half-length apart through six furlongs in 1:10.44 with Revolutionnaire right behind them going into the far turn.
In the stretch, Zulu Kingdom and Maui Strong ran together until just before the eighth pole when Zulu Kingdom began to get away. Prat kept busy shaking the reins at Zulu Kingdom who had more than enough to hold off Capitol Hill, who came from very far back under John Velazquez to finish second by a neck over Tiz Dashing.
Maui Strong finished fourth followed by Revolutionnaire, Reagan’s Wit, Mythical Man, and Flat to Da Mat. Scratched were Fire Pit, Uncatalyzed, Golden Channel, and Strate Cash.
Zulu Kingdom, an Irish-bred son of Ten Sovereigns owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss, and Michael Caruso, covered the mile over firm turf in 1:33.11 and returned $2.80 as the favorite. Zulu Kingdom earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 85.
“It seemed like there was a bit of speed but not a ton, and yeah it felt like the turf course had been pretty quick,” Prat said. “He’s quick. When you want to use him, he’s there for me.”
Prat did say that Zulu Kingdom has a tendency to wait on horses when he makes the lead.
“So, it looks like somebody’s coming but I felt like he was in control,” Prat said.
The horse that was coming the fastest in the stretch was Capitol Hill, who was more than 11 lengths off the early pace. He rallied along the inside under Velazquez, who then tipped him off the rail inside the eighth pole. His late kick just fell short.
“Too much to do,” said Bill Mott, the trainer of Capitol Hill. “It was a good run, he was running by everybody. I’m not so sure he might not be as good as the winner. I mean, we got beat today, but he ran well enough to try him back in one of those spots.”
That spot could be the Grade 2, $500,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes on Aug. 2, where rain or shine, pace or no pace, Zulu Kingdom will be waiting.
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