Zulu Alpha powers home to capture Elkhorn

Zulu Alpha once again showed himself one of the top turf horses on the continent when rallying Sunday to win the Grade 2, $175,000 Elkhorn, the closing-day feature of the five-day July meet at Keeneland.

Ridden confidently by Tyler Gaffalione, the meet’s leading jockey, Zulu Alpha rolled past 35-1 shot Postulation to post another important victory ahead of the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf, which will be run over the same course as the Elkhorn.

“He’s as easy as they come,” Gaffalione said. “You just drop his head and let him do his thing. He knows where the wire is.”

Zulu Alpha, a 7-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Street Cry, returned $4 as the favorite after finishing the 1 1/2-mile distance in 2:30.82. It was his seventh graded stakes victory, all in longer turf races, since Arkansas businessman Michael Hui claimed him for $80,000 from a September 2018 race at Churchill Downs. Among his notable triumphs was the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf in January.

“He’s been just fabulous,” said Mike Maker, who trains Zulu Alpha for Hui.

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Postulation, ridden by Julien Leparoux, set fractions of 52.02 seconds, 1:18.14, and 1:43.20 in the three-turn race and had turned back all challengers inside the eighth pole before Zulu Alpha, in full flight after working his way through rivals to find an outside lane, surged past with about 70 yards remaining to prevail by three-quarters of a length.

Nakamura rallied to be third, followed by Jais’s Solitude and Ry’s the Guy. Easily the disappointment of the race was Arklow, who had no mishap when sixth as the 3-1 second choice in the field of 11 older horses.

Hui said one reason he and Maker chose the Elkhorn over the Grade 1 Manhattan the previous weekend at Belmont Park was so that Hui could more easily go see the horse compete in person. (Owners were permitted raceday access during this fan-free meet.)

“The horse also won’t have to leave Kentucky through the Breeders’ Cup,” said Hui, since the lone interim BC prep for Zulu Alpha is the Sept. 12 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs.

The $2 exacta (5-4) paid $77.60, the $1 trifecta (5-4-2) returned $243.60, and the 10-cent superfecta (5-4-2-6) was worth $271.26.

New record for C Z Rocket

One race earlier, C Z Rocket ($6.40) registered his third victory in as many starts since being claimed by Peter Miller when setting a track record (1:15.00) for 6 1/2 furlongs in a $68,000 allowance. Ridden by Florent Geroux, C Z Rocket overcame a slow start, yet still passed all eight of his rivals in establishing the new mark.

Several track records were lowered during a five-day meet specially arranged following the cancellation of the spring meet in April, with both the main track and turf course being noticeably faster than normal amid the July heat.

Whitmore, the morning-line favorite, was among four early scratches from the allowance. The $3.1 million earner goes instead in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt on July 25 at Saratoga, trainer Ron Moquett said.

* Ian Wilkes saddled two winners on closing day to salvage a 5-5 tie for leading trainer with Wesley Ward. Gaffalione also won two on the final card to take the riding title by a 7-6 count over Brian Hernandez Jr. There was a three-way tie for leading owner (two wins each) among Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Three Diamonds Farm, and OXO Equine.

* After Sunday, the Kentucky circuit goes dark for four days. Three-day weekends resume Friday at Ellis Park.