Transylvania Stakes (Grade 3)- $400.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
April 5, 2024

On a rainy day at KEE, a field of twelve three-year-olds looked to make an impression in the running of the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes. The weather would leave the turf course as soft, but several horses in this field had done quite well in limited opportunities on off tracks thus far. Fanatical Empire had no issue with it at all, jumping out to the front from his outside post and staying there until the end for the win! This Smokey Stover colt is now a perfect 3-for-3 on the grass for his career, so this may be a name we find ourselves talking about quite a bit for the rest of the year and beyond! He went off at odds of 6/1 but did not get included amongst our picks. For both Smokey Stover, and jockey J R Velazquez, it is their first Transylvania Stakes trophy. Congratulations to them! The race was won in a time of 1:44.87, which is the quickest of the editions run on soft turf. This race actually has a lot of history of being run on off tracks. Let’s take at it now:

(1/4 Mile- :23.69)- Breaking well out of the gate are our eventual 1-2 finishers at the end, with Smokey Stover’s Fanatical Empire prevailing over the Fractious- trained Diamond Haggis as they enter the first turn. From the rail, the winner’s stablemate, Rock With You, is also a quick starter and is within a length of these two in the early moments. Behind them, three stalkers are lined up to run side by side, with the inside lane belonging to the reigning BC Juvenile Turf winner from Asgar, Classy City. Damiano is between horses for TwinTowersRacing, and running on the outside after also having a good initial break, is Blazin D’s Numbskull. Trouble Brewing (Maxmillion Farm) and Proud Devil (Team 7 Illusions) are in the middle of the field, with Struck Down (Fractious) and Stormy Invasion (Red Fox Farms) being next. Trailing are Zensation (Threshold) and Warrior Time (D J C Racing Stables).

(½ Mile- :47.89)- Fanatical Empire looks particularly strong while rounding the turn while running three wide and will enter the backstretch leading by a length. He’s able to carry this over to the half mile point, and it is still Diamond Haggis running in the second position with Rock With You trying to hang with the top two up front. It’s a break of about a length to Damiano and Classy City, but they have pulled ahead of Numbskull, who starts to lose some ground. Further back, the field is getting more stretched out, but the running order is just about the same, with Trouble Brewing and Proud Devil being next, then Struck Down, Warrior Time, Zensation, and Stormy Invasion.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Rounding the turn, and moving into the stretch, Fanatical Empire looks very comfortable on the lead, and makes it look easy at the time. His lead is a length over Diamond Haggis, who is able to hold steady for now but does not cut into the lead. Rock With You is losing ground to them while for the moment Classy City looks to be in a great spot to pounce on the frontrunners with an open lane on the outside of Rock With You. Looking further back, both Proud Devil and Trouble Brewing looked interesting as they positioned themselves to make a run. Proud Devil would have the trail while Trouble Brewing would hope to make a wide move work. Both Numbskull and Damiano seemed done for the day. Struck Down was starting to show interest, and it would take a great last-minute run for someone else to get involved.

(Finish- 1:44.87)- Fanatical Empire was in command, and while he did not add to his lead, he would not be challenged until the very end. Not sure if he was tiring very late, or if it was just a lot of heart shown by some rivals, but Fanatical Empire does hold on to win by a neck over Diamond Haggis. Classy City is third and getting the fourth-place check with an outstanding late run, was Zensation. That one will just need to start running a little earlier next time. Proud Devil is fifth but seemed destined for a little better. Rock With You is next, topping Struck Down, Numbskull, Trouble Brewing, Warrior Time, Damiano, and Stormy Invasion.

About The Winner- Fanatical Empire, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three-year-old colt by Boardwalk Empire and is out of Fancifully. He was bred by Smokey Stover in New York as a second quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in five starts, and first stake win. His career earnings are now $318.000.

Track: Soft
Time: :23³  :47⁴  1:12³  1:44⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 12 – 2 Paid 83.40
$1 Trifecta: 12 – 2 – 3 Paid 622.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES