American Turf (Grade 2)- $600.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
May 4, 2024

There was plenty of reason to like Fanatical Empire in the American Turf, but when the rain came that made the turf course soft, the colt may have actually become more appealing. His prior win, the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes from KEE was also on soft going. This would make the horse that was our pick, also be the pick of almost a quarter of those making pick ‘em selections and placed him as the post time favorite. Fanatical Empire would take care of business in this race as he grabs his fourth straight victory, a streak that also began with when he was first put on the turf. Smokey Stover is the proud trainer of this one, and picks up his first American Turf win, as does jockey R M Hernandez. Congratulations to them! The time of the win on the soft surface was 1:45.01. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :23.58)- Diamond Haggis, for Fractious, is the quickest out of the gate, but as they move into the turn, he is joined at the front end by the longest shot on the board, Our Athletes- trained Knorth Kinght. Fanatical Empire, our eventual winner from Smokey Stover, is all alone in the third position and stalks the top two while running four wide. He has to be there, because he has not entirely cleared the three that are running to his inside. From inside to outside, those horses are The Stars At Night (Luz International), Sleeping Giant (TwinTowersRacing), and Classy City (Asgar). Behind them, it’s a length and a half to Way Of The Dragon (Fractious) and Exemplary (Mb Stables) in the middle of the field, with Petranella Man (D J C Racing Stables) and Struck Down (Fractious) right behind them. Influence (Mb Stables) is next, and the trailers are Litlemisscantbewrong (Onlineracingclub.com) and Convincing (Diablo Diablo).

(½ Mile- :47.83)- Knorth Kinght takes a slight lead around the opening turn and into the backstretch, but it will officially be Diamond Haggis scored as the leader when they reach half a mile. Fanatical Empire is still third and had to run wide for the opening turn as he was only able to move over to the rail once in the backstretch. Classy City, The Stars At Night and Sleeping Giant are still three wide for fourth, and there is a slight gap to Way Of The Dragon, and then Exemplary. The rest of the field were conceding a lot of ground midway through.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Around the turn, Diamond Haggis has gotten the better of Knorth Kinght, and the longshot is no longer able to keep up. However, Diamond Haggis also came down off the rail just enough to create an opening for Fanatical Empire. R M Hernandez could not have been any happier to see this, especially considering that his horse already was wide in the first turn. Now, he could stick it to the rail and closed in on the leader at the top of the stretch. There was close to a two-length gap to the fourth place Classy City, who was at least doing better than The Stars At Night and Sleeping Giant, who he had been running with before the turn. Way Of The Dragon was in a good position to go by a few of these, and Exemplary was running evenly. Petranella Man was showing more interest and looking to for room on the rail and Struck Down also seemed to be one to keep an eye on.

(Finish- 1:45.01)- With a furlong to go, this race was clearly about to come down to whether or not Diamond Haggis, who was trying to hang tough, could hold off Fanatical Empire, who was gradually reeling him in. Knorth Kinght had enough in the tank to fight for third. Classy City was not making a move on him, but further back, Petranella Man was making use of the clear lane he had on the rail and Way Of The Dragon was working through traffic. Closing in on the wire, it looked like Diamond Haggis might hold on, but Fanatical Empire was not ready to see his winning streak come to an end, and they would be tight at the wire. In the photo, Fanatical Empire scores the win over Diamond Haggis, with the late running Petranella Man running third. He had plenty of run late and just ran out of time. Way Of The North nips Knorth Kinght at the wire for the fourth-place check, and Classy City was within a length of them. The rest of the order will read Struck Down, Exemplary, Sleeping Giant, The Stars At Night, Influence, Convincing, and Litlemisscantbewrong.

About The Winner- Fanatical Empire, trained by Smokey Stover and ridden to victory by R M Hernandez, 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 fourth in six starts and second stake win, each of which are graded. His career earnings are now $678.000.

Track: Soft
Time: :23²  :47⁴  1:12³  1:45

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 10 Paid 62.90
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 10 – 2 Paid 727.10

Scratched: Feared

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES