Transylvania Stakes (Grade 3)- $600.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
April 3, 2026

Last fall, Gaelic Commander became a BC champion by winning the Juvenile Turf Sprint. When he appeared in the Transylvania Stakes, he was looking to prove that he could have success going longer, and the works seemed to back that up. We did have him among our picks, but the bettors were not as confident and allowed him to go off at odds of about 26/1 and the longest shot on the board for some reason. Trainer High Voltage wasn’t a part of his BC success, as he acquired him in private sales for $400.000 later that month, but he has now been able to enjoy two wins in three starts since that sale. The win is his first in the Transylvania Stakes, and it is the second victory for jockey J R Velazquez. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:39.39, the second quickest time in the stake’s history. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :23.01)- Perfect Doubt goes right to the front for Bigchief Stables and will show the way into the opening turn while being clear by a length. Right behind him, second place Right Noble, who’s out of Pace With Grace, was also clear of the rest of the pack. Behind him, they are three wide and all out of Mb Stables. In the middle, No Prince has a neck in front of stablemates Reign Supreme and Divide Your Fears. In tight behind them, we have a group of four, with Darkest Bronze (TwinTowersRacing) having the clearest lane of the quartet. To his inside is Yellowbrick Road (D J C Racing Stables), and In The Drink (Pan Farms) is to his immediate outside. Running four wide is where we find our eventual winner from High Voltage, Gaelic Commander, and that’s exactly where this closer wants to be. Shichiroji (Jerry Garcia Racing) and Kuykendahl (Luz International) trail the field.

(½ Mile- :46.50)- Working around the turn and into the backstretch, Perfect Doubt is still out in front and runs a length ahead of his closest competitors. It’s now three wide for second, as Reign Supreme pulls up to the outside of Right Noble, and on the outside, In The Drink makes a push forward, advancing his position to now run with this group. They’re a length ahead of No Prince and Divide Your Fears, and then it’s a length and a half to Yellowbrick Road and Darkest Bronze. Gaelic Commander is officially scored as being five lengths off the pace as he runs in the third lane. Shichirohi and Kuykendahl still trail.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- As most eyes were on the leader, Perfect Doubt, beginning to get leg weary at the end of the backstretch, further back in the pack, Gaelic Commander would make a power move early in the turn to go further outside, looking to get by as many of these as quickly as possible. Entering the top of the stretch, he is still in the seventh position but has cut more than half of his previous deficit to the frontrunners and is clearly one to be watching as the stretch run is about to begin. Speaking of those at front, Right Noble and Reign Supreme will hold the top two spots now, with No Prince moving into the third spot. Perfect Doubt was fourth for now but dropping fast, as Divide Your Fears, In The Drink and the charging Gaelic Commander were about to go by imminently. Although, in the case of In The Drink, he was another horse showing signs of fatigue, just not as much as Perfect Doubt. Yellowbrick Road was next in line, as Kuykendahl looked for room closer to the rail to make a run. Shichiroji was about to pass Darkest Bronze.

(Finish- 1:39.39)- With a furlong to go, Gaelic Commander was still coming on strongly, and it would not matter that he was nearly in the middle of the race track at this point. No Prince had been doing well with getting the ones in front of him, but he did not account for Gaelic Commander, and had nothing for him. In the closing moments, Gaelic Commander would leave people wondering why they didn’t pick him, as the 26/1 longshot despite being a BC champion goes on to win convincingly, by nearly a length and a half. No Prince and Reign Supreme give Mb the second and third place checks, while the late running Kuykendahl gets fourth, edging out Right Noble for the spot. The rest of the order will read Shichiroji, Divide Your Fears, Yellowbrick Road, In The Drink, Darkest Bronze, and Perfect Doubt.

About The Winner- Gaelic Commander, trained by High Voltage and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three-year-old gelding by Commanding The Gale and is out of Bee Pure Chai. He was bred by Barcelona Farms as a first quarter two-year-old in California and was acquired by High Voltage for $400.000 in a November 2025 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in nine starts, his fourth stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $1,356.800.

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES