Spartan Duels, Disarms Sword in Baltimore Crown

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 12 years 1 week ago

Somewhere in a pasture on Flame’s Edge Farms in sunny California, the black stallion War Daddy is celebrating the continued dominance his second round of sophomores have show on the dirt routing scene.

His mighty son Sword captured the Louisville Derby with aplomb defeating another one of his male offspring after they dueled down the stretch.
This happened not long after his fiery daughter New Year’s Present blazed a trail followed by a half dozen sets of flying hooves when she broke the world record in the Louisville Oaks.

One week later, some of the survivors of the hotly contested Derby packed up and headed to Baltimore Race Course to face off again, including Sword and the colt he vanquished, Spartan.

But this time Spartan turned the tables on his conqueror and when the two battled in the stretch, he pushed his neck out in front to capture the $1.5 million Grade I Baltimore Crown. The chestnut colt whose impressive in stature gritted the 1 3/16 miles on the dirt oval in 1:53.95.

Eric Nalbone bred and owned the winner who had been overshadowed by the feat of his stable mate, New Year’s Present one week ago. But this week, it was Spartan who put on a thrilling show. He’s of course by War Daddy, one of the hottest studs in dirt routing right now following in the heels of East and Triple Crown winner Awake As I Am. His winning percentage is still around 39% though about 11.7% of his runners are stakes winners. However, his latest crop of three year olds has generated attention and excitement and his two year olds are on the horizon ready to cut loose on the racetrack including a full sister to Spartan.

Behind every hot colt on the brink of stardom is a broodmare and Terrific is a pretty impressive source of high quality bloodlines for Spartan. She’s by Oak Park who’s contributed the likes of Louisville Derby winner Braveheart and Flames (who won the Derby and the Long Island Classic) to the sport. Because she’s out of Loki Miracle, that makes her a half sister to the likes of Hall of Famer and Baltimore Crown winner Sun Raider, American Champion Two Year Old Filly Surprise among others.

Spartan started out with quite a bit of expectation and promise on his withers but the lanky two year old colt would soon be entering a highly competitive arena. He put in his training time including a five furlong work under 58 seconds before he first stepped foot on a racetrack to compete against others in his class.

He didn’t disappoint winning his first two races in very impressive fashion, proving he had a really good turn of foot in the Thriller Stakes. He met up with Sword who’s a Laura Ferguson homebred for the first time in the hotly anticipated Steward’s Cup Juvenile where the fledgling routers face their first test to see who reigns supreme on the eve of their maturity. Spartan stands a bit taller than his rival but they both pack a lot of muscle on their impressive frames. Near perfection, on display on the racetrack with their hoof beats providing cadence while they move in tandem in the stretch. That’s what those who were in attendance witnessed between these two contenders but on that day in the slop at Hot Springs Park, Sword prevailed.

They both watched as the very hot and still undefeated sprinter Quicker Than Light received the title of North American champion two year old male that year, but both came back the following year, even more muscled out and full of vinegar. Spartan took a two week breather after the Juvenile and captured the Fountain of Gold Stakes to place himself firmly on the Triple Crown Trail. His speed on display, he also blazed in the New York New York Stakes winning that as well. He appeared to be a huge presence in Louisville when he made his final preparations for the Derby.

He finished a thrilling second that day to Sword and then went to Baltimore after a short stint at Lakeside Stud. Eleven other horses showed up to face them, hoping that it wouldn’t come down to two of War Daddy’s favored sons.
Larry Burndorf purchased Famous for just over $7 million and the striking bay colt is by North American Champion Two Year Old Colt Redwood and out of Sensation who’s a stakes winning daughter of Now and a full sister to Wonder. Her most famous offspring is daughter Receptive who’s by Fighter Jet and still awaiting her first star offspring. Famous had won two starts and hit the board in two others out of seven, when he arrived in Baltimore. He had finished a length behind Sword in second in the Sunshine Park Derby and followed that up by winning the Lexington Race Course Stakes bypassing the Louisville Derby.
Brianna McKenzie bred and owns Akon who’s a son of North American Champion Three Year Old Colt Flames and Part of My Heart which makes him a half brother to Brash.

This statuesque dark bay colt had been impressive in his races, winning five out of six races including the Rising Star Stakes and the New Orleans Derby. In fact he had never tasted defeat until he lined up in the Louisville Derby and after stumbling at the start, he rallied gamely in the stretch to finish third.

Expect the Best had been purchased at auction for $7.750 million by Keith Maidlow and was a nice looking son of Father’s Day (another son of Oak Park’s) and Lokite Talent which meant that horses like Born the Best and Be The Best were his half siblings. Last year, he broke his maiden first time out and won two stakes races handily enough on his way to the Baltimore Crown.

Tayshaun Star picked up Elijah for $1.5 million after the colt had changed hands for prices ranging from $100,000 to only one dollar. But just before sold for that bargain basement price, the dark bay colt was gelded.

That didn’t stop the plucky runner from being sold for quite a few dollars and he’s a nice son of North American Horse of the Year Prophet and Saga mare North Country. He’s won three out of eight starts but two of them were the Louisville Jockey Club Stakes and the Battle Cry Stakes just before his disastrous foray in the Louisville Derby where he finished 12th. He hoped to improve on his luck in the second jewel but could he do it?

Jockey David Faulkner kept Spartan under a tight hold including when he passed Sword in the post parade and the two colts locked eyes before the warm-ups began. The horses all loaded into the gates and when they opened, Spartan took the early lead by a ½ length over Famous who opened up nearly four lengths on Expect the Best. During the earliest stages, Sword lingered in seventh place content to stick to a comfortable cruising speed. In the backstretch, Spartan extended his lead to a length while Famous ran right with them opening up eight lengths on the rest of the field. Sword didn’t appear fazed by the pacesetters still settled into his seventh place position.

In the far turn, Spartan had given himself a little more breathing room but Famous still charged at him relentlessly with other contenders including Sword who had accelerated through the pack to challenge the leaders getting ever closer with each unfurling stride. In the homestretch, Sword hooked up with Spartan and the two poured it on, their reserves of strength pushing them both forward as their strides covered the final yards of the race. Sword tried to thrust his head in front of Spartan who met each advance with a countermove as the finish line rushed up to them. With both horses moving in tandem, this time it was Spartan who prevailed to win a crown jewel.

With his narrow loss, Sword saw his unbeaten streak snapped at six races and for the first time he knew what defeat tasted. He finished a strong second two lengths in front of a determined Famous who finished third.

Both Sword and Spartan who had reduced the Triple Crown contest to a deadlocked tie could return to face each other in the Long Island Classic, the most grueling test of the Crown which takes place at Long Island Park in two weeks. The final jewel is already attracting a slew of contenders including Bodega Head, Urban Legend (who is another talented son of War Daddy) and Home Run Derby though Spartan has yet to throw his hat in the ring.

But so far the first jewels of the Crown, where sons of War Daddy were blanketed in red roses and black eyed Susans, have brought another strong contender into the central arena of the daddy wars.

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