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A Shocker in the Stewards' Cup Classic
Original article written by Gina Porter posted 9 years 1 week agoYear 39’s Stewards’ Cup Classic may have come as a shock to everyone. But honestly, it should not have. Keep Your Promise was a hot horse. Yes, he wasn’t Anointed who won the Desert Gold Cup, or Castle Keep who captured the first two legs of the Triple Crown, but it doesn’t mean that he wasn’t good enough to compete against them.
He took an easier route to the Classic, beating up on lesser competition. His only loss was a strong second place finish to Grant, year 38’s Louisville Derby winner. He won his other four races. Maybe we overlooked him because he didn’t win a Grade 1 that year? Or maybe we thought that he just didn’t have the talent to defeat the highly regarded Anointed. Whatever it was, we all made a mistake.
When Keep Your Promise came out into the paddock before the Classic, he was on his toes. He was flipping his head, swishing his tail, throwing a couple of playful buck, and pushing his groom around like he was a ragdoll. You could tell that he was a very happy and confident colt. He knew what his job was and he intended to do it well. But the crowd wasn’t looking at him. They were looking at a small, yet impressive chestnut stallion. Anointed. They knew that he was the one to beat. Anointed won that years richest race, and only lost once that year. Probably because he fell to his knees at the start. Giving the rest of the field a big head start. He was still able to come flying late to finish a close third. That was why everyone was oohing and aahing at how he looked. He was again, the one to beat.
The field loaded into the starting gate quietly . The crowd hushed anticipating a great race. AND THEY’RE OFF!!! As expected Horcox and Parzival rush to the lead. Battling up front and setting a very good pace. Keep Your Promise on the outside of Castle Keep and Grant, running in sixth. As they head to the far turn, Keep Your Promise starts tugging at his jockey, letting him know it was time to go. His jockey gave him a little bit of rein, and Keep Your Promise rockets to the lead heading into the home stretch. Jockey Javier Brunetto looks over his shoulder to see Grant and Anointed chasing after him. Ears pinned, determined to get past Keep Your Promise, but Keep Your Promise was determined too. He wanted to get to the wire first. He was all out as the two threats were right on his flank, but he kept going. Keep Your Promise wins!!!
The crowd is stunned, not knowing what to do. Their champion Anointed lost, in a race that they thought he couldn’t lose. But they also noticed the effort by the winner. He did everything right. Got the head start on Anointed, and when the champion came to his flank, he was able to dig down and keep him at bay. They had to congratulate for the job he had done. As Keep Your Promise headed into the winners’ circle the applause was defining. For he had run his heart out, and impressed everyone in the stands that day. Even though he wasn’t the favorite, he left the track on the hearts of the racing fans. The big bay colt would ride off into the sunset, awaiting his next race.