Feature Race | Auction | Breeding | General | Hall of Fame | Harness | Interviews | Mixed Breed | New Players | Racing | Site Updates | Steeplechasing | Steward's Cup | Triple Crown
Holy Communion & Keeper Of Gold Give In To Temptation
Original article written by Jack Meyer posted 9 years 3 weeks ago
Holy Communion and Keeper of Gold are familiar foes, both fillies met in the Steward’s Cup Filly & Mare Dirt Mile last year with Holy Communion scoring the 1 length victory sealing her second win over Keeper of Gold. These two brilliant fillies are stepping out of their comfort zone of the straight mile distance into unfamiliar territory. Holy Communion attempted the shorter distance of 7 furlongs in the Always In Love Stakes while Keeper of Gold attempted to go longer in the 1 1/16th Valentine Handicap, I sat down with Peihe Sun, owner of Holy Communion, and John Arzuaga, owner of Keeper of Gold asking them their thoughts on this change of pace and what they had in store for their two fillies going forward.
Holy Communion has won 9 of 12 career starts for Peihe Sun including the Steward’s Cup Filly & Mare Dirt Mile I know how special of a filly she is; I asked Peihe if she was afraid to pull the trigger and what made her decide to let her filly try the shorter distance of the Always In Love Stakes. “It was Andrew James' forum post in the breeding section about dual dirt sprinter & miler studs that got me thinking about the way I used to run dirt milers, which was starting them in sprints to get some more experience in before running them in mile races. All my dirt milers did very well in these 2yo sprints, and I thought that Holy Communion was surely fast enough to try in a 7 furlong sprint. Over the break I usually chart out a race schedule for SC caliber horses, and made the decision to try some sprints with Holy Communion then. I've always had a hard time finding races at the beginning of the year for 4 year old dirt mile fillies, and decided to go for a Gr 1 sprint instead of an unlisted or Gr 3 mile race this time to solve that problem. So I wasn't afraid to run her in that race, it just wasn't on my radar since I don't have many dirt sprinters, and none of that caliber, and I wasn't previously familiar with the stakes schedule. I have always tried experimenting with the race schedules of my top dirt milers--running fillies against the boys, stretching them out a little bit, so this was just another facet of that for me. For instance, I ran Holy Communion at 1 1/16 miles, also in a Gr 1, when she was 2, although she finished fourth in that race.”
I turned to John Arzuaga asking him about his little lady. Keeper of Gold has won 8 of 11 races with two of those defeats coming at the hands of Holy Communion, I told him how curious I’ve always been about trying my horses at different distances and was wondering if he was afraid to send Keeper of Gold to the Valentine Handicap, and if so what made him overcome that fear. “At First I was but her races she was closing great at a mile so I decided to see how she would respond with a half furlong more, her dam sire (much like falling) was a router.”
While neither of them were really terrified to experiment, maybe a little hesitant at first, I decided to go a little further by asking about the particular races chosen for the experiment. Peihe chose the 7 furlong Always In Love Stakes for Holy Communion, she ran a gallant 2nd behind the talented Someday You’ll See and ahead of the 5 million+ priced Shesmashesvillains, I asked Peihe how she felt after the race. “I was so excited with Holy Communion's second place finish! The field for the Gr 1 Always in Love got a lot harder in the last few days before the race, but I was committed to running Holy Communion in this spot because I wanted to see how good she was, and you can't tell anything without running against top competition.”
With Keeper of Gold John chose the 1 1/16th Valentine Handicap, she ran a very nice 3rd behind Union Belle and Fool’s Gambit who are both about as talented as they come, I asked John the same thing. “I was thrilled, somehow I sensed she was going to perform well and I wasn't disappointed.”
With both fillies doing very well in their owners eyes in their two experiment races I had to know if the urge to try again was there. I asked Peihe about Holy Communion’s chances of doing another major sprint run and where she is aiming her filly, “Absolutely. I had originally considered the Gr 1 Inconsolable week 6, but have a different schedule in mind now that includes the race Jon Xett used last year as a SC prep for Grace Is Gone, the week 12 Dancer Stakes. I could always change my mind, though!” I sense that Peihe is very high on Holy Communion; she has her taking the same road that a proven sprinter used on her way to the Steward’s Cup last year…Best of luck!
As far as John and Keeper of Gold, I asked if the Valentine Handicap results were enough to warrant another route run for Keeper of Gold in the future, “That’s a good question, I think for now I will keep her at a mile. As for another shot at a routing distance I’m going to play it by ear.” I have the feeling John thinks the route division is a little too much for Keeper of Gold right now, the SIM is stacked full of fillies in the division that have beaten the boys and pushed the record books as far as they can go.
The last thing I wanted to ask our two guests was what their plans are leading up to the Steward’s Cup, I wanted to know if they planned on running the Filly & Mare Mile again or if they had other plans. I began with Peihe, I asked if a rematch with Keeper of Gold was the plan, “I am indeed aiming Holy Communion at the SC Filly & Mare Dirt Mile again. No filly has won the SC F&M Dirt Mile twice, and Holy Communion has a chance to be the first. But I have run fillies in the SC Dirt Mile before and never rule that out. Arresting Valor, Minions, Fargo, and a lot of the 3yo males would be formidable opponents but what I want most is to run Holy Communion against the crazy fast Just An Act.” The mile division for the boys is indeed crazy good, I think Minions is super special, and I’d love to see Holy Communion vs. Minions but would be just as excited to see how her dual with Just An Act turned out.
As far as John’s plan with Keeper of Gold heading towards the Steward’s Cup and a [possible rematch with Holy Communion, “Absolutely we’re heading back to the Steward’s Cup and giving it another shot, she came so close last time we got to go for it. I would love to have another meeting at Holy Communion, she’s the only one who's beaten Keeper of Gold aside from her run in the Valentine, and she did it twice so maybe the third time is the charm.”
When I started this article it had a lot to do with my own curiosity about trying horses at different distances. I’ve done my fair share of experimenting using Dirt Route sires with Miler success with Miler mares but haven’t had very much success, I used these two talented fillies as an example because they have a little bit of the said distances in their pedigree but not enough to go all out and throw caution to the wind without hesitation. Since I am a SIMperior member I get to see everything that The Edge has to offer, and for those who are curious like me about this subject I urge you to get SIMperior because The Steward has interesting things to say from time to time about it, and that is what first drew me to the thought of crossing divisions.
Jack Meyer