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Literature Kicks It In, Wins Long Island Classic
Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 14 years 4 weeks agoLast year, Literature kicked it into gear from the back of a crowded field of horses to capture the Steward’s Cup Juvenile, in great fashion.
This time, the powerful dark bay colt parlayed the same strategy to seize the lead in the stretch of the $1 million Grade I Long Island Classic to win by a neck over Pacific Classic. Literature ran the 1 ½ mile distance on the sloppy dirt oval at Long Island Park in a very nice 2:25.90.
Owned and bred by Jolene Danner, Literature brought a record of three wins in seven races into the Classic but the colt is so ultra-consistent that he has never finished worse than third during his career. He is by former Horse of the Year and successful sire Throne (who has sired 179 winners) and out of Saga mare, Lore which makes him a half brother to stakes winning Fable (by Seek Thrills) who finished second in two Triple Crown race efforts as a three year old.
Literature broke his maiden in his third start, after hitting the board twice. Any nerves that this might have created in his connections that it took him that long were more than alleviated by his impressive run in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile where he zoomed down the stretch to collar a field of talented horses including runner ups Sahara Sport and Talented As I Am. Fourth in that race was Pacific Classic who would be the last horse that Literature had to pass to take the Long Island Classic. Before hitting the Triple Crown circuit, Literature won the Texan Derby over Number the Stars and placed second in the Kentucky Blue Stakes behind Don’t Hesitate who would go on to win the Louisville Derby.
In that major star-studded field, Literature struggled to weave his way through a maximum sized field but once he found some racing room, he launched a tough effort in the lane, finishing third behind Don’t Hesitate who provided owner, Bob Oliva with his first Derby win and the always charismatic, Thriller. Literature skipped the Baltimore Crown which was captured by Thriller and bode his time for the marathon race of the triple, the Long Island Classic. Many believed that this race would benefit his furious closing kick in the final stages of his races.
Sure enough, Literature broke a bit slowly but very cleanly from the gate, placing himself in the seventh place position while up ahead Don’t Hesitate tried to duplicate his winning strategy that he used in the Derby. The Derby winner opened up a pretty good sized lead including three lengths during his backstretch run leading horse like The Hierarchy and Prestige who remained off of him. Literature did not shift his position at all, waiting patiently under a controlled ride by jockey Miguel Byrne until he hit the home stretch where he changed leads and furiously churned his legs to run down every horse in front of him including Don’t Hesitate who almost thought he had the race won, until Literature pushed just in front of him at the wire. Don’t Hesitate tried to hold onto second place but Pacific Classic pulled ahead of him and took the second place spot by 4 ¼ lengths. Don’t Hesitate finished third.
Everyone remained on the rail until the entire field passed the finish line including cult hero, Zipless II who finished last by 22 ¾ lengths behind the next closest horse. Then everyone crammed the area by the winner’s circle as Byrne dismounted by doing a back flip with a ¾ twist to the applause of the race goers before the awards were passed out.
Soon after, Literature traveled back to his digs at the Dare to Dream Stud awaiting his next start which will be met with eager anticipation. The race bought a fitting climax to a day which saw a full slate of exciting racing action as well as a massive amount of relief when a threatened jockey strike over television residuals never emerged.
This year’s Triple Crown is now in the books and although no horse won all three races, three exciting and very unique horses won each race in a way that proved to be truly memorable.