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Sword Wins Duel, Hits Mark in Steward's Cup Juvenile
Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 12 years 2 weeks agoSometimes the best names for horses are the simple ones and they don’t come much simpler than Sword, the name given to a solid grey colt who packed quite a punch winning the $2 million Grade I Steward’s Cup Juvenile by a neck over Spartan. The two juvenile racers pulled away from the rest of the field of 12 and waged an epic battle in the stretch, neither willing to give the other an inch. But at the end of this duel, Sword struck his final blow at Spartan, racing the 1 1/16 mile distance in the slop at Hot Springs Park in a sizzling 1:43.67.
Bred and owned by Laura Ferguson the winner brought a nice pedigree into the championship race. Ferguson had featured prominently in the Steward’s Cup last year, with her great filly Sport of Queens winning the Juvenile Fillies. The sport’s newest Amazon is awaiting the Distaff but Ferguson’s been quite busy with Sword in the meantime. Sword was a proud son of the burgeoning sire War Daddy (a strapping son of Advance Guard and the mare who refuses to die, Shalevet Pass) who is looking pretty nice at stud given that he also sired Spartan. War Daddy liked being older as he captured five of his eight wins after he turned four.
Ferguson bred Wreath of Lilies a daughter of Unheard of and Sea Jewel she picked up for just over $6.6 million at auction. She’s a half sister to some interesting names in the sport including marathoners Greenspan and Paralayo.
Sword impressed in his early works breaking 58 second for five furlongs and 1:10 for six furlongs and anticipation built for him to make his racing debut. He broke his maiden powerfully first time out by 5 ¼ lengths after being fitted with a tongue tie and hind wraps. The popular hangout for rising juvenile, the Cape Stakes was his next start and he beat a son of the great mare Bodega Bay, Bodega Head by a ½ length. So it was off to the Steward’s Cup Juvenile to test his mettle and speed against the best of his class that showed up on the startling line.
Spartan a powerfully built chestnut colt with a huge blaze splashed on his face wasn’t feeling like taking any prisoners. Bred and Owned by Eric Nalbone he’s also by War Daddy and out of a daughter of Oak Park named Terrific. She placed well in stakes races until she went to the shed and Nalbone must think a lot of Spartan because he bred his dam back to War Daddy to produce a nice filly named Army for Hope. Spartan broke his maiden impressively then defeated Battle Star by a half length to win the Thriller Stakes. Wide Awake Still, a son of influential sire Awake As I Am picked up by Mac Silver for $200,000, was second last time out in the Persevere Stakes and looking for some redemption. The Derby Cry bred and owned by Jennifer Francis had a stirring victory in the Osaka Stars Stakes and had to ship in from Japan for the Juvenile.
Lee Cara picked up Art, an impressively bred son of Majesty for $941,000 who finished fourth in a non winners race after breaking his maiden.
The crowd milled in anticipation as the horses were saddled as the sun tried to poke its way through the heavy cloud cover which shrouded over the racetrack. As the horses loaded in the starting gate, those watching wondered if the race would preview the Triple Crown series next year.
Famous owned by Larry Burndorf took the lead by a ¼ length over Art who raced with Spartan just off his flank as they splashed through the slop. Sword in the capable hands of his jockey Michael Moody fell back into eighth place in the early going. The horses headed into the long backstretch and Famous tugged himself a ½ length ahead of Art and Spartan while Sword remained behind them conserving his energy for the more difficult part of the race ahead. Sweeping into the turn, he had inched up into seventh place while Famous and Art still edged Wide Awake Still who had moved up and Spartan who was just about to fire his engines.
But in the stretch run everything changed in a flash. Moody urged Sword to begin his huge acceleration to go after the leaders. The only one willing to hook up with him in the lane was Spartan who dug in and the two of them raced in tandem neither willing to give the other any advantage. The crowd of 200,000 rose to its feet to cheer on their favorite runners while holding on tightly to their tickets. Spartan pushed Sword but the latter racer refused to allow him to run past and by the end of the lane, Sword held on for the win. Spartan finished second with a six length advantage over third place Wide Awake Still.
Sword looked mighty in the winner’s circle before being transported to Lake Hamilton Stables. It’s not clear what his plans are for next year but he’s likely to start his journey down the Triple Crown trail. But it’s likely that Spartan will be right there alongside him preparing for those dirt routing wars as well.