Zipse: Belmont-bound Creative Minister is rising rapidly

Belmont Stakes contender Creative Minister has come a long way in a short amount of time.

Still unraced when the deadline for early Triple Crown nominations were due, he was not on the list of 312 horses whose connections ponied up $600 to be made eligible to compete in this year’s series.

With only one promising start under his belt but still a maiden when a $6,000 late nomination payment came due on March 28, Creative Minister was once again not made eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

The $180,000 yearling purchase was always well-liked, but he was not expected to develop quickly enough to be a Triple Crown player. Things have changed quickly, though, for the Kenny McPeek-trained gray colt in the last two months.

While the majority of the top contenders for the Kentucky Derby had already completed their final preps and many more were running around the country in the Blue Grass, Santa Anita Derby and Wood Memorial, Creative Minister earned his first career win.

The good-looking win on a wet track at Keeneland on Blue Grass Day came as no surprise, as the 8-5 favorite had run quite well in his career debut March 5, only coming up a rapidly diminishing neck short in a maiden sprint at Gulfstream Park.

After the 1 1/2-length maiden score on April 9, his ownership team considered running him on Kentucky Derby Day in the Pat Day Mile (G2) against the likes of Jack Christopher, but McPeek nixed that idea, opting to take a more traditional approach with the talented colt.

Instead, he was entered in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on the same Churchill Downs card. Several hours before Rich Strike pulled off his shocking win in the Run for the Roses, Creative Minister looked the part of a budding star with an impressive rallying victory on the undercard.

McPeek and team were now convinced that in two short months Creative Minister had gone from an unraced maiden into a horse who could truly compete in the Triple Crown series.

Owned by Fern Circle Stables, Back Racing and McPeek’s Magdalena Racing, the decision to pay $150,000 to make him eligible to run in the final two legs of the Triple Crown was agreed upon.

It was a hefty sum to pay for a horse who had yet to run in a stakes race, but they believed in the colt and his rapid ascension.

Ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., as he has been in all of his four starts, Creative Minister ran well enough in the Preakness to make the decision look like a good one.

Sent off as a 10-1 fifth choice in the second leg of the Triple Crown, he saved ground on the inside in mid-pack, moved up on the turn and angled out for the stretch drive. He never threatened the top pair of Early Voting and Epicenter, but ran on well to finish a clear third, beaten 3 1/2 lengths.

While it’s true that the winner, Early Voting, was also only making his fourth career start in the Preakness, he had much more experience than did Creative Minister, having debuted in December and having already run in two graded stakes races at 9 furlongs.

While neither Early Voting nor Epicenter will run in the Belmont Stakes on June 11, the third-place finisher in the Preakness will be there.

Among his competition will be the Kentucky Derby winner, Rich Strike, the Wood Memorial winner, Mo Donegal, and the Peter Pan winner We the People.

Once again plenty is being asked of Creative Minister. Third in the Preakness in his stakes debut, and after never having previously raced farther than 1 1/16 miles, he proved to be a horse of class.

But now he will be asked to come back three weeks later in the 1 1/2-mile Test of the Champion. It will be a daunting test, but the Creative Cause colt has the pedigree to get the distance.

Out of the mare Tamboz, a full sister to Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Tapizar, Creative Minister is a grandson of both Giant’s Causeway and Tapit. They are two of the greatest distance influences in American racing this century.

He does not have the early speed of We the People, nor does he have the closing kick of Mo Donegal or Rich Strike, but he has enough tactical speed to be in touch early and a grinding rally that may have no distance limitations.

Unraced in early March and still a maiden in early April, the quickly improving Creative Minister is clearly one to watch in the final leg of the Triple Crown.