Zipse: Dragoon Guard is 1 to watch as we march to fall racing
Fierceness regained his position at the summit of the 3-year-old male mountain with a bold and determined win in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes, but this race is not over. One talented colt looking to move up the ladder is Brad Cox-trained Dragoon Guard.
When last seen, Dragoon Guard raised his record to 4-for-4 in 2024 when he led every step of the way in the $500,000 West Virginia Derby (G3) last month at Mountaineer Park. That’s a far cry from the limelight of Saratoga and the field assembled for the mid-summer derby, but that first try at 1 1/8 miles was another step forward for the late-blooming gray.
From Arrogate’s final crop, look for him to dip his toes in the deeper end of the pool next. With the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) on Sept. 21 likely on his dance card, look for Dragoon Guard to be tested in a field that could include Preakness winner Seize the Grey and Santa Anita Derby (G1) victor Stronghold as well as recent stakes winners E J Won the Cup and Gould’s Gold.
A homebred for Juddmonte Farm, Dragoon Guard has been spending time at his Churchill Downs home base since winning in West Virginia. On Saturday the physically imposing colt turned in a sharp, five-furlong workout in 59.8 seconds on another warm morning in Louisville, Ky.
Beside the potent bloodlines of his departed champion sire, Dragoon Guard boasts plenty of class on the female side. He is out of the Mizzen Mast mare Filimbi, who was a consistent seven-time winner including the Goldikova Stakes (G2) 10 years ago. And she was a daughter of the excellent 2021 Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Alabama (G1) winner Flute.
Dragoon Guard was winless last season at 2, but he made only one start. That came in a seven-furlong maiden race at Churchill Downs, where he dueled with the soon to be stakes winner Otto the Conqueror. He couldn’t stick with him in the early part of the stretch but was coming on again late to just miss by a neck.
This season it’s been smooth sailing as Cox has allowed the talented runner to come into his own. In his first start of 2024, Dragoon Guard appeared in Lexington in April and dominated a Keeneland maiden race over the Beard course of seven furlongs and 184 feet.
After his maiden-breaker, Dragoon Guard was entered in a one-turn mile back at Churchill Downs in early June, when he was bet down to 4-5. An easy allowance score in strong time there prompted his connections to move up in both distance and class.
Ready for his step up, Dragoon Guard ventured north up route 65 to make his stakes debut and face a Grade 1 winner in the Indiana Derby (G3). Showing off his natural speed, the talented 19-10 second choice once again controlled the pace and the race and had no trouble holding off the favored Stronghold down the Horseshoe Indianapolis lane. His first try around two turns was a rousing success.
From there, his 2 3/4-length win in West Virginia under regular rider Florent Géroux was both decisive and uncomplicated. Having won each of his four starts this year in very similar fashion, it was another building block getting him prepped for bigger fish to fry.
We already know the likes of Fierceness, Dornoch, Mystic Dan and Sierra Leone are formidable Grade 1 winners in this solid crop of 3-year-old males, but keep a good eye on Dragoon Guard the rest of the way.
The regally bred runner should be the one to beat in three weeks at Parx, and from that $1 million Grade 1, even bigger things likely will be in his future.