'Everybody likes to dream'; Volatile breaks out at Oaklawn
Having closely chased opening fractions Friday of 21.65 seconds and 44.82 seconds in Oaklawn Park’s ninth race, Steve Asmussen-trained Volatile would have been excused for flattening out in the lane of the six-furlong race.
Instead, the Violence colt dashed away with a few shakes of the reins by jockey Ricardo Santana, hitting the wire 1:08.48, just .68 seconds off a track record set in 1990.
“To go that fast and finish that fast was certainly fun to watch,” said Doug Cauthen, vice chairman of co-owner Three Chimneys Farm, who also pointed out Volatile’s snappy final furlong in 11.71 seconds.
“Steve was positive going into it and ecstatic afterward. If we can just keep him happy and healthy, good things can happen.”
Owing to the regular issues of a young horse, 4-year-old Volatile didn’t debut until last July, when he won first out at Ellis Park. It was another two months before he ran second in allowance company at Churchill Downs and two months after that when Volatile defeated winners on Nov. 3 under the Twin Spires.
Surgery to remove a minor ankle chip sidelined the gray colt again through the winter, leading up to Friday’s breakout return.
“When he’s gotten there he’s been very impressive,” Cauthen said. “Hopefully we can keep him there for quite a while. Put four or five or six races together and it could be fun.”
Three Chimneys Farm campaigns Volatile in partnership with Phoenix Thoroughbreds. The two groups struck a deal shortly before their future purchase went through the ring as a Keeneland yearling, then went to $850,000 to land him.
The favorite in a field of 11, Volatile burst away Friday to win by 7 1/2 lengths and register a 101 Beyer Speed Figure. One race later, the 3-year-old stakes winner No Parole impressed in a six-furlong allowance race of his own, finishing in 1:09.34 for a 90 Beyer.
Volatile’s performance started up a hype machine naturally comparing him to Mitole, who Asmussen brought back from a layoff as an older horse at last year’s Oaklawn meet to begin an Eclipse Award-winning season.
“Everybody likes to dream,” Cauthen said. “It’d be great if that happened. We’ve got a long way to go, but he certainly has the speed.”
In the meantime, connections will await condition books from tracks postponing their meets amid the COVID-19 pandemic, then consider where Volatile appears next.