Flashback: Blame's Clark Handicap win foreshadows more

Mention the name “Blame” in racing circles and you’re bound to hear cries of objection from enthusiastic fans of superstar Zenyatta. After all, it was Blame who played the villain in Zenyatta’s lone defeat, infamously stemming off the great mare’s charge in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

But Blame was a special horse in his own right; a top-class colt with unwavering determination and a clear-cut affinity for Churchill Downs. Indeed, his tenacious upset over Zenyatta in the Classic was foreshadowed by an equally gritty triumph in the 2009 Clark Handicap (G2) under the Twin Spires, where the son of Arch first emerged as a force.

If there has ever been a higher-quality renewal of the Clark, you’d be hard-pressed to find it. Although the race was only rated a Grade 2 at the time, the 2009 Clark attracted and deep and competitive field stacked with past and future stars. Established Grade 1 winners Einstein, Bullsbay and Macho Again comprised a formidable trio of older runners. They were joined by the classic-placed Pennsylvania Derby (G2) winner Anak Nakal and the once-beaten Meadowlands Cup (G2) winner Etched.

The 3-year-olds were just as promising. Misremembered and Giant Oak, the top two finishers in the Indiana Derby (G2), still had their best days ahead of them; Misremembered went on to score a top-level triumph in the 2010 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), while the durable Giant Oak rattled off back-to-back Grade 1 victories in the 2010 Clark Handicap and 2011 Donn Handicap.

Then there was Blame. Trainer Al Stall Jr. had once harbored Kentucky Derby dreams for the promising bay colt, who broke his maiden impressively during the 2008 Keeneland fall meet. But plans to target the Louisiana Derby (G2) as a springboard to Louisville went awry; as noted by writer Jason Shandler in The Blood-Horse magazine of December 5, 2009, Blame “suffered a severe abscess on a hind foot,” sending him to the sidelines during Kentucky Derby prep season.

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But Stall’s patience with Blame reaped rewards during the second half of 2009. By the time Blame arrived at Churchill Downs for the Clark he was already a two-time stakes winner, most notably defeating older rivals in Keeneland’s Fayette Stakes (G2). Horseplayers betting the Clark embraced the late-maturing colt, sending him off as the 4-1 second choice despite the overall quality of the field.

Blame rewarded his supporters with a gutsy performance. Reserved in eighth place early on by jockey Jamie Theriot, Blame patiently bided his time as longshot Anarko carved out fractions of :23.69, :47.60, and 1:12.16 with Etched in close pursuit. Misremembered was parked wide in fifth position, just ahead of defending Clark champion Einstein.

Blame remained in mid-pack until the three-eighths pole, when Theriot asked the colt to accelerate. The response was a powerful, sustained rally indicative of a special horse.

Sweeping past rivals on the far outside, Blame rallied from eighth to first in the span of a quarter mile. Charging into the Churchill Downs homestretch, he locked horns with Misremembered, who had unleashed an earlier move to seize a brief advantage. Between them was Anak Nakal, battling on gamely, while Einstein was gradually lengthening his stride from off the pace.

Through the final furlong, Blame tenaciously battled rivals from all sides. Misremembered was a stubborn foe down at the rail, and Einstein was charging on the outside. A lesser horse would have cracked under the pressure and conceded to his challengers, but Blame clenched his teeth and fought on. In the final strides he put away Misremembered for good and forged across the finish line a neck in front, with Einstein another neck back in third place.

Theriot, unknowingly foreshadowing Blame’s triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, praised his mount’s unwavering determination.

“I felt the horse on the inside start coming to me, and my horse started to dig in when he felt the pressure,” Theriot explained in The Blood-Horse. “He kept giving me more. We could have gone around again and the outcome wouldn’t have changed. That’s how he does it… You will probably be seeing a lot of him as a 4-year-old.”

For many racing fans, Blame has become to Zenyatta what Upset was to Man o’ War; what Jim Dandy was to Gallant Fox; what Onion and Prove Out were to Secretariat. But judged on his own merit, Blame was also a special horse, one with rarely matched tenacity. He could have lost the Clark, just as he could have lost close decisions in the 2010 Stephen Foster Handicap (G1), or the 2010 Whitney Handicap (G1), or even the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Instead, Blame’s sheer determination allowed him to repeatedly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. His triumph over Zenyatta was merely the culmination of a year-long journey that ended where it began, with a resolute victory at his favorite track.

J. Keeler Johnson is a writer, videographer, handicapper, and all-around horse racing enthusiast. A great fan of racing history, he considers Dr. Fager to be the greatest racehorse ever produced in America, but counts Zenyatta as his all-time favorite. You can follow him on Twitter at @J_Keelerman.