East Avenue beats Ferocious in dramatic Breeders’ Futurity

Lexington, Ky.

Pity the poor horseplayer who only sees the stretch run from Saturday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.

That was where East Avenue completed his gate-to-wire tour de force that saw him accelerate his first time racing through a second turn on the way to a 5 1/4-length victory and an automatic spot in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar.

Click here for Keeneland entries and results.

Impressive as that run home was, it was absent of all the drama that happened before the race, when post-time favorite Ferocious (1-1) tossed his rider. And in the first turn, where Ferocious got pinned along the rail. And after the race, when stewards spent eight minutes weighing an objection from Ferocious’s jockey Luis Sáez before finally rejecting it.

“He was much the best horse,” trainer Brendan Walsh said about his winner. “I’ve seen (objections) here. You’ve seen them. It would have been completely a robbery if he got taken down.”

“It was real bad,” Sáez said. “The winner just got it right there. He came down and bumped us pretty hard, and my horse fell behind. It was a pretty rough trip. After that he was not the same.”

There definitely was contact among horses in the first turn. On further video review, it looked like Ferocious was knocked off stride from behind by Optical (24-1), who would be pulled up in the far turn and walked off. East Avenue (5-2) already had taken the lead, although Ferocious did check behind him before regaining his stride.

“He got popped around there pretty darn good,” Ferocious’s co-owner Ramiro Restrepo said. “But look, that’s racing, man. It’s quite a thing. But that other horse put us in position and got the catbird’s seat where we wanted to be, to be on the lead and to be able to set a tone.”

That was just chapter 2 of the drama. Chapter 1 came when Ferocious lived up to his name. Getting impatient after being loaded first of the 11 2-year-olds in the gate, he reared twice and sent Sáez flying. The jockey was not hurt, and veterinarians gave Ferocious a look-see before letting him go ahead.

“He was the number 1,” Sáez said. “He stayed there for too long. That’s why he gets pretty nervous, and he flipped back.”

All the while, East Avenue was a cool customer waiting in post 5 under jockey Tyler Gaffalione. He was alert from the go, maintaining a one-length lead through the first four furlongs of the 1 1/16-mile race. Chased first by Dapper Moon and then by the late charge of Ferocious, East Avenue expanded his lead to two lengths through six furlongs.

Then he took off, widening to a 4 1/2-length advantage through a mile and cruising through the finish line. The winning time on the fast main track that has been favoring speed the first two days of the fall meet was 1:43.17. That was the fastest Breeders’ Futurity in 13 years, after early fractions of 23.18, 46.76, 1:11.20 and 1:36.57.

“I had plenty of horse left,” Gaffalione said. “He’s pretty special. I’m really excited about him.”

East Avenue paid $7.56, $3.72 and $3.36; Ferocious $2.88 and $2.56; and deep-closing Filoso (29-1) $8.02. Dapper Moon (14-1), Mesero (45-1), Tenacious Leader (8-1), Big Boat (29-1), Handsome Pants (7-1), Saratoga Cruiser (103-1) and Ready for Peace (61-1) completed the finish in that order.

If there were any questions about a second turn, they were dispelled almost as quickly as East Avenue came off the backstretch.

“You’re always a little concerned about going two turns, because as good as you think they are, you’re still wondering if they can still do it,” Walsh said. “I really thought he could. I’m not surprised, really, by what he did.”

Walsh has seen more of the Godolphin homebred than the public has. Other than workouts at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, the Medaglia d’Oro colt out of Ghostzapper mare Dance Music had raced only once before. That was Aug. 24 at Ellis Park, where he won the six-furlong debut by eight lengths and earned an 86 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.

East Avenue’s victory Saturday came five years to the day after Walsh’s first win in the Breeders’ Futurity. That was with Maxfield, who got hurt and did not make it to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but still earned $2,001,812 before he was retired.

“I’ve been very lucky with Godolphin the last few years,” Walsh said. “I’ve had Maxfield and (three-time Grade 1 winner) Pretty Mischievous and now with him, three very, very good horses. It’s just a privilege to train for them.”

Saturday’s victory came the day after Brad Cox-trained, Godolphin homebred filly Immersive won the Alcibiades (G1). Like the Breeders’ Futurity, Friday’s race was a win-and-you’re-in qualifier, in that case for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. They also were 10-5-3-2-1 points preps for the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Kentucky Derby.

“We have a great bunch of 2-year-olds this year,” Godolphin USA bloodstock director Michael Banahan said. “We’ve had plenty of good winners. Those two have sort of risen to the top. We’ve thought that they were the tops since maybe early in the summertime. They broke their maidens impressively and went on and done what they done. An unbelievable weekend to win the two Grade 1s at Keeneland, our home track.”

A rematch between East Avenue and Ferocious is in the offing at Del Mar in less than four weeks. Throw in Chancer McPatrick, who beat Ferocious in the Hopeful (G1) and then won Saturday’s Champagne (G1) at Aqueduct, and the storylines are like low-hanging fruit.

Walsh is more than happy to be going there with East Avenue.

“I have to pinch myself,” Walsh said. “I’m so lucky to have horses of this caliber.”