Keeneland: Rerouted from N.Y., Highland Chief wins Sycamore
Highland Chief came down with a cough last week and did not start as intended in the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct. Instead, he conquered a more modest race 600 miles away.
Trained by Graham Motion and ridden for the first time by John Velázquez, Ireland-bred Highland Chief (6-1) saved ground along the rail, successfully stalking the slow, early pace en route to winning the $300,000 Sycamore Stakes (G3) for open company Friday at Keeneland.
Now a two-time Grade 1 winner this year, the 5-year-old Gleneagles horse bred and owned by fashion entrepreneur Fitri Hay surged to the lead in mid-stretch, won by one length and was clocked at a winning time of 2:28.87 going three turns on the firm turf.
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“I just tried to stay right behind horses, save some ground and hope he would come running,” Velázquez said. “I was just looking for some sort of space at the quarter pole, and once I got it, he was there for me.”
Temple (23-1), who ran 15 yards farther than the winner, and Highest Honors (8-1) closed from off the pace to finish second and third in that order. Channel Maker (12-1), a $3.6 million earner who was one of three 8-year-olds in the field of 12, faded from second and finished fourth. Balthus (6-1), post-time favorite Mira Mission (9-5), Cellist (52-1) and Red Knight (7-1) were fifth through eighth, respectively. Only a half-length separated the second- through eighth-place horses.
“It was a blanket finish,” trainer Ian Wilkes said about Mira Mission, the 16th consecutive beaten favorite in the Sycamore. “He is probably a year from being a really nice horse. He is only a 4-year-old. If he keeps improving, we will be back bigger and better next year. We may freshen him up and bring him back for next year.”
Highland Chief returned $15.32, $7.66 and $5.38; Temple $19.68 and $11.40; and Highest Honors $6.22 under Kentucky’s unique penny breakage. The $1 exacta paid $157.01, the 50-cent trifecta $687.99 and the 10-cent superfecta $1,446.12.