Pimlico Special winner First Captain looks ahead to summer

Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds identifies time and patience as the most important ingredients to success in campaigning racehorses. This philosophy has worked wonders with graded stakes winner First Captain, who posted a deep-closing triumph May 20 in the Grade 3, $300,000 Pimlico Special.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey and owned by West Point Thoroughbreds in partnership with Siena Farm, Woodford Thoroughbreds and celebrity chef Bobby Flay, First Captain made amends following an uncharacteristic seventh and last in the Carter Handicap (G1) in April at Aqueduct.

The son of Curlin earned a career-best 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his Pimlico Special victory, where he showed determination in the stretch drive under Luis Saez’s left-handed encouragement to best three-time winner Vindictive by a head.

“Time and patience are our two biggest warriors, especially when you’re involved with these horses,” Finley said. “We all want things yesterday and we all want them quick, fast and immediately. That’s really our society. But these horses will make you wait and there’s plenty of times that you wait and not get any dividends from it. The ones who make you wait and get a dividend from it, often times that dividend is really significant. We think that’s the case with him.”

First Captain burst onto the scene last spring during his 3-year-old season, winning his first three races, including the Dwyer (G3) on July 5 at a one-turn mile at Belmont. Following a distant third in his two-turn debut in the restricted Curlin on July 31 at Saratoga, he was sent to the sidelines and did not return to action for another seven months.

Finley said First Captain’s two-turn success in the Pimlico Special could identify the chestnut colt as a candidate for prestigious handicap division races for older horses in New York, including the $400,000 Suburban Handicap (G2) on July 9 at Belmont as well as the $1 million Whitney (G1) and $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), both at Saratoga.

Should a Grade 1 or Group 1 winner start in the 2022 Jockey Club Gold Cup, the purse will be increased to $1.25 million. In addition, the first four placings of the Grade 2 Suburban will have their nomination, entry and starting fees waived should they start in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

“It’ll be in New York,” Finley said when asked of First Captain’s next start. “The three races coming up, the Suburban, Whitney and Jockey Club Gold Cup. One or more of those are coming into consideration.”

Finley said First Captain has matured and improved physically from his narrow optional-claiming win in his seasonal debut in February at Gulfstream Park.

“Looking at him in Florida compared to last week in Maryland, I saw a really nice step forward. I hadn’t seen him in the flesh in a couple of months,” Finley said. “He’s a very, very exciting horse. He’s got the pedigree to beat any kind, so it’s a matter of Shug mapping out a plan for him and I’m sure he’s thinking about it quite a bit. He’s kind of a throwback, a big, beautiful horse with some brawn to him. He walks around like he’s very confident with a lot of class and presence to himself. When all those things come together it’s the epitome of what a racehorse should look like. That’s what I saw at Pimlico.”

First Captain boasts a record of 7: 5-0-1 and earnings of $470,100. Bred by co-owner Bobby Flay, he is out of the graded stakes-winning and Grade 1-placed A.P. Indy mare America. He was a $1.5 million purchase from Stone Farm’s consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in August 2019.