Stronghold's demeanor suits him for Kentucky Derby mayhem
Louisville, Ky.
When it comes to horses or humans, who knows why certain traits are developed?
The certainty is that Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold had to be strong almost at birth after what appeared to be a normal foaling process went horribly awry. His accomplished dam, Spectator, welcomed the son of 2004 horse of the year Ghostzapper into the world with kisses at Mulholland Springs Farm in Lexington, Ky.
Then the trouble began.
“My understanding is she laid there for longer than usual before she got up and the foal was able to nurse and get his colostrum,” said Eric Waller, who bred and owns Stronghold with his wife, Sharon. “But then the mare exhibited signs of distress and that is when they rushed her to the hospital.”
Spectator had ruptured her colon and could not be saved. With time being of the essence, a nurse mare was rushed to the farm to give Stronghold the nourishment he desperately needed.
“It was still in a period of time that the foal could be impressioned to accept the nurse mare,” Waller said. “The nurse mare and Stronghold bonded without too much difficulty.”
The experience was so jolting that Waller questioned whether he wanted to continue the small breeding operation the couple had started in the 1990’s. Spectator, their first graded-stakes winner, became the third broodmare they lost.
“I had to re-think my goals and whether I wanted to continue on this path,” the breeder said, “because there had been so much heartache with losing these mares. It was just very devastating losing that mare.”
Waller, 77, is someone who perseveres. With the help of surgery, he survived prostate cancer diagnosed 25 years ago. Stronghold, with the help of the nurse mare, showed he, too, is as resilient as they come. “The farm always said you could tell right away that he was intelligent and he was a quality individual and you could see that he had class,” the breeder said.
West Coast-based trainer Phil D’Amato, who started Stronghold’s career with his string of horses at Churchill Downs, paid the colt a compliment that should serve him well in the mayhem of Saturday’s 20-horse Kentucky Derby when he said, “I don’t think anything really fazes him.”
Six starts at six tracks with three wins and no finish worse than second testifies to that. So do his $827,200 in earnings.
Stronghold placed second in his Aug. 27 debut at Ellis Park before breaking his maiden by a length and a half at one mile Oct. 1 at Churchill Downs in what turned into a significant race. Fellow Derby starters Resilience and Track Phantom finished second and third, respectively.
It was on to Del Mar for the Nov. 19 Bob Hope Stakes (G2) and then Los Alamitos for the Dec. 16 Los Alamitos Futurity (G2). He proved to be second best each time but was building a foundation that is serving him extremely well at 3.
D’Amato, seeking the path of least resistance, sent him to New Mexico’s Sunland Park to win the Feb. 18 Sunland Park Derby (G3). He provided him with an acid test in the April 6 Santa Anita Derby (G1). He more than passed. He split horses at the top of the stretch and dug in, edging Bob Baffert’s Imagination by a valiant neck for jockey Antonio Fresu.
D’Amato could not be happier with Stronghold’s demeanor. “That mental fortitude, the strength, I think helps in just kind of conserving your energy, knowing your job and using all of that when the gates open instead of before the gates open,” he said during a recent conference call hosted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Above all, Stronghold does whatever is necessary to put himself in position to win. “My horse is very tactical, and those kinds of horses come in handy in races where you can kind of be versatile, depending on pace scenarios,” D’Amato said of a colt once seemingly star-crossed at birth.