It was a long time coming, but Spendthrift Farm LLC’s Crown of Thorns finally had his first gallop over the historic one-mile track at Churchill Downs on Wednesday.
The trip around the track by the 6-year-old son of Repent was more
than three years in the making. First aimed toward the revered Twin
Spires as a 3-year-old looking toward the Kentucky Derby, Crown of
Thorns will make his Churchill Downs debut, and his first start outside
of southern California, in Saturday’s 30th running of the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap Presented by Abu Dhabi (Grade I).
Crown of Thorns has raced only 10 times in his career, but has
performed impressively despite a string of injuries that have kept him
from truly gaining momentum since he launched his racing career in late
2007. As a 3-year-old he looked like a major Kentucky Derby threat
after winning the Robert B. Lewis (GII) at Santa Anita, but was injured a
short time later and went on the shelf for a year and half. Crown of
Thorns finally returned to competition in Sept. 2009, but would run only
five times over the next 15 months. The last four of those were strong
runner-up finishes in Grade I races, including a nose loss to Dancing in Silks in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Santa Anita.
Crown of Thorns was being pointed toward last fall’s Breeders’ Cup
Dirt Mile (GI) at Churchill Downs, but a minor knee problem knocked him
out of that race just before his scheduled journey to Louisville.
Mandella was at Churchill Downs on Wednesday to watch Crown of
Thorn’s first gallop over the traditional dirt surface at the Louisville
track.
“He’s a horse I’ve always been close to,” Mandella said. “He’s a
very classy horse to be around and has a very nice mind. He’s got a ton
of talent, but he’s accident-prone.”
Crown of Thorns is coming off a victory over the accomplished Sidney’s Candy in the Mervyn Leroy (GII) over the synthetic Cushion Track surface at Hollywood Park. It was his second start of 2011.
Now Mandella’s veteran will attempt to grab the first Grade I victory
of his career in the 1 1/8-mile Foster. A good run by Crown of Thorns
over the racing strip at Churchill Downs could be important if
Mandella’s stays healthy and earns another trip to the Breeders’ Cup
World Championships, which will be run for the second consecutive year
in November at Churchill Downs.
"It’s a well-respected race with a lot of money, and you don’t get
too many chances with this guy,” Mandella said. “So you go for the
gold. I think having a run over this racetrack and seeing how he likes
it is important.
“The timing is the most important thing with him. You fit him where
it works. It (the Stephen Foster) came up at the right time. I don’t
want to plan two weeks from now and find out I missed my plan two weeks
ago. You put several options on the plate, and not just with him. You
do it with all the horses. You’d better not let them know your plans.”
Tyler Baze, who was aboard Crown of Thorns in the
Mervyn Leroy, will fly in from California for the ride in the Stephen
Foster. Crown of Thorns’ record in his 10 career races stands at 3-4-1
and he has earned $777,080.
The first-place check in the Foster would push Mandella’s
lightly-raced star past the $1 million mark in earnings, though the
veteran trainer is neither counting on that milestone nor concerned
about it. He’s hoping for a good effort by Crown of Thorns and that his
star comes out of the race well. After that he’ll consider a next step
that will be in the best interest of the horse that he has handled like
fine china.
There’s no reason for Mandella, or Crown of Thorns, to rush into anything now.
“I just do the best we can,” Mandella said. “We don’t cry over anything. We’re glad to have him.
"With these horses you just appreciate when you’ve got ‘em, and
appreciate it when it works. … I’ve learned to appreciate what happens
when it happens.”