The first time I watched the 2013 Withers on television I found myself
wanting to shout at the screen as Revolutionary ran into one difficulty after another. “He broke slowly again. What’s going on
with the way he is running? He’s climbing. He’ll never get through.” Yet
miraculously jockey Javier Castellano found a way to get the War Pass colt running smoothly and, at the same time,
found a hole between horses through which they accelerated just in the nick of
time.
I was so impressed with the victory
that I decided to go back and watch the Withers replay several more times the
next day. It seems that Todd Pletcher’s New York assistant, Michael McCarthy,
had the same idea. McCarthy, too, was amazed by what had transpired. “I was
watching the replay of the race a little while ago, and there was nothing good
about it except for the last two or three jumps. That may have been one of the
worst winning trips I’ve ever seen.”
I needed to learn more about the race so
I went the Daily Racing Form’s chart
and found one of the longest and most descriptive running lines that I have
ever seen. I watched the race over and over again and tried to match the chart
with the video, in order to get a complete idea of everything that had happened
to Revolutionary and Castellano. Here is the chart from DRF into which I have inserted times that match the events from the You
Tube video that was posted at the “NYRAvideo” channel. I invite you to rewatch the race and
read the chart of this eventful running of the Withers.
Revolutionary was sent over to the rail (:15) soon after the start, (:20) contently took the inside route
early in the going, (:34) pulled
noticeably on the right side of the bit at intervals while making his way down
the backstretch, (1:03) after
climbing for a few strides near the top of it, (1:20) took the two path for a good portion of the way to the half
mile pole but re tucked (1:28) along
the rail at that station, (1:35) got
mildly shuffled, racing at a slight distance behind the runner up in the
vicinity of the five-sixteenths pole, found enough room and was soon eased back
into the two path, (1:36) spun into
the lane once more pulling on the right side of the bit, (1:37) was forced to idle in traffic behind rivals during the run
through the furlong grounds, (1:38) saw
a newly-created seem between rivals open up at mid lane and was angled outwards
toward it, (1:40) kicked in with a
good display of acceleration after completing this maneuver, (1:43) split rivals in the final
seventy yards en route to (1:48) grabbing
the lead and edged away.
The more times I watched
the Withers replay the more impressed I became with the effort of
Revolutionary. The Beyer Speed Figure came up as a not particularly impressive 86, but the
early pace was slow with quarters of :24-1 and :48, and Revolutionary did not
have a chance to really start running until the very end of the race.
The experience that
Revolutionary gained in his Withers adventures should help him run more
professionally the next time out. Look for Revolutionary to make a big move up
my New York Top 10 Derby Contenders list when it comes out in a couple of days.