Caroline St. Beat, on one-week turnaround, triumphs in Nashville Derby
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FRANKLIN, Ky. – A grand gamble landed a million-dollar return as Caroline St. Beat wore down pacesetting Glacius and won the Nashville Derby by 1 1/2 lengths on Saturday at Kentucky Downs.
Try to believe this sequence of events: Trainer Miguel Clement had Caroline St. Beat entered in an Aug. 29 allowance race at Saratoga, but the day earlier had entered him, too, in the Nashville Derby. New York stewards were going to hand Clement a meaningful penalty if he abandoned the race at Saratoga, so Clement ran Caroline St. Beat there, won, and a week later landed one of the richest prizes of his young training career.
Not eligible for a $1 million Kentucky-bred subsidy, Caroline St. Beat still earned $1.003 million of a total $1,832,500 purse.
Not only was Caroline St. Beat running back on very short rest after shipping, he raced for the first time outside New York-bred competition while stretching out from a maximum distance of 1 1/16 miles to try 1 5/16 miles.
Glacius had won the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby in his last start, controlled the pace in the Nashville Derby, and Caroline St. Beat still took his measure.
“He definitely has a ton of ability, seems like he’ll run all day, and he’s got a heart as big as anyone,” said jockey Tyler Gaffalione, who had never sat on Caroline St. Beat until he got a leg up Saturday. “Miguel just told me ride him with a ton of confidence.”
Clement credited the horse’s owners, Madaket Stables and Stephen Bouchey, for going along with his radical plan.
“Tremendous amount of credit to the owners,” Clement said, reached by phone in New York. “I said it was worth doing, and I’d do it if he were my horse. He’d shown me things I thought were truly remarkable.”
Caroline St. Beat had two wins and two seconds, those in stakes competition, from four starts, and Clement thought he was the best horse in his first race this year. Still, his merits were not at all clear from the outside, and Caroline St. Beat thus paid $91.35 per $5 base win bet.
As Luis Saez on Glacius made a beeline for the lead, Gaffalione tracked toward the rail – coming close to clipping Royal Guard, who had to check – and taking up a ground-saving position in fifth.
“Approaching the half-mile pole, going down the hill over there, he really grabbed the bit and was traveling beautifully,” Gaffalione said. “I gave him a little breather, he took another pull at the three-eighths pole, and I just had to wait for the spot.”
Glacius was not stopping, but the chasing horses started flagging at the five-sixteenths pole, affording Gaffalione room to come off the rail at the quarter pole and mount his challenge.
“As soon as I popped him outside, he found another gear,” Gaffalione said.
Glacius did, too, the pair running in tandem to the furlong grounds, where Caroline St. Beat started inching clear to the wire. Glacius clearly was second-best, finishing 3 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Go Grey. Causeway, the 7-5 favorite, never came close to contending and checked in fifth. Caroline St. Beat was timed in 2:08.49 over a firm, fast course.
By Tiz the Law, Caroline St. Beat is out of the Scat Daddy mare Myhartblongstodady. He’s quite the physical specimen, too, a grand robust horse who showed no signs of having raced a week ago and traveled into a heat wave.
“He’s a special horse, plenty of good bone, the most efficient stride for a big horse,” Clement said. “This year, he’s just elevated his game to a new level.”
Clement said connections could look in the near term to the Hill Prince in New York, longer term toward the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. Caroline St. Beat will not be running back anywhere next week.
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