L’Imperator, Kingsley regroup in return to Saratoga Grade 1
Editor’s Note: The Smithwick was shelved because of rain Wednesday, but rescheduled for Sunday as the first race. Post time is 1:10 p.m.
Forty-four days ago, a foot abscess forced L’Imperator out of the entries for a Grade 1 steeplechase at Saratoga Race Course. And, chalking it up to bad luck and bad timing, trainer Arch Kingsley moved on.
“I don’t get too happy or unhappy about things, or I try not to,” Kingsley said. “It just was. He had a foot abscess. We were dead in the water.”
Kingsley had farrier Ian McKinlay open up the abscess, sent his horse to Burke Equine and left town to check on his charges at Colonial Downs. He got as far as his mother’s house in northern Virginia when a college friend reached out about seeing Dead and Company at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Kingsley, being a loyal Dead Head (and friend), flew to Vegas for a show. He was going to stay for two shows until he got word that L’Imperator’s race, the inaugural Peggy Steinman Stakes slated for the final day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival June 9, was shelved because of rain. There was a chance, if interest warranted, the Steinman could be offered back at Aqueduct Racetrack June 20.
Kingsley called Dr. Stowe Burke.
“This horse looks pretty good on the shank,” the veterinarian told the trainer.
Kingsley caught a red eye from Vegas, drove to Saratoga, picked up his horse and went to work. L’Imperator did the rest – healing, training and showing up at Aqueduct to the tune of a 2-length win in the $150,000 Steinman for Hudson River Farm and jockey Jordan Gainford.
Today, they look for a repeat in the $150,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial, which opens the card at 1:10 p.m. L’Imperator faces six foes, led by rival Abaan, who would have run in the Steinman at Saratoga but skipped the Aqueduct version after shipping back to South Carolina.
“It worked,” Kingsley said of the whirlwind schedule. “I learned something.”
Like what?
“That you have no control, over anything,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Don’t worry about any of it. Just enjoy, do the best you can. That was definitely the takeaway.”
As always, easier said than done with horses.
Purchased for $75,000 at the Keeneland November sale in 2022 after a 17-start flat career that included a Grade 2 turf win, L’Imperator learned to jump and won his third start over hurdles last May. He added a Saratoga allowance in July, finished second in a Grade 1 at Aqueduct in September and was a well-beaten third (to Abaan) in October. The 7-year-old opened 2024 with two thirds, to Abaan in March and behind Rampoldi Plan in May.
Hoof issues were always along for the ride.
“He’s always had really fragile feet, but that’s part of his story honestly,” Kingsley said. “We bought him for 75 grand and with form like that I figured I was not going to be able to touch him. I felt like he was going to be $200,000. He didn’t have hind shoes on at the sale and was walking around on eggshells. He wouldn’t walk the way you wanted him to at a sale.”
The most recent issue was brewing after some turnout time in May, though Kingsley thought he had it figured when farrier Barry Walsh re-shod the horse before shipping north to Saratoga.
“He was sound for three weeks, all the way up until a few days before the (original) race,” Kingsley said. “We were going to make it, then boom. I believe maybe there was a gravel that had gotten in there and it was working its way up through the foot and it hadn’t gotten to the nerve yet. For the layman, you’d say it just takes a while to brew and you don’t know. It’ll be something they step on or something they do – if the horse had better feet, it wouldn’t bother him that much.”
In the rescheduled Steinman, L’Imperator let Rampoldi Plan and Ziggle Pops get racing with a lap to go and churned past them in the stretch to win by 2 lengths for his first stakes win since the 2022 Presious Passion at Monmouth Park while part of the Chad Brown barn. The $90,000 payday lifted the son of Holy Roman Emperor to $233,000 in 10 starts over jumps. He spent another week or so at Burke Equine getting turned out and using the water treadmill before coming back to Kingsley’s two stalls on the Oklahoma side and aiming for the 2 3/8-mile Smithwick. Gainford returns to ride at 154 pounds, four less than 9-5 morning-line favorite Abaan.
The latter took the measure of L’Imperator twice – last fall at Far Hills, N.J. and again March at Camden, S.C. – but Kingsley hopes the scale tilts more toward his horse this time.
“I’d like to think he’s better now. When we first ran against Abaan, it was soft ground and his eighth run of the year,” he said. “Then when we met him in the Carolina Cup this year, he tipped out with the leaders all the way around, and Abaan came with the last run. Hopefully, he’s better. Hopefully, the tactics are a little different. I have a world of respect for Abaan, so I don’t underestimate him at all. They’re two serious new horses.”
Like L’Imperator, Abaan won graded stakes on the turf and authored a seamless career change to jump racing for Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Daigneault Thoroughbreds. The 7-year-old Will Take Charge gelding finished second in his debut last summer at Colonial Downs, but has won four in a row since – all restricted novice stakes. He steps up conditions-wise, but so do most of his rivals in the absence of division leader Snap Decision (a 10-year-old who can’t race in New York).
Based in South Carolina, trainer Kate Dalton and her husband/stable jockey Bernie Dalton opted against waiting around in New York to see if the Steinman would get rescheduled, and then passed on the Aqueduct opportunity in favor of the Smithwick.
“More miles on the truck and trailer, less miles on the horse,” Bernie said. “I took my jockey hat off, put my truck-driving hat on and off we went back home.”
Abaan breezed at Camden, and otherwise stayed ticking over for the next assignment. Part of the Todd Pletcher barn for parts of three years, Abaan won a turf maiden here in 2021 and the Grade 3 McKnight Stakes at Gulfstream Park in 2022. His form tailed off last year and his owners sent him to the Daltons. He’s earned $181,200 in five starts over 11 months.
Over jumps, Bernie Dalton has been able to find Abaan a comfort zone early in his races, and produce the long-striding chestnut late. Both wins this year came while gearing down, as the jockey looked for competition and patted his horse on the ear, at the finish.
“That’d be really nice, that’d be a good problem to have,” he said with a laugh. “But I won’t be looking to do it.”
Instead, he’ll be looking to tuck in somewhere behind likely frontrunner and American first-timer Pickanumber, Ziggle Pops, maybe West Newton and L’Imperator.
“I’ll be anywhere fifth to last,” the jockey said. “Just hunt around for a turn and let his jumping take him into it, hopefully. Hopefully, he can pick it up down the lane. It’s an interesting race. Arch’s horse has obviously come back to form and Pickanumber has been nothing but impressive.”
After four wins in five starts for English-based trainer Olly Murphy, Pickanumber joined the U.S. barn of Leslie Young and owner Leipers Fork Steeplechasers. The 6-year-old Shantou gelding dominated a rich handicap hurdle at Haydock in May while leading throughout. Aboard Rampoldi Plan for the same owner and trainer in the Steinman jockey Jamie Bargary followed a similar strategy, but couldn’t hold off L’Imperator late. Pickanumber is the 2-1 second choice at 152 pounds.
Ziggle Pops, third at Aqueduct, looks for his second win this year, and fourth over jumps for Jack Fisher. Graham Watters takes the ride at 6-1 and 148 pounds. Saratoga allowance winner Freddy Flintshire (sixth) and March stakes winner West Newton (seventh) also exit the Steinman for owner Upland Flats Racing. Going Country makes his first start since May while adding blinkers.
Keep Reading…
Click the cover to access the online edition of the full paper, presented by Eclipse Thoroughbred partners
