In the January 17 Leonatus Stakes, Great White had pulled the rail and suffered a tough trip, but still managed to finish fifth, defeated by 4 3/4 lengths. The Volatile gelding rode clear this time, breaking from post position 8 this time, and was within a few lengths of the pace under jockey Alex Achard.
“The last race was everything against us,” said Achard. “Today we just came back and knew we had to be more aggressive and closer. He put me there and he did it in a good way.”
Achard put Great White in a stalking position in third place as Street Beast and Attfield battled through quarter-mile fractions of :23.88, :48.84 and 1:14.65. Ready on the outside, Great White seized command on the final turn and opened a clear lead down the stretch. At full effort, as he did in the Leonatus, he gobbled up the ground late, but fell a neck short as Great White covered 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.83.
The gray or roan gelding was purchased for $55,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton December Digital Selected Sale by Three Chimneys Farm. Trainer John Ennis had expressed an interest in the youngster during the sale and was approached by Three Chimneys a few weeks later to join them in the partnership.
“I was privileged to even be asked by Three Chimneys to be involved with a horse of theirs,” Ennis said.
Great White proved confusing to train, with Ennis describing the challenge as taking one step back for every two steps forward. Ennis finally took him to the races for a debut victory at Turfway on December 12, which preceded the unplaced finish in the Leonatus Stakes. Ennis entered the Battaglia thinking there was still plenty of room to improve.
“I always loved the horse, but I thought he was a little weak,” Ennis said. “I spoke to Gonçalo [Torrealba, chairman of Three Chimneys] and the guys from Three Chimneys and said, ‘Look, it’s just not there yet. He’ll be a nice horse in the summer, a real horse in the summer, but he’s just not there yet. But whatever he does today, he will improve the next day.” I think you will see significant improvement with him every race.”
The May 14 foal appears to be ahead of schedule when it comes to reaching his true potential. Saturday’s victory, for which he paid $32.32, earned him 20 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby. The rest of the top five finishers – Fulleffort, Maximus Prime, Baytown Dreamer and Steel Imperium – earned points on a 10-6-4-2 scale.
Ennis got his first taste of the Kentucky Derby in 2024 with Epic Ride, who had finished second in that year’s Battaglia and finished 14th at Churchill Downs after being removed from the also-eligible list.
“This doesn’t happen to someone like me. It’s crazy to be in the picture right now,” Ennis said of a potential second Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve runner.
Epic Ride would prove to be more of a turf miler than a classic dirt horse, winning the Mint Millions Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs last summer. Great White’s sire, Three Chimneys stallion Volatile, was a Grade 1-winning sprinter. However, Ennis believes this gelding will be able to go the extra distance.
“There is so much more improvement in this horse,” Ennis said. ‘He is clearly from Volatile, a fast horse, but [Great White] gets the two turns so well. I don’t think distance will be a problem for him.”
The diminishing margin of victory may leave doubts about his abilities beyond 1 1/16 miles, but both Ennis and Achard believed this was partly due to him moving into the lead so early and waiting for competition.
“I took the lead quite early and was alone for a while,” Achard said. “So he got tired and waited for the other one too. … He’s going to keep getting better. He’s huge. Physically he’s going to change a lot, and mentally too.”
Ennis did say he believes the horse will improve with more space between races. He made no commitment to return to Turfway in four weeks for the March 21 Jeff Ruby Steaks, but said the colt will most likely make his final Derby preparation in Kentucky. The other option would come in six weeks at the April 4 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, which would be Great White’s first start on dirt.
“I think the bigger the track is, like Keeneland, he could be even better at it,” Ennis said. “He works phenomenally [on dirt] at the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington, and that’s a deep track.”
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