Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Six years later, O’Neill is back
ELMONT, N.Y. – Blended Citizen has taken a circuitous route to the Belmont Stakes that includes three starts on turf, two on synthetic tracks, and being stranded on the alsoeligible list for the Kentucky Derby.
His trainer, Doug O’Neill, who will be saddling his first Belmont Stakes starter, has taken an even more unusual path to the race.
Six years ago, O’Neill came to New York with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another to shoot for the Triple Crown. When entries were taken, I’ll Have Another was made an odds-on favorite to become the first winner of the series since Affirmed in 1978.
But two days before the race, the sky came crashing down when I’ll Have Another’s left front leg became inflamed. After treatment failed, O’Neill and owner Paul Reddam announced in a Friday press conference that I’ll Have Another would not only be scratched from the Belmont but retired due to a minor tendon injury.
Instead of attempting to become racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 34 years, I’ll Have Another was paraded before the Belmont Stakes Day crowd and honored in a winner’s circle ceremony.
“I was blessed to have so many great family members and friends there,” O’Neill recalled. “When, just for a moment, I started to feel sorry for myself, they kind of slapped me in the face and made me realize what an incredible run we’d had.”
In 2016, O’Neill and Reddam seemed on their way to a second chance at the Belmont after Nyquist won the Kentucky Derby to remain undefeated in eight starts. But after finishing third in the Preakness, Nyquist was sent home to California.
“After the Preakness, and maybe even just before it, he seemed a tad deflated,” O’Neill said. “He needed a break.”
While I’ll Have Another and Nyquist were often brilliant, Blended Citizen is a work in progress.
“He’s always been a big, handsome individual and has breezed exceptionally,” O’Neill said, “but it’s taken a while for his mind to catch up with his body.”
Blended Citizen was purchased at the 2017 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March auction of 2-year-olds for $85,000 by Brooke Hubbard, the racing manager for majority owner Steve Young and his partner Greg Hall.
The son of Proud Citizen got off to a so-so beginning as a racehorse, and following three dirt starts was switched to turf by O’Neill, who hoped “the slower way the races develop would help him pick it up mentally.”
In his second attempt on grass, Blended Citizen won a November maiden race at Del Mar.
For his 3-year-old debut, O’Neill sent Blended Citizen to the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields for the El Camino Real Derby and gave the mount to 26-year-old Kyle Frey, who has ridden him ever since. Blended Citizen dropped back in the pack and then improved his position to get up for third.
“When he ran well, we decided to send him to the race at Turfway,” O’Neill said.
O’Neill added blinkers to Blended Citizen’s equipment, and he rallied from seventh over Polytrack to win the Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks, which at different points in time has been named the Lane’s End and the Spiral, among other names.
“The addition of blinkers really helped him, I think,”
Frey said. “He’s such a great horse. His stride is ridiculous.”
Blended Citizen’s next stop was the Blue Grass at Keeneland – and a return to dirt racing.
Far back early, he never quit trying and finished fifth, beaten 4 3/4 lengths by eventual Derby runner-up Good Magic. In the stretch, Blended Citizen had to shift inward when Sporting Chance ducked out and bothered Free Drop Billy in front of him.
“Before the Blue Grass he was really calm,” Frey said. “It made me nervous. He ran okay, but I think he could have done better.”
Blended Citizen earned 22 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the El Camino Real and the Jeff Ruby, seven fewer than needed to make the starting lineup. O’Neill entered him in case there was a late scratch, but time expired and he was scratched as the lone alsoeligible.
“He was ready to rock and roll,” O’Neill said. “If someone would have come out, he would have run.”
With the Derby a no-go, Young suggested to O’Neill they try the 1 1/8-mile Peter Pan at Belmont Park as a possible prep for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.
“The thought process was that we could get a race over the track and since distance never seems to be a problem for him, he would be a perfect fit for the Belmont,” O’Neill said.
Blended Citizen responded by running the best race of his career. He stayed closer to the pace than usual, and when Frey wheeled him outside horses in the stretch he ran by the frontrunning favorite Core Beliefs in the final sixteenth to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
“He’ll tell you when he’s going to run well,” Frey said. “When he gets behind the gate, he’ll start bouncing on his toes like a prize fighter.
“When we crossed over to the main track from the chute, I was already thinking, ‘This is over; we’ve got it.’ ”
The Peter Pan has served as a successful Belmont Stakes prep for decades. In the 39 years since Affirmed won the Triple Crown, six Belmont winners have come out of the Peter Pan, the most recent being Tonalist in 2014.
That number rises to seven if you count 2010 Belmont winner Drosselmeyer, who was trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Drosselmeyer finished second in the 1 1/8-mile Dwyer in his start prior to the Belmont in a year the Peter Pan was not run and the Dwyer took its spot on the calendar.
Other Peter Pan/Belmont winners include A. P. Indy (1992), Danzig Connection (1986), and Coastal (1979). Lemon Drop Kid (1999) finished third in the Peter Pan and Colonial Affair (1993) was second prior to their Belmont wins.
“I think no matter what, you need a horse that has stamina and that really wants to do it, who wants to go that distance,” said Mott who will saddle Hofburg in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. “With Drosselmeyer, that’s what he was cut out for. He wasn’t really fast enough for the top horses going a mile and an eighth but, you know, add another eighth of a mile to it and he’d wear them down.”
By all appearances, Blended Citizen fits that description.
Following the Peter Pan, O’Neill received calls from a number of jockey agents looking to take over the mount on Blended Citizen. But just as Paul and Zillah Reddam stuck with a young and nationally unheralded rider named Mario Gutierrez on I’ll Have Another, Young and Hall have not wavered on Frey.
“He’s really, really talented,” O’Neill said. “He’s had some setbacks but he’s still a very young kid, and mentally he’s tough as nails.
“He and Blended Citizen are so in sync. It’s something special to give him this chance.”
Frey, a California native, earned the 2011 Eclipse Award as North America’s leading apprentice after he relocated from California to Parx Racing. He had a serious setback in 2012, when he broke his upper leg in a Parx spill. When Frey came back from the injury, he didn’t experience the same success as during his apprentice season. For a period, he battled with depression and substance abuse.
“I went from winning the Eclipse to riding nickel claimers at Golden Gate,” he said. “It was a dark time. I went to rehab. I am totally clean and feel really good.
“I’m ecstatic about this weekend and want to thank everyone involved with this horse for giving me the opportunity.”
O’Neill is aware of how daunting the task ahead will be, but an upset by Blended Citizen would be off-the-charts special.
“It would mean a ton to win it because of how 2012 ended,” he said. “It’s an amazing race, and I would have a better taste in my mouth when I think of it.”
A Belmont win also would fit quite nicely with O’Neill’s two Derbys and Preakness.