Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Anthony Van Dyck hurt by post
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In 1632, the Flemish artist Anthony Van Dyck took up a post as the court painter for King Charles I.
At 5:22 p.m. Friday, the 2-year-old racehorse Anthony Van Dyck will take up post 14 in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
Things worked out just fine the better part of 400 years ago for the man who was good at drawing, and despite the lousy draw, maybe they will this weekend for the colt who is good at running.
Van Dyck the painter had the great Flemish school of art to guide his early path; Van Dyck the horse has the great trainer Aidan O’Brien leading him.
O’Brien has won four of the last seven Juvenile Turfs, including the 2015 renewal at Keeneland with Hit It a Bomb, who broke from post 14 under Ryan Moore, just like Anthony Van Dyck will on Friday.
But no horse the last 25 years at Churchill has won a one-mile turf race from post 14 or post 13. That’s a small sample of 18 starters, but posts 11 and 12 are just 14 for 264.
Anthony Van Dyck took the worst of the draw but is the best horse in the race.
Anthony Van Dyck, by Galileo, easily is the most accomplished among five Europeans in the Juvenile Turf, where overseas shippers are 7 for 11. Anthony Van Dyck followed a debut loss with three wins – two blowouts and a half-length score in the Group 2 Futurity Stakes. That race was run over soft going, just as the Juvenile Turf might well be, but the performance gives mixed signals. He ran well enough to win, but his margin of victory over a humdrum group hints he might not have loved the going.
He definitely didn’t love running into Quorto, to whom he finished second in the Group 1 National Stakes, and Too Darn Hot, to whom he was third Oct. 13 in the Dewhurst Stakes. The Dewhurst is the premier 2-yearold race in England, while Too Darn Hot and Quorto probably were the premier 2-year-olds in Europe this season.
Moore urged him early in his last two starts, trying to get the jump on horses with a quicker finishing burst. That might not be required against these lesser foes at Churchill, but things would feel more comfortable with a better starting position.
The other Euros, from inside out, are Arthur Kitt, Line of Duty, Marie’s Diamond, and The Black Album. Arthur Kitt and Marie’s Diamond race without Lasix, the other three with it. Arthur Kitt got roasted by Too Darn Hot in the Solario Stakes – no shame –but ran fifth at 5-2 last out in the Royal Lodge Stakes. Marie’s Diamond’s nine runs show a horse just not good enough to logically land in the top three. The Black Album, purchased by Team Valor and Gary Barber this fall in France, is a progressive, athletic type, and trainer Jane Soubagne told Team Valor principal Barry Irwin the colt would be fine on soft going.
Line of Duty looks best of that group of Europeans. Trainer Charlie Appleby won this race with Outstrip in 2013, and Line of Duty has been improving steadily the last couple months. He has raced around turns, made a run inside horses, and won the Prix de Conde on Oct. 1 at Chantilly rallying bravely between horses.
“I just think he’s got the right profile leading into the race, and what he’s showing in his races is his toughness,” Appleby said.
Uncle Benny makes his graded stakes and two-turn debut after a pair of wins to start his career – and might scare his rivals into submission. Tall, broad, and heavily muscled, Uncle Benny looks more 4-year-old than 2-yearold, but will that frame help him power through a soft course or get him stuck in it?
Henley’s Joy also has run nothing but solid races, but the leading Americans appear to be Forty Under, winner of the Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont, and Current, winner of the Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland.
Forty Under flopped on dirt in his debut but was a sharp Saratoga maiden winner before closing wide and into a slow pace to capture the Pilgrim in a performance better than the half-length margin of victory.
Trainer Jeremiah Englehart sent Forty Under here early, and to good apparent effect. Forty Under had an encouraging work over the Churchill turf course and has offered strong positive hints in his local training.
“He’s full of energy right now,” Englehart said.
Current has a rich chestnut coat and super-shiny flaxen mane but is more than just a pretty horse. He cost $700,000 as a yearling, his maiden win at Belmont looked good, and his Bourbon, where he seemed hopelessly far behind 300 yards from the finish, looked even better. Trainer Todd Pletcher, who won this race here in 2010 with Pluck, said he has seen steady mental progression from a physically capable colt.
Current’s post 12 is no bargain, while two stalls outside him will stand Anthony Van Dyck. The finished portrait is of an appealing, competitive Juvenile Turf.