Imperial Hint romped away with last year’s Vanderbilt
Originated as the A Phenomenon in 1985, the race was renamed in 2000 in honor of Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, one of the driving forces behind thoroughbred racing in America for most of the 20th century. He was taken to his first race, the Preakness, as a 10-year-old, and at the age of 21 his mother gave him her racing operation, Sagamore Farm.
His first major acquisition was Discovery and he campaigned champions Next Move and Bed o’ Roses, Vanderbilt’s greatest achievement was the “Gray Ghost,” Native Dancer, who won 21 of 22 starts and was famously upset in the 1953 Kentucky Derby by Dark Star. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, he owned and ran Pimlico and arranged the famous match race between Seabiscuit and War Admiral in 1938; he was also the president of Belmont Park before joining the Navy. During the Second World War, he captained a PT boat in the South Pacific and was awarded The Silver Star for bravery under fire. Chairman of the Board of NYRA from 1971 to 1975, Vanderbilt was voted the “The Man Who Did The Most for Racing” a record four time.
He died November 12, 1999 at his home in Mill Neck, New York after attending the morning workouts at Belmont.
Last year Imperial Hint owned the field and captured the 2018 installment by three and three-quarter lengths with Javier Castellano aboard. Imperial Hint broke well and settled in four lengths back before charging into second-place at the half and owning the race on the stretch.
It was the second straight win for Imperial Hint, part of three straight at NYRA race tracks, the first being the True North Stakes (G2) and the third, the Vosburg Stakes (G1) both at Belmont Park.
That was followed by three straight third-place finishes in the TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs last year and the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and third at the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1) in March.