Keeneland's Inside the Winner's Circle: Donegal Outlasts Competition with Carrick

“Inside the Winner's Circle, Presented by Keeneland” is a series showcasing graduates of the Keeneland September sale who have gone on to achieve success on racing's biggest stages.

The weather. The atmosphere. The neck margin separating the first two finishers. The partners. The children parading to the winner's circle with smiles on their faces…

It all seemed to come together in one perfect moment for owner Jerry Crawford and his Donegal Racing partnership Saturday at Arlington Park when Carrick (Giant's Causeway) rallied to post a 38-1 upset victory in the GI Secretariat S. Speaking to the TDN Wednesday, Crawford reflected on a memorable day at the races.

“Saturday was so much fun,” Crawford said. “One of the things we've done for years is to buy win tickets on our horses and give them out to kids who are out with their parents wandering around on the day of the race. I gave out 25 tickets that were $2 to win/$2 to show. That added up to almost $90. I invited all of them to come and bring their parents with them to the winner's circle. The looks on those faces…there are a lot of great things that come from winning Grade I races, but nothing beats the looks on your partners' faces and the kids' faces.”

If the satisfaction of introducing young fans to the game of racing made Carrick's score all the more rewarding, Crawford noted that the colt also made good on a pre-race e-mail blast he sent out to members of the Donegal team.

“When I say to people, 'We weren't surprised,' they look at me like, 'Sure, you weren't,' but fortunately I sent an e-mail to all our partners and fans telling them this could happen–we have the proof this time,” Crawford said with a laugh. “I liked him better than anyone in the race. We spend a lot of time on genetics in our horse selection process, and I knew he was bred to go farther than anyone else in the race, so a step forward was almost a sure thing. The only question was if that was good enough.”

To an outside observer, Carrick's rise from a debut win in a $40,000 maiden claimer to Grade I success three starts later may appear to be a “rags to riches” story, but according to Crawford, it was a calculated move based on the horse's late-blooming progression. Because Donegal employs a number of high-profile conditioners, Crawford and company were willing to wager that nobody would dip into the claim box for a 3-year-old debuting in May for the adept, yet relatively new-on-the-scene, Tom Morley barn.

“It was very purposeful on our part,” Crawford said of the modest debut spot. “Donegal is blessed to have the best trainers in the country, so people get used to seeing our 2-year-olds with Todd Pletcher, Bob Baffert, Bill Mott, Christophe Clement, etc. So when they see a 3-year-old debuting for Tom Morley, their first thought isn't that it's a horse they should claim–particularly when we paid $75,000 for him at the yearling sale. We were just trying to do what we always do, which is to maximize cash flow for our partners and set ourselves up for a starter allowance. Did I know he would be a Grade I winner when we put him in for maiden $40,000? Clearly, the answer is no.”

Crawford explained that when the Donegal team identified Carrick at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as Hip 2894, they knew he would be a work in progress. Despite having a “million-dollar pedigree” through the eyes of Crawford, Carrick needed time to grow into his frame.

“This horse had a sesamoid issue,” Crawford said. “When we looked at him, we loved him from the knee up. We thought that we'd be able to buy him inexpensively, but we knew we would have to be very patient before we started on him. As you know, we didn't bring him to the racetrack until his 3-year-old year. By then, his sesamoids had a chance to set up and firm up, and he's 100% sound and ready to rock and roll against older horses going forward.”

Together with his son, Conor, Crawford has developed a set of algorithms to identify sales prospects who reach ideal standards of quality and stamina that facilitate success in Classic-distance races. The proof is in the pudding, according to Crawford, as Donegal has been represented in the GI Kentucky Derby starting gate three times in eight years and has enjoyed some of its greatest successes at 10 furlongs–including Keen Ice (Curlin)'s monumental upset of American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) in the 2015 GI Travers S.

“Some people buy horses to get them into Classic races,” Crawford said. “We try to buy horses that can do well when they get to Classic races. Not many people focus on stamina to the extent that we do.”

Because Donegal approaches the sales with its genetics-based approach, Crawford said he relishes the opportunity to study the catalog at Keeneland September in search of their next long-winded stable star. The yearly process is set to begin once more in just a few weeks' time.

“I'm one of those people who loves the Keeneland sale because once you get up to around 4,000 horses, we figure we can outwork and outcover the grounds, and it makes it possible to win a Grade I with a $75,000 horse,” Crawford said. “I'm just grateful to them–we're headed back down there and we're going to try to buy about eight more colts at the yearling sale…We'll have a crop of about 15 total.”

Another relatively unique aspect of the Donegal model is that its partners invest on a yearly basis–receiving an interest in every horse among the crop, rather than through selections of individual horses. As such, Crawford believes it fosters “happier partners” who are on board for all of the stable's best moments, such as Saturday at Arlington.

However sweet it may have been, Carrick's Secretariat victory did not come without controversy. Although Carrick stopped the clock in 2:01.04–1.25 seconds faster than once-beaten 4-year-old Chilean import Robert Bruce (Chi) (Fast Company {Ire})'s final clocking in the GI Arlington Million S. one hour later–many speed figure metrics awarded the latter with a higher figure. Crawford, puzzled by the disparity, made a series of calls to the makers of Daily Racing Form's Beyer Speed Figures and Equibase Speed Figures attempting to get the issue fixed.

“It was an identical rail and an identical run-up,” Crawford observed. “I'm hoping they're going to fix it…The fact is it was the fastest Secretariat in 14 years–the fastest since Kitten's Joy.”

Regardless of the ultimate numbers assigned to each race, Carrick will likely get an opportunity to prove himself against older horses in his next start, which could come in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. at Belmont Sept. 29. Should he fare well in that spot, the colt could be ultimately pointed towards a bid at the GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Churchill Downs Nov. 3.