There's a certain irony to be found in the story of Next. The gray or roan gelding by Not This Time was claimed by Michael Foster following a ninth-place showing at Keeneland April 16.
And as Foster put it, "Doug (Cowans) saw this horse, he was in bad shape and he turned that horse around in 30 days and he's been kicking ass ever since."
It's difficult to disagree with that assessment.
Returning to the scene of the claim, Next gave a near-record gate-to-wire performance in winning the $350,000, 1 5/8-mile Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes (G2) by 6 1/4 lengths. He stopped the clock in 2:42.59, just .02 off of the track record set by Rocketry in 2020.
Since he was claimed, all Next has done is post three wins in four starts. Doing so with the backdrop of Day 1 of the Breeders' Cup only makes this latest triumph even sweeter.
"This is what you want. This is what you look for as a trainer and hopefully there's more days like this to come," said Cowans.
Cowans said this race had been a target for months.
"The day I claimed him, (previous owner Silverton Hill) just ran him a little short, you know, and the horse wants a little more ground, something he can settle into and find himself," Cowans said. "And you know once we learned that that's probably what he needed, we just got him there."
Right from the start, Next, with Luan Machado in the irons, set the pace. He did so with fractional times of :49.22, 1:14.31, 1:39.54, 2:05.14, and 2:29.83.
The plan Friday was to get out to the early lead and keep the speed of the field in check. Coming into the race, Next had the second-slowest Equibase Speed Figure of the 10-horse field. As it turned out, it was Next, who posted his fastest E Speed Figure on Friday, that couldn't be denied.
Two of the top betting favorites coming into the race, Heywoods Beach and Bal Harbour, stayed close for most of the race until they reached the stretch. Seeming content to stay close, they never threatened the pacesetter. When they hit the stretch, the gap had widened from one length to five.
"This horse just wants to find a rhythm all the time and once he finds his rhythm he settles in real nice, and you know trying the mile and a half you never know if it'll work but it sure it worked like a charm," Cowans said.
Next improved to 3-0-0 in six starts this year with earnings of $343,488. For his career, he is 6-0-0 over 15 starts overall with $564,282 in earnings.
Cowans noted that, after some time off, Next will be pointed toward either the Temperance Hill Stakes at Oaklawn Park or Kentucky Derby weekend at Churchill Downs.
He was a Silverton Hill homebred out of Bahia Beach, by Awesome Again, until being claimed by Foster. Next is one of three foals from his mare, all of whom have raced. His sire, Not This Time, stands at Taylor Made Stallions for $135,000 in 2023.
Next returned $15.50 from a $2 win ticket.
Heywoods Beach and Bal Harbour completed the trifecta. Rattle N Roll, Win the Day, Always Above, Sheriff Brown, Kazan, Claytnthelionheart, and Cupid's Claws rounded out the order of finish.
