Luther Awarded Hall of Fame Victory on Stewards' Call

If the question is who was the best horse in the $400,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T) Aug. 1 at Saratoga Race Course, a case can be made that it was Zulu Kingdom (IRE). If you want to know who was the official winner of the turf stakes for 3-year-olds, that was the subject of debate as well. But, as it always does in cases of objections or inquiries, the decision of three stewards was what mattered most and after a lengthy review, they took an action that surprised even some of the retired Hall of Fame jockeys gathered in the winner's circle. Though Zulu Kingdom reached the wire 1 1/2 lengths ahead of Luther (GB), the three stewards ruled that the son of Ten Sovereigns (IRE), while racing in the two or three path, came in and caused a first-turn crowding incident in which fourth-place finisher Tiz Dashing bumped with Luther, who was inside of him and took up sharply while hitting the rail. Luther's rider Joel Rosario filed an objection and the stewards' decision followed. As a result, Zulu Kingdom, the 4-5 favorite, was placed fourth, with Luther declared the official winner, followed by Clever Again second and Tiz Dashing third. "I didn't know it was an objection because I am not from here and I didn't hear anything," said Stuart Ritchie, the traveling lad for European Charlie Fellowes, trainer of Luther. "Then a friend came over and said, 'You'll win it. You'll win it because (Zulu Kingdom) came straight over and (Luther) nearly went down.' I thought 'Oh no, I am taking a broken horse home. The boss will kill me.'" Fellowes, watching from overseas, admitted the decision left him baffled. "I'm a bit confused to how we won it, if I'm completely honest. I don't know what just happened, but I'm shocked. I was watching here from home and it was difficult to see exactly what happened, but I could see that it was a really messy race and my fella got carved up a little early on, then rushed up into position," Fellowes said. "He really ran an unbelievable race to finish second, considering all of that. Had he had a smooth trip, jumped out well, and maintained a position behind the lead, he would have legitimately won it on his own." The stewards later released a statement saying: "The stewards were of the view that Zulu Kingdom shifted left, leaving insufficient room on its inside, resulting in Tiz Dashing having to take back for a number of strides and carried left into the path of Luther, who made contact with the running rail for numerous strides and caused the rider to check sharply, losing significant momentum and resulted in Luther losing its racing position into the first turn." For Fellowes, this time a disqualification worked out well for him. "I lost a big race, the biggest of my career, earlier this year when my filly Shes Perfect was demoted from the win in the French Guineas, so I know firsthand it's not the way you want to win a race," he said. "I feel really bad for the connections of the winner, as it's a bad way to win (for us) and a very tough loss for them. But I'm unbelievably proud of my horse and how well he ran." Rosario said he had fears the Frankel (GB) colt was about to fall after he was bumped. "It looked like (Zulu Kingdom) dropped in. There was another horse on the outside of me, so when he dropped over there, there was no room after that," Rosario said. "I thought for a second my horse was going down. There was no room in there. He got out of there, put it all together, and ran a good race after that." Jockey Flavien Prat on Zulu Kingdom saw it differently, maintaining the problem was caused by two horses behind him vying for a spot where there was room for only one horse. "Two horses were battling for the same spot and I got blamed for it," he said. Michael Dubb, one of Zulu Kingdom's owners, did not agree with the decision but accepted it. "I'm not going to question the judgment of the stewards," Dubb said. "When we sign up to play the game, we agree to live by the decisions of the stewards. I'm not going to beat anybody up and I won't beat myself up over it." Also owned by Madaket Stables, William Strauss, and Michael Caruso and trained by Chad Brown, the grade 1-winning Zulu Kingdom suffered his first loss in four starts this year. Paul Hickman and Nicholas Jones' Luther, making his second United States start after finishing third in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T), won for the third time in nine career starts. Bred in Great Britain by Coln Valley Stud out of the Cityscape (GB) mare Give And Take, Luther covered the mile in 1:35.06 on firm turf and paid $5.70 as the 9-5 second choice.