Mi Bago, Zulu Kingdom Dead Heat for Kelso Stakes Win

The 2-1 favorite Zulu Kingdom (IRE) engaged in a thrilling stretch duel with pacesetter Mi Bago, ultimately catching him at the wire for a dead-heat win in the 1-mile Kelso Stakes (G3T) July 5 at Saratoga Race Course. Both horses broke sharply with Mi Bago going out for the early lead under Jose Ortiz to set reasonable fractions of :24.19 and :48.51 through the opening half mile. Longshot Itsallcomintogetha pressed the pace with Zulu Kingdom under a patient hold by jockey Flavien Prat. "I thought going into the first turn we were going to be having a decent pace and then they slowed it down," Prat said. Coming into the stretch, Poker Stakes (G3T) winner Pass the Hat started to make his move under John Velazquez, putting his head in front of Zulu Kingdom on the inside. Prat angled Zulu Kingdom to the outside with plenty of horse underneath him to run down 9-1 shot Mi Bago in the final stages and hit the wire in tandem. "I wasn't expecting to go that easy (on the lead). He was traveling very well the first part, and when I asked him to go, he exploded," Ortiz said. "Then the other horse (Zulu Kingdom) came (running). They both deserve it." The final time for the 1-mile race was 1:34.08. Mi Bago paid $8.40 to win and Zulu Kingdom paid $3.66. Pass the Hat was two lengths back in third. "They posted the winner as the '1' (Zulu Kingdom), and then they put up the dead heat. Normally, it's the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat. I went from the agony of defeat to the thrill of victory," said Mark Casse, trainer of Mi Bago. The Kelso marked the first graded stakes win for Mi Bago, a gelded son of Spendthrift Farm stallion Vekoma owned by Gary Barber. "He's an overachiever. You wish all horses were as tough as he is," Casse said. Zulu Kingdom, who won the Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) at Keeneland in April, entered the race off a disappointing third-place finish in the Poker Stakes last month for trainer Chad Brown. "He showed up today," Prat said. "We didn't expect him to run that way last time, but it's good he showed his ability today. He's probably better with a target, but he's very naturally fast. He can run good races on the lead. When there's no pace, he can use that as an advantage. He won a grade 1 on the lead, but I like him with a target as well." The Kelso was Prat's third victory of the day. Michael Dubb, co-owner of Zulu Kingdom, said a start in the Aug. 8 Fourstardave Stakes (G1T) was a possibility. The winner of the Fourstardave earns an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T) held this year at Keeneland. "I'll leave that up to Chad, but I think he would have that on his mind," Dubb said. Twenty Six Black Takes Harvey PACK Stakes New York-bred Twenty Six Black earned the third stakes win of his career Sunday, prevailing in the $200,000 Harvey Pack Stakes. The 6-year-old War Dancer gelding rallied wide coming into the stretch and drew clear of his rivals to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Trained by Horacio De Paz, owned and bred by Roger Cimbora Jr., and ridden by Manuel Franco, Twenty Six Black finished the 5 1/2-furlong turf race in a final time of 1:00.49. He paid $5.30 to win. Possiblemente was second with Coppola in third. Chasing Liberty and We're in Trouble finished in a dead heat for fourth. De Paz said the Aug. 9 Troy Stakes (G2T) would likely be the gelding's next start.