Adhamo completed a straight graded pick 4 for trainer Chad Brown and Flavien Prat while providing his conditioner with a fifth victory and second in a row in the U.N.
A winner of the G3 Prix la Force last April for Freddy Head and Wertheimer and Frere, the bay's final European start was an eighth in Longchamp's G2 Qatar Prix Dollar Oct. 2, but that didn't dissuade agent Hubert Guy from going to €250,000 to pick him up that same evening at Arqana's Arc sale.
He resurfaced and rallied from out of the clouds to miss by a head in the GIII Fair Grounds S. Feb. 19, was third as the favorite in Churchill's GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. on the GI Kentucky Derby undercard May 7, and most recently finished second to speedy stablemate and defending U.N. champ Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}) in the GI Resorts World Casino Manhattan S. on Belmont S. day June 11.
Adhamo broke sluggishly but settled in midpack on the fence and traveled strongly as Tribhuvan took up his usual spot on the front end, doling out splits of :24.70, :48.86, 1:13.26 and 1:36.35. Adhamo was guided to the outside heading for home as the frontrunner continued on strongly like he might complete his Presious Passion impersonation. Adhamo bore down on his stablemate at the head of the lane and was met with momentary resistance, but he found a final burst leaving the sixteenth pole to settle the issue.
“He didn't break super sharp and I was a little worried with post one. But the pace was fair, a little slow but fair, and he relaxed well,” said Prat, who piloted Tribhuvan in this race 12 months ago. “When they slowed it down he was pulling me. I had to be patient and wait to get out. He made a great run in the stretch. When I tipped him out he was ready to go. I think I have won two or three stakes races in a row, but never four in a row like this.”
Brown said of the winner: “He's been a little unlucky this year. He's still a little bit of a work in progress. I'm still trying to figure out what his best distance is, and ground and such. I was pretty confident going in to today that if he was able to get out in the clear and with a little bit extra ground to work with that he could run down a horse as good as Tribhuvan, and he did. He's a pretty talented horse. We're still figuring the horse out.”
Saturday, Monmouth Park
UNITED NATIONS S.-GI, $618,000, Monmouth, 7-23, 3yo/up, 1 3/8mT, 2:12.68, fm.
1–ADHAMO (IRE), 118, c, 4, by Intello (Ger)
1st Dam: Foreign Tune (GB) (SW & GSP-Fr, $161,614), by Invincible Spirit (Ire)
2nd Dam: Gwenseb (Fr), by Green Tune
3rd Dam: La Popesse, by St. Jovite
1ST GRADE I WIN. (€250,000 3yo '21 ARARC). O-Madaket Stables LLC, Michael Dubb & Louis Lazzinnaro LLC; B-Wertheimer et Frere (IRE); T-Chad C Brown; J-Flavien Prat. $360,000. Lifetime Record: 15-5-3-3, $755,090. Werk Nick Rating: A+. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Epic Bromance, 118, g, 6, Kitten's Joy–Anura (Ire), by Giant's Causeway. ($50,000 Ylg '17 FTKTUR; $100,000 2yo '18 OBSAPR). O-Epic Racing LLC; B-Kenneth L & Sarah K Ramsey (KY); T-J Kent Sweezey. $120,000.
3–Temple, 124, g, 6, Temple City–Desant, by Quiet American.
1ST G1 BLACK-TYPE. ($19,000 RNA Wlg '16 KEENOV; $75,000 Ylg '17 FTKTUR; $75,000 RNA 2yo '18 OBSAPR). O-Paradise Farms Corp & David Staudacher; B-Mark Toothaker & Dan White (KY); T-Michael J Maker. $60,000.
Margins: 1HF, HD, HD. Odds: 1.80, 72.70, 12.30.
Also Ran: Tribhuvan (Fr), Gufo, Carpenters Call, Kentucky Ghost, Glynn County, Mohs, He'spuregold. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Pedigree Notes:
Adhamo is the second highest-level winner for 2013 G1 Prix du Jockey Club hero Intello (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}) and, like 2018 G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Intellogent (Ire), he's out of a mare by a Green Desert stallion. Invincible Spirit is now the broodmare sire of four Grade I/Group 1 winners (three in the Northern Hemisphere).
Adhamo hails from a typically deep Wertheimer family. He's a half to a pair of stakes-placed runners in France, including 2-year-old and recent Prix Roland de Chambure third Neversay (Fr) (No Nay Never), and his dam is out of a group winner and kin to four stakes performers, including multiple Group 2-winning full-sister Impassable (Ire).
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