Caravel, purchased for $500,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton November sale, captured her second graded win for the new connections this year when she sauntered clear to the wire to win the GIII Franklin S. at Keeneland Sunday. Sent off the 2-1 favorite, the gray mare sat settled in a tracking third along the rail behind and opening quarter in :21.40. She charged up four wide into the lane and collared pacesetting second-choiceTwilight Gleaming (Ire) (National Defense {GB}) with a furlong to run before skipping clear late.
“The mare ran a great race,” said winning rider Tyler Gaffalione. “She broke alertly today. I knew [jockey] Johnny [Velazquez's] horse [Twilight Gleaming] was the one to beat, so I worked my way out to get behind her, and coming into the stretch, I attacked her as soon as I could. My horse was game, and she finished the job well.”
Caravel began her career racing in the silks of her breeder and trainer, Elizabeth Merryman, for whom she won four stakes. Bobby Flay joined the ownership line ahead of her first graded score in last summer's GIII Caress S. at Saratoga and the mare moved to the barn of trainer Graham Motion to finish third in the Aug. 22 GI Highlander S., sixth in the Sept. 25 GIII Turf Monster S. and 12th in the Nov. 6 GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
Fergus Galvin of Hunter Valley Farm signed the ticket to acquire Caravel for $500,000 at the Fasig-Tipton November sale. Transferred to Brad Cox, she took the Queen S. at Turfway in March in her first start for the new owners. She added wins in the June 10 GIII Intercontinental S. at Belmont Park and Aug. 20 Smart N Fancy S. at Saratoga and was coming off a fourth-place effort in the Sept. 19 GII Presque Isle Downs Masters S.
Asked whether Sunday's win had earned Caravel a return trip to the Breeders' Cup in three weeks, Cox said, “That will ultimately be up to the owners [Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables], but we'll talk to them about it. I do know she's in the [Keeneland November Breeding Stock] sale, but there's been some talk about possibly running her next year as well, so who knows? At the end of the day I'm just proud of what she's been able to accomplish, and congratulations to the ownership group. She's a tough filly. She always brings it.”
Caravel is entered in the Keeneland November sale as hip 224.
Pedigree Notes:
Caravel is the first foal out of Zeezee Zoomzoom, who is also the dam of multiple stakes winner Witty (Great Notion). The 10-year-old mare produced a colt by Great Notion in 2021 and a filly by Street Boss this year. She is a daughter of multiple stakes winner and multiple graded placed Zee Zee.
Sunday, Keeneland
FRANKLIN S.-GIII, $263,000, Keeneland, 10-16, 3yo/up, f/m,
5 1/2fT, 1:02.59, fm.
1–CARAVEL, 122, m, 5, by Mizzen Mast
1st Dam: Zeezee Zoomzoom, by Congrats
2nd Dam: Zee Zee, by Exchange Rate
3rd Dam: Emblem of Hope, by Dynaformer
($330,000 RNA 3yo '20 WANOCT; $500,000 4yo '21 FTKNOV).
O-Qatar Racing, Marc Detampel & Madaket Stables LLC;
B-Elizabeth M. Merryman (PA); T-Brad H. Cox; J-Tyler
Gaffalione. $143,375. Lifetime Record: 19-11-0-3, $811,152.
*1/2 to Witty (Great Notion), MSW, $275,900. Werk Nick
Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Thundering Creed, 122, f, 4, Jimmy Creed–Thundering Gale,
by Thunderello. 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($14,000 Ylg '19
KEEJAN). O-Blackout Racing Stables; B-C. Kidder & N. Cole (KY);
T-Michael A. Tomlinson. $55,500.
3–Star Devine (Ire), 120, f, 4, Fastnet Rock (Aus)–Stars At Night
(Ire), by Galileo (Ire). 'TDN Rising Star' (200,000gns Ylg '19 TATOCT).
O-Lawrence Goichman; B-Rockhart Trading Ltd. (IRE); T-Jorge Abreu. $23,125.
Margins: 1 3/4, NO, 1. Odds: 2.44, 19.73, 7.77.
Also Ran: Twilight Gleaming (Ire), Have A Good Day (Ire), Creative Credit, Brooke Marie, Tobys Heart, Querobin Dourada, Bout Time, Elle Z. Scratched: Change of Control, Illegal Smile (Ire), Miner's Queen, Violenza. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
