By Alan Carasso
Robert LaPenta, e Five Thoroughbred Racing and Madaket Stables' Kalik (Collected) took control of Saturday's GII Pennine Ridge S. in the first sixteenth of a mile, was beautifully rated from the front by Irad Ortiz, Jr. and had enough in the tank to hold off 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) and Godolphin's Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) in the stepping-stone to the GI Belmont Derby in five weeks' time. In so doing, he was becoming the second graded stakes winner in the space of 15 days for his Airdrie Stud-based sire (by City Zip) after Taxed caused an 11-1 surprise in the GII George E. Mitchell Black-Eyed Susan S. on Preakness weekend.
“On paper, he [Kalik] was lone speed,” said trainer Chad Brown, winning the race for the third time. “He's a class horse with a lot of quality to him. We thought on paper that if he could get out there and control the race, he would at least have a final say.”
Sometimes things go exactly according to script. Kalik won the break and headed off his rivals prior to the first corner, covering the opening couple of furlongs in :24.69 and the half in a hassle-free and equally comfortable :49.17. Going along nicely within himself on the second turn, Kalik kicked over onto his right lead with about a furlong and a half to race and proved not for catching. Far Bridge was under heavy urging three furlongs out and at one point was more or less the back marker, but jumped back into the bridle and weaved his way through to just beat Silver Knott out of second.
Well-beaten on his main-track debut at Aqueduct in September, Kalik perked up with a runner-up effort going two turns on the grass down the Cross Island Oct. 23 and headed south for the winter. The $80,000 FTKNOV weanling turned $200,000 KEESEP yearling validated even-money support on his return St. Patrick's Day at Gulfstream and made it two straight with an all-the-way allowance score over a mile and sixteenth of this course May 7.
“The horse really just blossomed over the winter,” Brown continued. “He put a bunch of weight on and he matured. He was like an immature teenager last year. He always trained well, but he was just a stick figure kind of horse. Now he's filled out and turned into a real man.”
While the July 8 Belmont Derby is an obvious near-team objective, Ontario-bred Kalik could pay a visit to the Great White North over the coming months.
“In the summertime, if he stays healthy, I'm really interested in the [Aug. 20 C$1-million] King's Plate,” Brown said. “It's a race we've never won and it's an interesting idea for this horse down the road.”
Pedigree Notes:
Kalik's dam is a daughter of the talented multiple graded winner Sara Louise, whose Grade III-winning half-sister Just Louise (Five Star Day) produced two-time GSW and GISP Forbidden Kingdom (American Pharoah). After foaling a Hard Spun filly in 2022, Coronation Street was offered pregnant to Collected at last summer's Fasig-Tipton Selected Horses of All Ages Sale, but was bought back when bidding stalled out at $11,000. She produced a full-sister to Kalik this past Mar. 25.
Kalik and Taxed are the bookends of a seriously productive couple of weeks for Collected. Two days after the Black-Eyed Susan, Conclude took the Desert Code S. on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita, while Playground Legend won her maiden at Monmouth May 28 and Royal Velvet and second-crop colt Gewurztraminer graduated at Pimlico and Churchill, respectively, on May 29. Collected was also represented by his first Japanese winner when the Shadai-bred Collectanea broke through Saturday at Tokyo.
Saturday, Belmont
PENNINE RIDGE S.-GII, $200,000, Belmont, 6-3, 3yo, 1 1/8mT, 1:47.85, fm.
1–KALIK, 118, c, 3, by Collected
1st Dam: Coronation Street, by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Sara Louise, by Malibu Moon
3rd Dam: Kings Lynn, by Mt. Livermore
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($80,000
Wlg '20 FTKNOV; $200,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Robert V.
LaPenta, e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Madaket Stables
LLC; B-Peter A. Berglar Racing Interests, LLC & Anderson Farms
(Ontario) (ON); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $110,000.
Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $224,675. *1/2 to Bringer of Rain
(Twirling Candy), GSP, $116,910. Werk Nick Rating: A.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Far Bridge, 118, c, 3, English Channel–Fitpitcher, by Kitten's
Joy. 'TDN Rising Star'. O-LSU Stables; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-Todd A. Pletcher. $40,000.
3–Silver Knott (GB), 120, c, 3, Lope de Vega (Ire)–God Given
(GB), by Nathaniel (Ire). (725,000gns Ylg '21 TATOCT).
O-Godolphin, LLC; B-St Albans Bloodstock LLP (GB); T-Charles
Appleby. $24,000.
Margins: 1, HD, 2. Odds: 2.95, 1.75, 1.55.
Also Ran: Lachaise, Freedom Trail, Congruent, Belouni (Fr). Scratched: Sharar.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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