Dai Vernon Pulls an Appearing Act at Ellis Park

The team at Ben Leon's Besilu Stables had reason for optimism when 3-year-old Dai Vernon (Good Magic) went to the post for his debut over the Ellis Park turf in June, but while they came away disappointed that day, the handsome chestnut colt more than made up for it with a striking last-to-first victory over the main track at the Henderson oval Sunday afternoon.

“This is going to be a serious horse,” Leon's bloodstock advisor Fabricio Buffolo said when asked about his reaction to Dai Vernon's 5 1/4-length victory Monday. “He could be a really nice horse.”

Buffolo purchased Dai Vernon on behalf of Besilu Stables for $500,000 at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The colt is out of Charladora (Scat Daddy), a half-sister to Laoban (Uncle Mo). Buffolo was familiar with the pedigree from his days working with the colt's breeder, Don Alberto Corporation.

“What attracted us the most is physically, he is an extremely good-looking horse and well made,” Buffolo said of the yearling's appeal. “He has a good page, the dam is a half to Laoban and I worked for Don Alberto before so I remember he was always a nice horse and the dam, Charladora, was a very good-looking mare. But at the sale, he just looked the part. He looked like such a nice horse.”

Dai Vernon had a few setbacks on his way to the races that delayed his first start until just last month.

“He had a little bit of a stress fracture in his tibia,” Buffolo said. “He went to Margaux and we waited and just gave him the time that he needed. Then he went back to [trainer] Brad [Cox] and then he had a quarter crack, so we had to go easy on him for a good time for that to heal.”

Dai Vernon made his first start going 1 1/16 miles over the turf at Ellis Park June 22.

“We knew he was slow at the break, he didn't like to be involved too much at the beginning,” Buffolo explained. “It's hard to do that on dirt, so we thought maybe we would start him first time on turf just to see how it goes. Maybe he will be closer and near the pack or in the pack. Before the race, Brad said, 'The horse is well, I think he's going to run well, I expect a good race.'”

Dai Vernon followed at least part of the script in that debut. He was slow at the start, but little else went to plan that day.

“We were baffled about it,” Buffolo said of the debut. “I think it was probably the turf. He was never in it. Brad said afterwards, 'I have no idea. I was not expecting that.' He thought the horse was going to run well because he was working well. And then suddenly he had no part in the race whatsoever.”

Perhaps it was just a touch of cosmic revenge for a horse named after the magician who marketed himself as 'The man who fooled Houdini,' that while Dai Vernon was toiling home in last, his debut race was won by a horse named Harry Hood.

After the lackluster debut, Dai Vernon was adding blinkers, while moving to the dirt and shortening up to one mile for his second start Sunday. Following another slow start, the colt was well back in last and Buffolo was fearing another disappointing effort.

“When I was watching it on the backstretch, I was like, 'Oh, this is embarrassing. We are going to be last or second last,'” he admitted. “I wanted to dig a hole and just put my head into it. But then he started picking it up and I thought that was interesting.”

Dai Vernon began closing with long, steady strides on the far turn as the half went up in :46.42 and he turned for home four wide and just off the leaders.

“Midturn, I said, 'OK, now he's going to get tired. Now it's over and now he's going to get tired,'” Buffolo recalled. “And then he kept coming.”

Dai Vernon collared Smile Mon (Runhappy) with a furlong to run and just glided clear to the wire to win by daylight.

“The gallop out was quite strong,” Buffolo added. “He galloped out really well. Now the question is, is he going to repeat that. I don't know what was in his head yesterday, but whatever it was, it was good.”

As for next starts for the promising 3-year-old, Buffolo said, “We will talk with Brad and see. He will most likely go back to an allowance and we will see how he does. It was a mile and definitely what he showed is that it won't be a problem going a bit more distance.”

One thing seems for certain, there will be no tinkering with the colt's slow-starting tendencies.

“I talked to Brad after the race yesterday, and we said let's not go against it,” Buffolo said. “That's what he likes, that's what he does. So we don't need the jockey trying to get him closer. If he does what he did, we are pretty happy.”

Buffolo said the effort had impressed Leon, who is excited to see what the future holds for the colt.

“Mr. Leon is very excited about him,” Buffolo said. “He is enjoying it now, having a horse that might have some ability.”

Leon's Besilu Stables burst onto the racing and sales scene in 2011. Highest of the stables' high-profile purchases that year was Royal Delta (Empire Maker), who was acquired for $8.5 million. Named champion 3-year-old filly that year, Royal Delta returned to the track in the Besilu colors and was named champion older mare of 2012 and 2013. The mare died in 2017, leaving just one foal, a filly named Delta's Royalty (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who is now part of Besilu's boutique broodmare band. Delta's Royalty has a yearling colt by Dubawi (Ire) foaled in Ireland and was repatriated to the U.S. where she produced a colt by Kingman (GB) this year.

At the same Keeneland November sale at which he purchased Royal Delta, Leon also acquired the champion's weanling half-sister, Crown Queen (Smart Strike), for $1.6 million. Winner of the 2014 GI Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup S., she has a 2-year-old colt by Frankel (GB) and a yearling filly by Kingman (GB) and is currently back in the U.S. and in foal to champion Flightline, according to Buffolo.

While Besilu Stables is small on numbers, the operation is focused on quality and, after having mares boarded in Europe for the last few seasons, the plan is now to be based mainly in the U.S.

“We have a Dubawi colt running in Europe and a Frankel 2-year-old,” Buffolo said. “And we have a couple of more there that are going to come here. We are probably going to keep a couple [in Europe], but focus a little bit more here [in the U.S.], since Mr. Leon is here and most of the horses are here. He enjoys having the quality horses.”

Besilu Stables currently has about six horses in training in the U.S. and, while Buffolo said the focus will be mostly on breeding to race, he did not rule out the odd yearling purchase at the upcoming sales.

“I would say that it's likely we might buy one or two yearlings, but I don't see him buying many,” he said. “We are just breeding his own mares and then racing them.”