Overshadowed Collected Ready For His Star Turn

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.—Peter Fluor remembers walking into the press conference—one he didn't even know was scheduled. He remembers sitting down, looking around at the other people on the dais and seeing a bunch of frowning faces.

“Am I the only one who is…happy here?” he asked.

It was early evening Saturday, Aug. 19 in Del Mar, and Fluor was there to talk about his biggest accomplishment as a racing owner: winning the Grade I Pacific Classic an hour or so earlier. But his horse—again, the winner of the race—was not the story anyone was there to ask about. The story was the runner-up, champion Arrogate (Unbridled's Song), who had looked invincible when consecutively conquering the GI Travers S., GI Breeders' Cup Classic and G1 Dubai World Cup, but now appeared wholly mortal after his second straight disappointing loss.

Fluor remembers that about 15 minutes into the presser, someone finally asked a question about the winner, Speedway Stables' Collected (City Zip), to that point mainly known only as a Bob Baffert barnmate of Arrogate.

“Arrogate's fabulous, so I get that,” Fluor said Friday. “I also get—Bob's a friend in addition to our business relationship and let's face it, it would've been a lot easier for Bob and Jill if Arrogate won. It just makes life simpler. I'll never forget, Bob called me about 8:00 that night and said, 'You know, congratulations. I don't feel like you spent enough time celebrating.'”

Collected was also overlooked heading into the Breeders' Cup Classic, billed as a rematch from Dubai between Arrogate and Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Again, he bested his stablemate while running hard every step from a wide draw to be second to the latter, the newly coronated Horse of the Year. Saturday at Gulfstream Park, Collected gets another chance to grab the spotlight once and for all, when he takes on Gun Runner and 10 other rivals in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

“Collected's been in the shadow of somebody at all times, but that's just the way it is,” Fluor said.

As for his horse's performance in the Classic, Fluor notes, “We had two horses in the Breeders' Cup, a filly the day before [Moon Dash, 10th in the Juvenile Fillies Turf] and Collected, and both of them got the outside post. So you can do the math on getting that accomplished. I thought he conducted himself well. He's never been moody, he always tries hard and I thought he did so there. I don't know who could've beaten Gun Runner that day.”

Unlike his chief rival, Collected has a past performance line in between the Classic and the Pegasus, but he'll be looking to bounce back from it, having run third as the 3-10 favorite in the GII San Antonio S. Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. The chestnut had little chance with the way the race unfolded, however, as he was taken back to run last while Pegasus entrant Giant Expectations (Frost Giant) crawled on the lead before sprinting home to an open-length score.

“I think that was a learning experience for Mike and Bob and communication,” Fluor said. “We'll be more in the race sooner Saturday.”

Drawing post five with Gun Runner stranded out in the 10-hole could mean Collected will make the favorite chase him this time around after Gun Runner showed the way in the Classic.

“If he chased us all the way to the finish line, that'd be great,” Fluor said with a laugh.

Speedway Stables is the brainchild of Texas oilman Fluor with his wife Ann and partner K.C. Weiner. The outfit purchased its first horse at the 2014 Fasig-Tipton November Sale. Less than two weeks later, they went to $1.5 million to land graded stakes winner Hard Not to Like (Hard Spun), who proceeded to capture a pair of Grade I's in Speedway's red-and-white colors the following year.

That was merely a precursor to Collected's success, however. Annexing two Grade III's at the beginning of his 3-year-old season, the colt was given over 10 months off following a 10th-place run in the GI Preakness S. He returned last spring with victories in the Santana Mile S. and GII Californian S., followed by a 14-length tour de force in the GIII Precisionist S. to springboard him into the Pacific Classic.

“We had hoped last year after the long break that he had improved, and of course as horse owners, you never know if that'll be the case.” Fluor said. “He got better, and Bob got excited that he thought he'd get more than a mile out of him. We just watched him progress and things worked out like we had hoped and planned. It was cool. It was a big thrill for Speedway.”

Regardless of whether he finally takes center stage Saturday, the now 5-year-old has given Speedway a wild ride, as well as the satisfaction of racing at the highest level so soon. And looking forward, with Gun Runner being sent to the breeding shed after the Pegasus, Collected figures to loom large in the handicap division the rest of the season. Maybe someday, he'll even be the first horse people ask about in a press conference.