Bass Racing’s 4-year-old star grass horse Annapolis battled to the wire but came up one length short over the weekend, finishing second in the Grade 3 Kelso Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.
A product of Fort Worth philanthropist Ramona Bass’s Kentucky-based thoroughbred breeding and racing operation, Annapolis now has six wins and three seconds in 10 lifetime starts. Sired by War Front out of the Unbridled’s Song mare My Miss Sophia, Annapolis is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher.
Bass Stables LLC and Bass Racing LLC. are managed by Ramona and Lee Bass’s son, Perry Bass II.
Breaking from the No. 2 post under famed jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Annapolis went off as the post-time favorite in the $175,000 Kelso but couldn’t outrun second-choice Casa Creed, a 7-year-old standout trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Casa Creed and jockey Luis Saez got position outside of Annapolis early in the one-mile race as both horses raced toward the back of the seven-horse field until the final turn when Casa Creed made a strong move toward the leaders and Annapolis worked his way through traffic to follow. With Casa Creed getting first jump and taking the lead in the stretch, Annapolis passed the rest of the field but had to settle for second.
“We wanted to be a little more forward and ended up next to last entering the first turn, and kind of got bottled up down the backside,” Pletcher told the Daily Racing Form. “I thought he ran a big race considering everything.”
Annapolis may get a chance to avenge the loss Aug. 12 when he is likely to face Casa Creed again in Saratoga’s $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap – a race won by Casa Creed a year ago.
The defending champ’s trainer praised the horse he defeated in the Kelso.
“That was a good horse,” Mott said in a New York Racing Association news release. “It says something for Casa Creed because the horse he beat is a real horse and a real tough competitor.”
