Donegal Racing Shines at the Spa
It was quite easy for Donegal Racing to come up with a name for Gate to Wire (Munnings), who turned in an eye-catching debut performance Friday. “He looked fast,” said Donegal CEO Jerry Crawford. Gate to Wire has lived up to his appearance in training and showed his speed in the opener at Saratoga Race Course, while posting a 1 3/4 -length victory in the $100,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds. Though he did not lead every step of the way, Gate to Wire, with leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard, stalked the early pace of :21.63 and 45.32, stormed to the lead on the turn and was not seriously threatened in the stretch of the 5 1/2-furlong turf test. They reached the wire at 1:02.73 and the 9-5 favorite paid $5.90. After running off with the rider during the post parade, Bob Baron's homebred Jack's Promise (Promises Fulfilled), trained by Dale Romans, ran greenly at times them closed well to finish second at 29-1. With a pair of sizzling bullet breezes on dirt leading up to the race, Gate to Wire was hardly a surprise. He was the fastest of 161 on Aug. 17 with a :47 breeze from the gate and followed that with a best-of-103 gate breeze Saturday with a half-mile in :47.13. “I thought we were showing our cards a little aggressively,” Crawford said, “but at the same time it told us what we'd suspected.”
Donegal purchased the chestnut bred by Moyglare Stud Farm for $95,000 at the 2023 Keeneland September Sale. “When we bought him, Barry Berkelhammer and I were the two people who were especially high on him at the sale,” Crawford said. “I give Barry kudos and credit for his role in this. We have a very good selection team.” Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher said the Donegal sent him a talented colt to develop.
“Jerry and his team did a great job picking him out,” Pletcher said. “He's a beautiful son of Munnings. Looks a lot like his sire. Came in, has trained very forwardly and professionally leading into this. We were expecting him to come out with a good debut, show some speed, which he did.” Crawford watched the race back home in Des Moines, where the Donegal staff is preparing for the Keeneland yearling sale next month. He noted that Gate to Wire did not fit the stable profile. “It is very, very unusual for Donegal to have a sprinter,” he said. We suspected he might be a sprinter when we bought him, but he was so shiny that we bought him anyway. Out of 50 average horses from Donegal, 49 will be routers. So that's a little unusual for this as well.” Now that the maiden victory is on the colt's resume, Donegal is looking ahead. “We've known for a while that this horse was very talented,” Crawford said. “In fact, I've been scouring the Breeders' Cup prep races before today, so our confidence level was up there. Of course, it's great to win at Saratoga. It's great to win anything at Saratoga.”
Team Gate to Wire in the winner's circle | Sarah Andrew
