Neat captures the G3 $400,000 Transylvania Stakes against a top- quality field of 3-year olds, may of whoom will be resurfacing in next month’s American Tuf G2 on Derby Day.
“He’s a horse that’s getting better, and he raced against some very tough horses in here and that’s what I think is most impressive,” Atras said.
Neat has been nearly flawless on the turf, barring an 11th-place finish in his 2-year-old debut at Kentucky Downs. The son of Constitution was exiting an eye-catching 5 1/2 length in the Jan. 27 Texas Turf Mile Stakes leading into his first graded stakes test.
The first half-mile of the Transylvania was anything but reassuring for Atras. Neat was fighting hard against jockey Reylu Gutierrez from the inside fence, straining to press early race leaders Oscar’s World and Musical Act through opening fractions of :23.98 and :48.78. Down the backstretch, however, Gutierrez had managed to settle the eager colt and tuck back into fifth position, which Atras felt made the difference between winning and losing the race.
“After the developments in the first turn I was wondering if we were going to have any horse left but Reylu (Gutierrez) did a great job of settling him down,” Atras said. “Obviously he felt like he had a lot of horse down the backside. He had a lot of confidence and that was key. And then (Neat) came up the inside; I think it takes a very good horse to do that.”
Gutierrez and Neat threaded their way between horses down the lane before gunning through a narrow seam along the rail. The gutsy move resulted in a nose win.
Journeyman rider Gutierrez and the colt’s owner, the budding Red, White, and Blue Racing partnership, also secured their first Keeneland graded stakes wins.
Neat, a half brother to stakes winner Louder Than Bombs (Violence ), was acquired by Red, White and Blue Racing for $200,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Randy Gullat, the founder of the successful Twin Creeks Racing Stables, created the new partnership.
Gullat indicated Neat and the silks of Red, White, and Blue Racing would fly next in the American Turf.
Articla by Byron King and Molly Rollins
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Photo By Anne M. Eberhart
