Wednesday, October 4, 2023
It was a first graded stakes winner for Highgate Sales on Wednesday when Agate Road won the G2 Pilgrim Stakes.
Making his stakes debut in the race one start after winning a Saratoga Maiden Special Weight, Agate Road was more than happy to race near the back of the pack in the 1 1/16 mile turf race. It wasn’t until the far turn that jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. started to move him through the field to put him within striking distance by the top of the stretch.
Racing into the final sixteenth, Agate Road took command and started building his margin from there to win by 1 ¼ lengths and earn a “Win And You’re In” spot in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.
“He broke much better today than last time – that was the key. After that, I just bided my time to go. Before the quarter-pole, I hit the clear outside. I went a little wide, maybe four or five wide and he kept coming,” Ortiz Jr. said.
“Last time, he had too much to do and he still get there. That gave me a lot of confidence. It was a beautiful trip and I just lose a couple lengths in the last turn and I was comfortable with that. I trust the trainer [Todd Pletcher] – he told me the horse was ready.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Agate Road was a $650,000 purchase by racing owners Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale when offered by Highgate on behalf of China Horse Club.
Agate Road is the fourth stakes winner overall for Highgate Sales and the second in just over a week after Everso Mischievous won the Harrods Creek Stakes the final weekend of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
Highgate has horses entered in five different sales coming up over the next month and a half. You can see entries here.
Agate Road is #BreedersCup bound!
Watch him secure his spot in this year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in the Pilgrim! pic.twitter.com/tzyaee12jJ
— Breeders' Cup (@BreedersCup) October 4, 2023
