After taking over the lead from the pacesetting Relaxed Gesture (Ire) (Indian
Ridge) entering the turn for home in Saturday’s $500,000 Sword Dancer
Invitational S. (G1), Gary Tanaka’s KING’S DRAMA (Ire) (King’s Theatre [Ire])
had to turn back that same rival in the Saratoga stretch to prevail by three-quarters-of-a-length, stopping the clock in 2:27 1/5 for the 1 1/2-mile good
turf event.
Rating just off fair splits of :24 and :48 3/5, the Bobby Frankel-trained
King’s Drama and and jockey Jorge Chavez sat just to the outside of Relaxed
Gesture as his jockey, Jose Santos, clearly tried to gear his mount down in the
opening stages. The Frankel trainee was angled toward the rail when clear after
a mile in 1:38 4/5 and maintained a head advantage through 10 furlongs in 2:03
2/5. Inside the final quarter, King’s Drama and Relaxed Gesture went head and
head, with the former a half-length clear with a furlong to go and three parts
of a length in front at the line. Vangelis (Highest Honor [Fr]) closed well for
third after being steadied early in the race.
King’s Drama returned $6.70, $3.90 and $3.50 as the 2-1 favorite, starting
decent exotics of $22.20 for the exacta and $149.50 for the trifecta. Relaxed
Gesture gave back $3.70 and $3.20 at almost 3-1 and Vangelis was worth $5.60 for
the show. Meteor Storm (GB) (Bigstone [Ire]) completed the 7-4-2-1 superfecta,
good for $389.50, and was followed under the line by Rochester (Green Dancer),
Dreadnaught (Lac Ouimet), Silverfoot (With Approval) and Request for Parole
(Judge T C). Better Talk Now (Talkin Man) was scratched to run in the Arlington
Million (G1).
Bred in Ireland by Kilfrush Stud, King’s Drama is out of the Last Tycoon
(Ire) mare Last Drama, who is also the dam of 2000 Charles Whittingham H. (G1)
runner-up Self Feeder (Ire) (Lycius). With this, his first U.S. stakes win, the five-year-old
French Group 3 winner increases his earnings to $679,579 and shows a line of 22-7-5-5.
The bay’s U.S. placings came in the 2003 Virginia Derby and last year’s Man o’
War S. (G1).