Creatine colt sublime in Kentucky Futurity
The Greg Wright Jr. trained Jujubee put on an exhibition show in the 129th edition of the Kentucky Futurity at The Red Mile yesterday, routing the best 3-year-old trotters in North America by the biggest winning margin in the last 20 years.
A $75,000 supplemental entry, Jujubee never gave his connections cause for concern at any stage in the $561,000 blue riband event and was quite simply in a league of his own.
The fastest off the gate, Jujubee briefly ceded to Cuatro De Julio at the quarter pole before retaking the lead and trotting to the half in a swift 54.4.
At the three-quarter pole Jujubee was already pulling away from the field, with the big striding son of Creatine leaving his rivals to it in the home straight, clearing out, untouched by driver Andrew McCarthy, to a five and a quarter length victory in 1:49.6 – the second fastest time in the race’s history, and a fraction faster than the winning time for Abuckabett Hanover in yesterday's Tattersals Pace for 3-year-old pacing colts and geldings.
Watch a replay of the race here.
In winning in 1:49.6, Jujubee became the first ever 3-year-old trotting colt to record two sub 1:50 victories.
His trainer Wright Jr. and recent driver McCarthy both have massive wraps on the colt with Wright commenting in post race interviews that he hasn’t reached the bottom of the horse yet…
“I don’t know how much better he can get. He’s done everything pretty simply.”
And McCarthy in explaining why he elected to drive Jujubee over the Canadian Trotting Classic winner Ahundreddollarbill in the Futurity…
“It was a tough call, but this horse just feels like an absolute next-level great horse to me. That’s what I said to Greg when I came back after the [Pennsylvania] Sires Stakes final, I showed him my arm – I had goosebumps all down it – and I said, ‘There’s only one other horse that’s done that to me.’”
With the Hambletonian winner Captain Corey missing from the sophomore trotting ranks through injury, Jujubee has clearly assumed the mantle of the best 3-year-old trotter going round right now, with six wins on the bounce, five of them at stakes level and most of them in utterly dominant fashion, and 13 victories and two seconds in total from 16 starts in 2021.
Jujubee’s overall record now stands at 15 wins and five placings from 21 starts and $630,607 in stakes earnings.
A homebred for Florida’s Jon Erdner, Jujubee is out of the Cantab Hall mare La Cantera.
Having sold Jujubee’s dam at the beginning of 2020, Erdner went to $100,000 to secure the full brother to Jujubee at last week’s Lexington Select Yearling Sale.
There was strong demand for yearlings by Creatine at Lexington, with his small offering averaging $59,000 – the fifth highest for a trotting stallion with three or more entries.