Three Chimneys Farm and Phoenix Thoroughbred’s Volatile stamped himself as one of the top sprinters in the country with a front-running victory in Saturday’s $250,000 Vanderbilt H. (G1) at Saratoga.
Coming into the Vanderbilt off two blowout victories, including the Aristides S. at Churchill Downs, Volatile wasted no time getting to the lead under Rafael Santana, Jr.. After setting a relaxed half-mile in :46.67, the gray son of Violence had plenty in reserved to hold off any challenge, defeating Whitmore by 1 1/4-lengths in 1:09.61 for the six furlongs on the fast main track.
“We’ll need to see how he comes out of this, but the future looks exciting,” said Phoenix’s Amer Abdulaziz. “Today’s win was an important one for his value as a stallion, but he also proved he is one of the best sprinters in the country. We’d love to give him a chance to prove that. This is our first Grade I winner with (trainer) Steve (Asmussen) and we are delighted for him and his team. Also massive congratulations to our very good friends and partners Three Chimneys.”
Volatile has won five of his six starts and has earned $341,040.
