Kinsella, a $2.2-million FTSAUG yearling, was a lightly regarded 6-1 shot making his first career start on March 14 at Gulfstream in a 1 1/16-mile maiden event on the turf. The strapping chestnut was away slowly and allowed to trail the 12-horse field in the early going. He swept to the outside for the drive and unleashed a powerful stretch run to hit the lead late, then held off Reb in the dying strides for a 3/4-length triumph.

On the first Tuesday in the month of August 2007 in upstate New York, Team Valor International’s Barry Irwin found what in his estimation was the “it” horse. The object of his infatuation was hip 142, a racy-looking chestnut colt by Mr. Greeley with a narrow white blaze and a white stocking on his left hind.

Irwin intended to blast his potential rivals right out of the Finney Sales Pavilion with an opening bid of $1.5 million. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but, after a spirited exchange with representatives of West Point Thoroughbreds, Irwin landed the big fish (now named Kinsella) at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale for the second time in four years.

“I bought him because he had an exceedingly large amount of presence,” Irwin recollected yesterday by phone following the impressive debut victory by Kinsella in the Gulfstream finale.

Expecting him to be a precocious sort, Irwin sent Kinsella into training in the spring of 2008, and the colt turned in three works, one at Belmont Park and two over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, but was sidelined following a three-furlong move in early May.

“We breezed him at Oklahoma soon after it opened and it was very deep,” Irwin explained. “He pulled the suspensory off the bone a little bit. It’s a common sort of injury, so we had to do surgery to remove some
debris.”

Kinsella did his early recuperation at the Kesmarc Rehabilitation Facility, then was moved to Goldmark Farm in Ocala, where he resumed serious training in early 2009. Transferred to Todd Pletcher’s barn at Palm Meadows, he recorded five works on the main track, but it was apparent he wasn’t getting over it all that well.

“He would work OK on the dirt and if you put a horse in front of him, he’d catch him at the wire, but really wouldn’t go past,” Irwin offered. “When we put him on the turf, we saw something totally different. He’s never been outworked.”

Even if yesterday’s outcome was not surprising, the way in which it was achieved was.

“We expected him to go right to the front and take them all the way,” said Irwin. “To come from last like that was amazing. He is a very athletic horse and was dead fit today. Todd had him ready to run.”

Resigned to the fact that he has a turf/synthetic horse on his hands, Irwin does not harbor any real Classic aspirations and is happy for the moment to take things one step at a time.

“I have absolutely nothing in mind,” Irwin admitted. “We’ll evaluate it and try to figure out what the hell to
do.” -- Alan Carasso