It was a stakes double for BLAME at Saratoga on Wednesday when Clear Conscience won the Kingston S. on the flat and Proven Innocent won the Beverly R. Steinman Hurdle (G1) over the jumps.
Making his stakes debut in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, Clear Conscience was ready to run for trainer Mark Casse after breaking well from one of the middle gates. He was hustled soon out of the gate by Jose Ortiz before settling inside of another horse just a few lengths behind the leader.
Creeping closer down the back stretch, he was in a clear third coming into the turn and Ortiz started hustling him in mid-turn. Switched to the outside of the field down the stretch, Clear Conscience took the lead in the final furlong, but the battle wasn’t over.
It was a close race to the finish with Clear Conscience getting his nose in front over Hush of a Storm to make the perfect start to his stakes campaign.
The earner of $294,988 has hit the board in nine of 15 starts and races for Gary Barber, Pantofel Stable, and Wachtel Stable.
The Kingston Stakes winner was bred in New York by Alan Quartucci and Sebastian Varney out of the Gio Ponti mare Blank Slate. That winning mare is the dam of three winners from four to race and is a half-sister to the stakes winning Planchart. Planchart is also the dam of the Group 2 placed Jimi Hendrix.
A stakes winner before today, Proven Innocent was making his second Grade 1 start of the year in the Beverly R. Steinman Hurdle after finishing fourth in the Commonwealth Cup (G1) last out.
A winner on the flat at Belmont Park, it was his second Saratoga victory after winning an Allowance at the track in 2022.
Clear Conscience is the 52nd flat racing stakes winner for BLAME, who is striking at an elite 8.24% stakes winners to runners.