Of the four stakes races for three-year-olds that I mentioned on my last post, none of them were won by the favorite. Upsets ranging from 5-2 to 6-1 were witnessed, as the favorites turned in one second, two thirds, and one sixth place finishes. The feature race from last week, the Count Fleet Stakes, yielded the biggest upset of all.
Count Fleet Stakes Recap
The favorite was Rush Now at 2.10-1. Pants On Fire was the narrow second choice at 2.35-1. My selection, Monzon, wasn't completely friendless as the 6.20-1 fourth choice, but was certainly not the favorite.
Pants On Fire, as expected, broke quickest of all and took the early lead. He was followed closely by J J's Lucky Train and Rush Now. The latter was forced to take the first turn very wide and was in a tough spot early, chasing a fast pace while three wide. He was followed by Tap Star, who was sitting 3 1/2 lengths from the lead; Arthur's Tale, who was another length behind him, and Monzon, who was ten lengths off the pace while showing no early speed.
The opening quarter mile was run in :23 2/5, and the positions remained unchanged through a half in :47 2/5 and three quarters of a mile in 1:12 1/5. However, at this point, J J's Lucky Train was ready to make his move. He distanced himself from Rush Now and moved to within a head of Pants On Fire. Rush Now was beginning to show signs of tiring as Tap Star and Arthur's Tale moved into contention.
As the field turned for home, J J's Lucky Train took a narrow lead from Pants On Fire and appeared to be home free. However, Monzon was rallying furiously on the far outside; benefiting greatly from the intense early pace. With powerful strides, he surged down the center of the racetrack and inhaled J J's Lucky Train inside the final sixteenth, drawing away to win by an easy half-length under a light drive.
Credit must be given to J J's Lucky Train, who was game down to the final strides while finishing second. He helped set a sharp pace and finished 3 1/2 lengths clear of Pants On Fire, who tired late to finish third while barely holding off Arthur's Tale for that spot. Tap Star was another half-length behind them, and Rush Now finished a dismal last, nearly nineteen lengths behind the winner.
Monzon, owned by Sagamore Farm, was ridden by Edgar Prado and is trained by Ignacio Correas IV. He completed the one mile and seventy yards distance in 1:42 2/5. Time will tell how good he truly is, but I must say that his performance was exceptional and he is a gelding worthy of keeping an eye on. The Whirlaway Stakes in February seems like a logical goal, assuming that he is to continue along the Triple Crown Trail.
Here are the complete results. . .
1 Monzon
2 J J's Lucky Train
3 Pants On Fire
4 Arthur's Tale
5 Tap Star
6 Rush Now
. . .and here were my picks.
1 Monzon
2 Rush Now
3 Tap Star
4 Pants On Fire
5 Arthur's Tale
6 J J's Lucky Train
It appears as though J J's Lucky Train is considerably better than I thought he was. He will definitely be receiving more respect from me in the future! Fortunately, although I failed miserably at handicapping this race for the most part, Monzon did prove that my confidence in him was justified.
Other Race Results
The California Oaks was not your typical $100,000 stakes race. A one mile and one sixteenth event for three year old fillies, only four were entered. Cathy's Crunches was the odds-on favorite at 1-2, with Lilacs and Lace sent off at 5-2. Game to Run was the third choice at 4-1 and Sister Glady Oh La was very lightly regarded at 21.60-1.
The race was virtually a match race between the two favorites. Cathy's Crunches broke quickest of all and took up and early 1 1/2 length advantage of Lilacs and Lace while rattling off very slow fractions of :25 1/5 and :50 4/5. Game To Run was right behind them racing third when she broke down suddenly, dropping out of contention, leaving only three fillies to complete the race.
Following three quarters of a mile in 1:15 4/5, Cathy's Crunches held an easy two-length lead and appeared to be on her way to an overwhelming victory. However, as the field turned for home, she was unable to shake Lilacs and Lace. Although Cathy's Crunches held a 1 1/2 lead at the eighth pole, Lilacs and Lace continued to grind on the outside and turned the 1 1/2 length deficit into a 1 1/2 length victory, completing the mile and a sixteenth in 1:46 1/5. She was ridden by Russel Baze. Cathy's Crunches finished 5 1/2 lengths clear of Sister Glady Oh La, who never threatened. Game to Run was vanned off and I have not heard anything about her since. Hopefully, she will be okay.
In the grade III Tropical Park Derby, the favorite was Swift Warrior at 3-2. Never more than 2 1/2 lengths behind, he seemed to be on his way to victory at the field turned for home, but flattened out and finished third.
In the end, it was King Congie at 7-2 who came from sixth to capture the grade III event. The early pace was set by Private Prize, who broke a tad slowly but was sent straight to the lead. He was followed by Relampago, a 90-1 shot who was rank in the early going and would tire to finish last. Racing Aptitude was sitting third, followed by Swift Warrior and Tag V Eye. King Congie was sixth, about three lengths back following an opening quarter mile in :24 flat.
Private Prize continued to show the way through relatively easy fractions of :48 2/5 and 1:12 3/5, but King Congie was beginning to roll and was within a head of the front runner as the field entered the homestretch. Swift Warrior had made a four-wide bid and was in with every chance, but he was unable to finish off his rally and began to weaken.
This left Private Prize and King Congie on the lead. The former was valiant throughout the stretch drive; gamely stemming off the rally of his stubborn rival. King Congie, although drifting out in the stretch, was equally game and unrelenting. It is a shame to have a loser in such a battle, but one colt or the other had to give in.
Private Prize, running straight and true along the hedge, never once wavered in courage but was obviously tiring. In the final strides, he reluctantly allowed King Congie to pass. The latter drove on to win the race by a half-length under Javier Castellano. Private Prize finished second, 2 1/2 lengths clear of Swift Warrior. East of Danzig finished a non-threatening fourth.
The final time was 1:49 2/5. Here are the complete results. . .
1 King Congie
2 Private Prize
3 Swift Warrior
4 East of Danzig
5 Racing Aptitude
6 Halo's Thunder
7 And I Like It Too
8 I Love It
9 Tag V Eye
10 Relamoago
. . . and here were my selections.
1 Swift Warrior
2 Racing Aptitude
3 Private Prize
Private Prize proved to be considerably tougher than I thought he was. I was very impressed by his courage in the homestretch and do believe that multiple stakes wins are on the horizon for this fine colt. As for King Congie, he was equally game in the homestretch, although he did drift outward in the stretch. It is doubtful that either of them are Triple Crown caliber horses, but both merit watching. After all, you never know where the next great horse might come from!
There was an equally thrilling stretch drive in the Tropical Park Oaks, the fillies' version of the Tropical Park Derby. A sixteenth of a mile shorter that the colts' race, the Oaks favorite was Triune at 5-2. A Brilliant Idea was the second choice at 3.40-1, with Dynamic Holiday at 3.50-1. I had no opinion as to who would win the race, but I had been keeping my eye on A Brilliant Idea and was curious as to how well she would perform.
As it turned out, the top three betting choices finished 1-2-3 in the Tropical Park Oaks; albiet not in the expected order. The early pace was set by Blue Angel Express, who broke last but was quickly rushed up to take the lead. She was followed closely by Triune and together they cut out a stiff opening quarter mile in :23 1/5. Dynamic Holiday and A Brilliant Idea were sitting in fifth and sixth, respectively, with three lengths separating them.
Following a half-mile in :48 flat, Triune made a move to take the lead from Blue Angel Express. Dynamic Holiday had moved up to third, just 2 1/2 lengths from the front, and A Brilliant Idea was also moving closer. Triune held a half-length lead following three quarters of a mile in 1:12 3/5, but as she turned for home, company was arriving in the form of Dynamic Holiday and A Brilliant Idea, who were separated by only a neck now. The former, racing in the three path while on the inside of A Brilliant Idea, accelerated quickly in the homestretch and took the lead from Triume approaching the eighth pole. A Brilliant Idea was a length behind her, seemingly beaten with only 220 yards to go.
However, with a sudden burst of energy, A Brilliant Idea began to surge. Closer and closer she came to Dynamic Holiday. The pair hit the wire together, stopping the clock in 1:43 4/5. It was impossible to say for sure who had won.
The photo showed that Dynamic Holiday had secured the narrowest of nose victories, just holding off A Brilliant Idea for the victory. The latter was game to the finish, and looks to have a very bright future. Triume finished third, a length and a half behind the top two finishers. It is likely that she could have performed still better had she not dueled through that sharp opening quarter mile.
Here are the complete results. . .
1 Dynamic Holiday
2 A Brilliant Idea
3 Triune
4 Greatest dream
5 Michell's Trip
6 Sweet N Nutty
7 Lemons to Lemonade
8 Blue Angel Express
The winner was ridden by Julien Leparoux. I must admit that I am greatly looking forward to her next start; as well as the next start of A Brilliant Idea. Both fillies showed great talent and have a ton of potential.
The final race that merits mention on this post is yesterday's second race from Aqueduct. Crossbow, the 1-4 favorite, broke well and quickly took the lead, never looking back en route to a three lengths victory under a hand ride. By Bernardini out of Forest Wildcat mare Forest Heiress, he seems to have a lot of talent and his future looks very bright. He was ridden by Ramon Dominguez and is trained by Kiaran McLaughlin.
In conclusion, it was a great, if not surprising, two days of racing. Next weekend promises to be even better, with the Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream Park and the grade III Santa Ysable Stakes at Santa Anita the among the great set of stakes races scheduled. Be sure not to miss them!
-Keelerman
No comments:
Post a Comment