Recap Grade-1 BREEDERS’ BOWL CLASSIC ( CA ) 11/03/12

Recap  Grade-1  BREEDERS’ BOWL CLASSIC ( CA ) 11/03/12

Too Many Larry proves to be just the right amount of Larry’s in Classic Win

For a while it looked as if trainer Wfstables3’s 5 year old runner Twist Twist might pull off back to back Breeders’ Bowl Classic victories as entering the stretch, he held a solid 3 length lead after 7 furlongs over Phillysun’s2 colt Split Second, who had been stalking the early leader since the starting gate opened. However with a scintillating stretch burst of speed trainer Laz3man’s 6 year old veteran Too Many Larry’s erased his 8 ¾ length deficit and ran by both early leaders to win this year’s Classic by a widening 2 lengths over Split Second, who wore down the defending champ Twist Twist in the last 25 yards to cross the wire 2^nd. Trainer Grrm2’s 5 year old Dwarf and trainer Muninn’s young colt Skitzoid finished 4^th and 5^th to round out the top 5 at the wire.

Last year’s Classic champ Twist Twist wasted little time, immediately assuming the lead as the starting gate opened. The only runner that seemed eager to run with the early leader was trainer Willyam1’s Morning Line Favorite Dead Again who was right on the leaders heels at the 2 furlong call. Stalking the 2 front runners, 3 to 5 lengths back were Split Second, Dwarf, Turn Up Da Bass and Depp Navigator. The Mid Pack group was Ras El Hanout followed by Alpha Alex, Time For Buda and Pastor Steven. The rear guard group of Chinook Down, Decadently, Too Many Larry and Skitzoid were all rating, saving ground and hoping that a hot speed duel would develop among the front runners.

The half mile pace was a quick, but reasonable 47:14 and the field for the most part maintained position. Worth noting was the fact that Twist Twist was inching farther ahead of Dead Again, who was now 2 ¾ lengths behind and Alpha Alex looked like he was becoming the first pace casualty as he was losing positions and lengths quicker than the others.

As the field hit the 6 furlong marker, the pace intensified and the real racing began, Twist Twist had opened up a 3 ½ length lead over Split Second, Dwarf moved into 3^rd as it was becoming obvious this wasn’t to be the favored Dead Again’s day as he was now 6 lengths back and losing contact with the top 3. Turn Up Da Bass was holding steady in 5^th but wasn’t advancing on the leaders, Too Many Larry had now moved into 6^th and seemed to be gaining the kind of momentum that might carry him to victory. Farther back only Skitzoid seemed to be hitting a better stride, but still had 13 lengths to overcome if he wanted to factor in the victory, most of the rest were struggling just to maintain position. Alpha Alex, Ras El Hanout and Deep Navigator were slowly drifting to the back of the pack and dropping out of contention.

As the leaders hit final furlong, Split Second and Dwarf were converging on Twist Twist with Too Many Larry only a length back and gaining rapidly. Skitzoidhad had dead aim on Turn Up Da Bass, none of the rest were gaining and most were struggling to maintain position. Too Many Larry quickly blew past the 3 leaders and Split Second caught Twist Twist for 2^nd place 20 yards before the wire, but the early leader was able to hold the show position by the length of his neck over Dwarf who had to settle for 4^th. Skitzoid who was really in high gear unfortunately needed another furlong and had to settle for 5^th.

Race Comments:  (in order of finish)

TOO MANY LARRY:  reserved in 13^th and saved ground early, powerful, steady drive from 5 furlongs out, caught leaders in mid-stretch and drew away willingly.

SPLIT SECOND:  excellent stalking position early, well rated. Dug in and tried hard in stretch, but was no match for the winner in mid-stretch, solid performance, prominent throughout race.

TWIST TWIST:  good speed from the gate and cut all the early fractions. Strong move between 4 to 6 furlongs to separate from the field, tired in the stretch from early pace but held on resolutely to maintain 3^rd.

DWARF:  stalked the leaders in 4^th, in good striking position entering the stretch, mild rally but couldn’t hold off stretch running winner, good effort just missed 3^rd place.

SKITZOID:  reserved early at the rear of the field, found his best stride late, rallied and passed tired runners to earn 5^{th ,} was still gaining at the wire.

TURN UP DA BASS:  tried to stalk early leader, decent effort, hung on to tail end of lead group and then caught by stretch closers and just missed top 5 finish.

PASTOR STEVEN:  mid pack positioned 10^th and saved ground early, mild rally from 4 furlongs to finish line but couldn’t reach top contention.

TIME FOR BUDA:  mid pack and saving ground early, even paced throughout race, finished in same relative position as 1^st call position.

CHINOOK DOWN:  saved ground early near rear of the field, mild rally in stretch, never reached contention.

DECADENTLY:  saved ground early near rear of the field, last at 6 furlongs, rallied past dead tired fading runners in stretch.

DEAD AGAIN:  applied pressure to early leader, hung on until 6 furlongs and then lost contact and entering stretch drive and faded from contention.

DEEP NAVIGATOR:  good stalking position thru 6 furlongs, no response in stretch drive and slowly faded out of contention.

RAS EL HANOUT:  despite saving ground early mid pack, had no response when asked, slow steady fade back out and never reached contention.