Sunnybank Memorial much the best in the Little Guppy

The great Sunnybank Memorial was way too much for this group, powerfully overtaking the from-the-start leader Balerion and drew away at will in trouncing the field in the Grade I Little Guppy Classic, which was the feature this weekend at France. The winner, a son of A.P. Indy, covered the eleven furlong distance in a pretty modest 2:15:4/5 and improved his lifetime record to 37-22-4-5, with career earnings of $8,441,819.

There were few alternatives in this race, with Balerion going for the lead and setting up soft early fractions, which allowed him to relax up front. His immediate followers were Itstartsasacolony and Otto Rock (IRE). As the race advanced, Balerion slowly began top pull away, and it seemed pretty clear that he was going to be pretty tough to beat, and he had a seven lengths lead with two furlongs to go. But the favorite began his winning move with about five furlongs to go, developing a flourish and at the top of the stretch he was in full flight, easily overtaking Balerion and drawing away to win by a decisive three and three quarters lengths. Balerion was a deserving runner up, with New Storm passing tired rivals and earning the show spot.