Sunday’s Rule overcame a very bad post, went to the lead with about 500 meters to go and barely hold off a quickly gaining Vuja Day to win this year’s edition of the Heat Less Stakes, the feature for this weekend at Kentucky. The winner is out of High Yield in an A.P. Indy mare, improved his impressive lifetime record to 7-5-1-1, with earnings of $349,925 for trainer doza.
At the start of the race, Cooperstown went immediately to the lead, followed by Road to Isengard and the winner placed himself in a comfortable third spot. The fractions set by the leaders were pretty modest, so not big changes happened until two and a half furlongs from the wire, in which Sunday’s Rule took over, but Cooperstown had plenty left to keep fighting. From the middle of the pack, Cycle of Renewal (IRE) and New Found Cyclone gained ground, and from way off the pace, Vuja Day started his move. There were crawling at the end, but the wire came just in time for the winner, with Vuja Day being a toughed lucked second. New Found Cyclone was a half length behind in third. The time of the race was a modest 1:42:2/5 for the mile and one sixteenth.