Saturday marked the 8th running of the Captain Hook Stakes. This stakes race has produced numerous historically graded B horses over the years including North Can, A Smock, and Gingerbread Man. Two other horses of note that should be mentioned are Grade I winner Fusaichi Gulch and turf great Extortionist were also winners of this race. The favorites Saturday were Samoth, Euler and Parejo all going off at 6-1.
Al Hirth shocks the New York racing world with its stunning victory this past Saturday in the Captain Hook Stakes. The Captain Hook was loaded with Grade II and Grade III horses, but Saturday it was former Allowance only winner that stole the show. O/T Zooomr was speechless after Saturday’s victory but did have say that this horse now has the potential to compete in possibly Grade I races down the road. This Dixieland Band X Kris S. 3YO colt paid $26.50 while earning a career best 103 in the 1 1/8 for 3YOs.
At the start, as expected, Cooperstown raced to 2 length lead over its nearest competitor while the rest of the field positioned themselves for the finish. At the turn Samoth took the lead by a nose over Flying Wood while Rainbow Phyl and Woodyna prepared for the stretch run. In the stretch Al Hirth’s jockey, Darling, maneuvered this colt beautifully around the traffic and raced for home with a driving 1 3/4 length victory. Al Hirth has now won four races in its short eleven race career, yet this race is its greatest yet. Al Hirth now joins Zooomr’s other Grade III winner Pete Fountain as its top horses in its barn today.
This was outstanding race to watch and I hope to see Al Hirth run again down road in possibly some Grade I races. Also on a more personal note, who read my preview of this horse to it, yikes was I wrong about Al Hirth not being up to Grade II status. Al Hirth posted a 103 speed rating and the average rating this year seems to be about 105 for Grade II route races for 3YO.
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Good luck to all this week.