Steve Ridge Memorial
The 2nd running of the Steve Ridge Memorial drew a field of eleven horses Saturday. This 1 5/8 on the Turf for 4YO and up was expecting a tight finish among the three betting favorites Dan Colony, The Gourmet and my choice Mighty Hawk. Yeah we were wrong. In an unbelievable start to the race and even stranger finish, Infinite Wisdom takes the Steve Ridge Memorial.
Wingfly’s Dancer exploded out the gate building up, in a what seemed to be, an insurmountable lead of nearly seven lengths over Vin da Bona and Coominya Duds. At the turn, as the rest of the field, gave way The Gourmet, one of the co-favorites, and the 9-1 shot Infinite Wisdom began closing the gap. Infinite Wisdom which seemed out of the race, began passing horses at break neck speed. In a driving finish, Infinite Wisdom charged passes Wingfly’s Dancer to win in an unbelievable fashion by one length. Wingfly’s Dancer O/T lafly could only sit in stunned silence as that insurmountable lead disappeared under jockey C.Winter. O/T leestroyer has turned this Kingmambo X Sadler’s Wells colt into a major threat in the turf world.
Infinite Wisdom posted a career best 106 speed rating Saturday in winning its third race in its last four attempts. Since it was switched to turf Infinite Wisdom has hit the board in eight of its ten turf routes. One thing I said about this horse is its lack of experience at this distance, well this is its distance and what a prep race for its step into the Graded Stakes world. The streak continues for Wingfly’s Dancer as it has now finished in the top three in 20 of its 21 races. It posted an outstanding speed rating of 105 and one can only wonder if it just got too far in front. One thing for certain Wingfly’s Dancer is also ready to step up in class and be a horse to reckon with. Coominya Duds and The Gourmet posted 104 and 101 ratings respectably and made this one of the more exciting races of the day.
Send comments and suggestions to Euro321@aol.com