THE LIFE OF THE PARTY IN NATIONWIDE

 The Nationwide Stakes – GP1 saw fourteen two-year-old line-up in the hope of claiming their first Group One victory. Leo’s Jewels from the bicuspid stable was the punters elect at $4.50 and many judges expected the talented youngster to keep his undefeated record in tact. Second elect was the tigertrack‘s trained Tiger’s Eye at $7.10 followed closely by lenny3‘s Lifeforce at $7.50.

With a firm track, the starter released the field with Lifeforce jumping straight to the lead and by the third call had opened a 2¾ length break. On entering the straight More Than My Share started to charge down the outside taking ground off the leader. At the end the finish line came too soon and Lifeforce was able to hold on by ¾ lengths from More Than My Share. Racing handy throughout, Argent X raced inside the winner and just held on for 3^rd ahead of the fast finishing Demon’s Direct. All of the top four recorded a career best speed rating with the winner recording an impressive rating of 90.

Finishing back in 5^th was the previous undefeated Grand Kiss who was running on late and was only one of a few to take ground off the winner. Back in 6^th and disappointing the punters was race favorite Leo’s Jewels, while he did make up a little ground late he never looked a threat at any stage. Finishing 7^th was Sisson’s Niner who was even throughout and struggled to say in touch as the pressure was applied. Running on the pace early was Tiger’s Eye who challenged for the lead and the effort took it’s toll as he died to finish 8^th. Rainband and Subside both sat at the rear of the field and made ground late to finish 9^th and 10^th respectively. Really Inswain was last throughout and was given an impossible mission by his jockey but did make-up some ground late to finish 11^th. Follow the Flag raced mid-field and had no answer when called upon and finish down the track in 12^th. Idengood Time and Padihershef both made no impression on the race and as the two longest shots finished second last and last as expected.

Lifeforce was very impressive and looks to have a very promising career in front of him, pending him being able to finely break the “Nationwide Curse” by adding another Group One to his resume. Looking at it from a Breeders Bowl Juvenile Turf -GP1 prospective it’s hard to go past More Than My Share, he was powering home at the end and the extra distance looks right up his alley. Agent X may have turned the corner and start living up to his impressive blood lines; while Demon’s Direct has indicated that he could be a force in the future with a little more experience. The remainder of the field has raised more questions than they answered and it’s back to the drawing board for most of their connections. While both Grand Kiss and Leo’s Jewels were disappointing they did make ground late and should not be overlooked in future classic races.