Four grade one races where contested last week three of which where for three year olds. Three year old turf runners had two races one for the girls and one for the boys. We had a prep for ladies on the Bluegrass Oaks trail. The day\u2019s most exciting race was a race for older fillies and mares at a mile on the turf. <\/p>\n
Race: 3476.0216 Sunny Florida \u2013 G1 – $500,000
Track: Florida
Restrictions: Fillies and mares, 3 years old
Distance: A mile and one sixteenth on the Dirt<\/p>\n
The first grade one of the year for three year old fillies is in the books and the young ladies look forward to a possible Bluegrass Oaks appearance. The favorite in the race was Lovestruck making her first start in a route race. She did not disappoint as the favorite pulling away in the end to win by nearly four lengths. Lovestruck stalked the early pace in sixth position about six lengths back. As the runners went into the far turn she picked up moving into third position just three lengths. Once she hit the stretch it was over for the rest of the field. She hit high gear easily tracking down the leader and put three and three quarter lengths on them by the time she hit the wire. <\/p>\n
Lovestruck is the first foal out of a solid mare named Legally Summer. This victory gives Lovestruck three stakes wins in her first eight career starts. Legally Summer got a late start to her career debuting as a four year old but was a solid runner. Her dam Legally Bald was an eleven time stakes winner. She is a filly to watch for on the Oaks trail. <\/p>\n
The pace setting Justify was the best of the rest. When the gates opened she headed straight for the lead easily getting clear early. She was held a near two length lead on the field for most of the trip with no one willing to run with her early. She was running out of gas in the stretch after having things pretty much her own way for most of the race. It took a pretty good performance to catch her today and she was still a length and a half clear of the third place finisher. <\/p>\n
Rattyburg was also considered one of the favorites in this race. Not sure if it was the lure of a softer field or that it was planned for her to run on two weeks rest. Going on short rest when both of the races are graded stakes can take a lot out of a horse. She was never in contention in this race falling more than eleven lengths off the early pace. She made a steady improvement around the turn for home and quickened into the stretch passing tiring rivals. She closed up several lengths to finish a non threatening third five and a quarter lengths back. <\/p>\n
Race: 3476.1515 The Fainting Goat Nightmare \u2013 G1 – $450,000
Track: Arizona
Restrictions: All horses three years old
Distance: One mile on the Turf<\/p>\n
The first grade one of the year for three year old turf colts brings together a group of runners that could be milers and some may go on to be good long distance mile and a half horses. For those that ran in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Juvenile Turf a few months back this was not a good race. Spartiate was the top finisher of the horses in here that had run in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl and he finished fourth.<\/p>\n
Hoarfrost Hill was one of the favorites in this race despite not having real high speed figures coming into the race. He ran a good second as a two year old in the grade one Knick Knack showing he has the class and talent. He was a front runner on many occasions in the past but today he found himself stalking from fourth about four lengths off the early pace. He used his position just off the leaders to his advantage. When the field entered the stretch he was behind the pace setter but well ahead of the closers. From there he found another gear and caught the pace setter in deep stretch. He pulled away for a two length victory ahead of a fast closing Saint Vivant. <\/p>\n
Saint Vivant also completed against Hoarfrost Hill in the Knick Knack as a two year old. Saint Vivant is a closer and maybe his destiny lies at longer distances but he was pretty good today. He does not a lot of speed leaving the gate and ended up towards the back about ten lengths off the early pace. He really could not get clear to make his run until he got to the top the stretch where he exploded. He gained six lengths on the winner in the stretch flying late but it was not enough for the win. He just caught the pace setting Banner in the final jumps to earn second. <\/p>\n
Banner was the pace of the race. He was serious and dead set on the lead opening up early on the field by almost two lengths. He pushed that to nearly three lengths at the half mile pole and carried a more than two length lead into the stretch. He might have gone just a little too fast in the early stages as he did not have enough to hold off the stalker and just got beat at the wire for the place. Still he was on two lengths back showing a good deal of heart. He might be one to watch as these guys grow up. <\/p>\n
Danehill had a huge impact on this race. Hoarfrost Hill and Banner are both by Danehill Dancer a son of Danehill. Also Danehill is the dam sire of Saint Vivant the second place finisher in this race. <\/p>\n
Race: 3476.5415 Sexy Muffins Classic \u2013 G1 – $500,000
Track: New South Wales
Restrictions: Fillies and mares, 4 years old and up
Distance: One mile on the Turf<\/p>\n
This contest provided the most thrilling finish of the day as the top three runners finished within three quarters of a length of each other. The favorite Northern Pulp was given all she could handle today and with stood the challenge by a nose. Northern Pulp is a very classy runner with a lot of wins including four graded stakes win. She came into this race off a grade one win and now can brag about back to back grade one wins. <\/p>\n
Northern Pulp found her self in her usual stalking position as the early part of the race unfolded. She was fourth about four and a half lengths off the pace. Normally she will move up on the turn and make her move in the stretch however this time she was right on the lead with Torch the Flame as she entered the stretch. She put her head in front of Torch the Flame but Torch the Flame dug in and did not go away. Northern Pulp was not pulling away from Torch the Flame and coming with a late move was Red Royal. They crossed the wire in a blur and somehow Northern Pulp managed to get her nose on the line first for back to back grade one victories. <\/p>\n
Red Royal ran a great race but just ran out of ground in the end. If the race had been a foot further in distance she probably would have won. Red Royal had been knocking around at longer distances prior to this race where she was a grade three winner. Looks like the one mile distance may bring out the best of her. She was mid pack early a little more than seven lengths off the pace. She made a bold move on the turn in traffic to close to within a couple of lengths. She carried that momentum into the stretch closing quickly on the leaders just falling short in the final steps. <\/p>\n
Torch the Flame took on the boys in the fall in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl Mile. She ran a great race then finishing third and that was as a three year old. She could be even better now as she matures more as a four year old. This was a solid start to her season. She is a stalker but when Freezing zipped off to clear lead she found her self in second with a whole bunch of other runners close by. She made a good move on the turn and had the lead at the top of the stretch. She lost the lead fairly quickly but was stubborn and hung with Northern Pulp through the rest of the stretch. She got caught by Red Royal in the final stages but still a pretty salty effort finishing third. She broke from an outside post had a lot of stalkers to her inside earning her a wide trip. <\/p>\n
Race: 3476.5816 The Loaded Charger Special \u2013 G1 – $500,000
Track: Germany
Restrictions: Fillies and mares three years old
Distance: One mile on the Turf<\/p>\n
Breeder\u2019s Bowl Juvenile Turf Filly winner Miesque\u2019s Gold has been keeping busy since her victory at the Breeder\u2019s Bowl. This was her third race since the Breeder\u2019s Bowl and her second in two weeks. The two week turn around did not effect her very much as she claimed her second grade one win. Miesque\u2019s Gold was the favorite in the race. She came out the gates and settled in sixth position just off the pace. She was only three lengths back and under a patient ride. She moved up to the pace setter turning for home. The pace setter though was not throwing in the towel and it took Miesque\u2019s Gold the whole length of the stretch to get by for a one quarter length win. <\/p>\n
Thunderlips gave the favorite all she could handle. When the gates opened Thunderlips was pressing the early pace. At the half mile pole she put away the pace setter and started to inch away. She took a two length lead into the stretch. She stayed on well in the stretch just getting edged out in the final stages. <\/p>\n
While the top two runners both ran in the Breeder\u2019s Bowl the third place finisher Principal was making her graded stakes debut. Principal was toward the back of the pack in the early stages but less than six lengths off the pace. She made a nice move around he turn for home gaining several positions. She showed a good kick in the stretch gaining on the top two runners getting to within a length of the winner at the wire. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Four Grade I Races Last Week Lots of Three Year Old Action<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":255,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/255"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5386\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}