Shoemaker Mile (Grade 1)- $400.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
May 28, 2018

Z One Chance came into Monday’s Shoemaker Mile on a great run of form. He had five wins in seven starts, but trainer Serenity Stables was not content with continuing to run him on the main track. He had some turf experience prior, but this Grade 1 would be one the biggest challenges he faced, and he stepped up to the occasion. Z One Chance was clutch, and will be one to watch this summer. Serenity Stables is a first time winner of this stake, but jockey K J Desormeaux has done it before, winning for the third time. He had last won in 2016 with Jamfest. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:32.95, a middle of the road time when compared to past editions. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :23.46)- Grounded In Reality, from Mb Stables, gets off to the quickest start and looks like he is going to lead the field into the first turn, but on the outside of him, we see our eventual winner Z One Chance, from Serenity Stables, and Nice Dive, out of Smokey Stover, make the pass, and those two are the leaders at this point with Z One Chance a nose in front. Grounded In Reality is still within a length in the third position. In the middle of the pack, both The Hand Youre Dealt (Mb Stables) and Slip Away (TwinTowersRacing) are in a stalking position, and neither T N T Dynamite (Saratoga Stud) and Far Too Cool (Night Rider Stables) are that far off, either. Compress (Cherrytree Hill Farm) trails, but is just four lengths off the lead.

(½ Mile- :46.62)- The second quarter of the race is where we start to see more separation within the field. At the front, there is nothing stopping both Z One Chance and Nice Dive from putting together a somewhat quick half mile. Nice Dive leads at this time, but Z One Chance is within half a length. The new two horses running for third here are Slip Away and Compress. Grounded In Reality was not quite as quick while running along the rail and surrendered a couple spots, while The Hand Youre Dealt looked a little awkward as he rather suddenly dropped to the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Compress had some run in him around the opening turn and now he was up there, running for third. For Slip Away, a consistent and steady run put him in this position. T N T Dynamite and Far Too Cool ran at the back with their new companion, The Hand Youre Dealt.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Nice Dive is out in front and looking good as he rounds the turn. He keeps his half length advantage on Z One Chance, and at this point in this race, he seemed to be looking pretty sharp. Z One Chance always remained close, right to his inside, and was prepared to challenge him for the lead in the stretch. Further back, they were four wide as other challengers looked to make their presence felt. Compress seemed to be in a good position, and on the outside here comes The Hand Youre Dealt again making up the ground that he willingly conceded in the backstretch. Slip Away and Grounded In Reality were with them as well, but needed to find a little more then what they were showing. T N T Dynamite was just a half length off this, as well. Only Far Too Cool seemed to be coming up empty.

(Finish- 1:32.95)- With a furlong to go, Nice Dive seemed as though he could hang on, but as they got closer to the wire, he began to show just enough fatigue to lose the lead. Z One Chance methodically worked him over in the stretch, keeping the pressure on, and then going by in the final moments of the race. He had to hold off The Hand Youre Dealt, but Z One Chance would be too tough, and gets a sharp looking win. The Hand Youre Dealt ran a rather strange race, but did get back up for second, ahead of third place Nice Dive. Fourth through sixth could have finished any which way, but it is Grounded In Reality getting the nod over T N T Dynamite and Compress. All of them were within a length of the winner, Z One Chance. Slip Away was another length back while Far Too Cool brings up the rear.

About The Winner: Z One Chance, trained by Serenity Stables, and ridden to victory by K J Desormeaux, is a four year old colt by Z Jinxed One, and is out of Serine de La Chanson. He was bred in New York by Downwind Stables as a second quarter two year old, and acquired by Serenity via Aer Stables in March 2017 in a $70.000 private sales transaction. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his sixth in 13 starts, and its his third graded win. His career earnings are now $815.540.

Track: Firm
Time: :23²  :46³  1:09²  1:32⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 3 Paid 60.60
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 3 – 7 Paid 607.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES