Read Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
DMR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
July 19, 2020

Workload was a promising horse early in his three year old season, and participated in several KYD preps. With that over with, he was moved to the grass and had immediate success. With that, he was made one our of picks and seemed like one of the horses to beat. For some reason, he went off at odds of 18/1. In the Grade 2 Read Stakes, Workload would get the job done, showing that once again he is going to be a good horse in this division. He is trained by Mb Stables, who sweeps the races that I cover this weekend. It is his second win in the race, having also won in 2016 with the late Jovan River. He was ridden by Mario Gutierrez, who wins the Read Stakes for the first time. Also with this win, Workload became just the third three year old in the 17-year history of the stake to win. Congratulations to all! The race was won in a time of 1:45.29, a middle of the road such time for the race. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :46.73)- The post-time favorite, Nakamura Stables-trained Decision In Five would prevail as the early leader from his outside post and battling with two others around the opening turn. Stablemate Edging In, and last year’s winner, John Henry’s Going Gone were the two others that broke well with him on to run to the main course, then once in the turn. After half a mile, they would each assume a stalking position. Right behind them were a group of three, that featured our eventual race winner, Mb Stables’ Workload, who was on the outside of a pair of Maxmillion Farm horses. One of them was the horse that would finish second, Technic, while Catch A Buzz ran between them. We would then have a gap of two lengths to another group of three. From inside to outside, this was Jam Packed (Running Farms), Baelish (TwinTowersRacing), and Party At The Zu (Martyparty). Two more lengths back was Quarter Bay (South Beach Racing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:09.77)- Down the backstretch, Decision In Five continues to show the way and leads by a length. There was not much movement during this portion of the race, but the one that did was very significant. Workload had been running in the outside lane of the group that he had been running in, and it might have been easy to miss how he just crept up with his track position to join the stalkers, Going Gone and Edging In; instead of running with the two Maxmillion horses that he was running with before. By doing this, he gained a length on the leader, and more importantly, on Technic, which would be invaluable later on.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Workload continued to run well in his outside lane and pushed forward even more. He had not quite taken over the race lead yet, because Going Gone was still in very good stride himself and made his own push to the front. These two looked to be emerging as the two to beat as Decision In Five still ran well, but did not seem as though he would find the additional gear needed to run with them. Edging In was not able to keep up with these and started to back out of it. Technic began looking good midway through the turn and looked to make a pass to the outside of Decision In Five. He was looking good, but that length that Workload got on him in the backstretch looked pretty big right now. Otherwise in the field, Baelish looked interested to come through on the rail, but not much else was going on further back.

(Finish- 1:45.29)- Workload continued to grind away on the outside while Going Gone battled hard in trying to pick up his second win a row in this race. Technic was coming on, but not as quickly as was going to be needed, and Decision In Five was trying to stay in the mix to hit the board. Workload’s name was fitting, because this was a workmanlike victory in the stretch, prevailing over Technic, who did everything that he could do today. Going Gone takes third, beaten by half a length, with fourth going to Decision In Five, who hung around until the end. Baelish nipped Edging In for fifth. Rounding out the order, it is Catch A Buzz, Party At The Zu, Quarter Bay, and Jam Packed.

About The Winner- Workload, trained by Mb Stables, and ridden to victory by Mario Gutierrez, is a three year old cold by No Doubt About It, and is out of Apert. He was bred in Florida as a third quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 10 starts, his second stake win, and first graded win. His career earnings are now $405.170.

Track: Firm
Time: :46³  1:09³  1:33¹  1:45¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 3 Paid 102.80
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 3 – 7 Paid 1,614.10

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES