Whittingham Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
May 29, 2021

It was good to see Billy Joel, the reigning BC Turf champion, back on the track for the first time since the Pegasus World Cup Turf in late January. He entered the race on a three race winning streak, with all of those wins coming in Grade 1’s, so the only reason for there to have been any doubts about him would be a concern on his layoff. This would prove to not be any problem at all, as this gelding had his typical trip, running right behind or with the pace setter at the start, and then taking over the race around the mile mark. With Mario Gutierrez aboard, BIlly Joel went on to a two length win, which was the second for the jockey in the stake, but first for trainer, La Canada Racehorses, who continues to enjoy the beautiful music that this horse provides. Congratulations to them! That winning time of 1:58.15? That is your new stake record. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :48.02)- Mucho Baked bursts out of the starting gate for Spankys Barn, and jumps out to about a two length lead. At about the time they hit the finish line the first time, our eventual winner, Billy Joel begins to move forward just a bit for La Canada Racehorses, putting him all by himself in the second position. There’s a gap of two lengths to John Henry’s Range Of The Sun, and another to Technic, from Fractious, who would ride the rail. Behind him, they are four wide across the track, and from inside to outside, this consists of Hollywood Capo (Nakamura Stables), Obeah Mon (Night Rider Stables), Ideal Gift (Threshold), and Wired Up (Rampage Stable). Dogs Noah (Maxmillion Farm) is the trailer, a length behind that group.

(¾ Mile- 1:11.49)- Mucho Baked leads the field down the backstretch, with Billy Joel following very closely right behind him. It’s about two to three lengths now to the new third place horse, which is Technic who continued to run on the inside. Ideal Gift moved forward during this portion, moving away from the four wide group that he had been with, and now into the fourth position, not too far behind Technic. Range Of The Sun lost a couple spots, and the remaining four horses were spread across the track, another length behind.

(Top Of The Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Towards the end of the backstretch, BIlly Joel pulled up alongside Mucho Baked and put that one away pretty quickly in the turn. By the top of the stretch, he had a length and a half lead, and at that time, knowing his class, it really did look over for everyone else. There was no one coming on strong with a run, as the closest to it was Ideal Gift, but he would have a tall task to get up to challenge Billy Joel. His best bet here would be to settle into the second position. Technic held his line, but was not pushing forward any further. Nothing was happening further back.

(Finish-1:58.15)- There were no surprises in the stretch. Billy Joel was clearly the class of the field here, and goes on to a convincing two length lead and likely setting the stage for some appearances in bigger races over the summer. Ideal Gift got up for second, and that is a very good effort for that one. Mucho Baked hangs on for third over Technic. The others were non factors throughout, with the final order being Obeah Mon, Hollywood Capo, Dogs Noah, Wired Up, and Range Of The Sun. Again, Range Of The Sun is a dud when I cover his race, go figure.

About The Winner- Billy Joel, trained by La Canada Racehorses and ridden to victory by Mario Gutierrez, is a four year old gelding by El Gran Broomstick, and is out of the late Steel Laff. He was bred by Broken Spoke Stables as a yearling in Louisiana, and was acquired by La Canada Racehorses in private sales when he was still unraced for $20.000 in October 2018. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his eighth in 15 starts, and his sixth stake win, five of which are graded. His career earnings are now $3,154.480.

Track: Firm
Time: :48   1:11²  1:34³  1:58

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 7 Paid 30.70
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 7 – 1 Paid 90.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES