The JC Derby (BC) ($1,000.000 Purse)
BEL- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
September 18, 2021
It was a good day for longshots Sunday at the JC Derby as those picking in the Pick ‘em, as well as us here in the SRF looked away from Last Way To The Beac and the eventual runner up, Immookielee in favor of other entries. In the race, Last Way To The Beac ran in the most challenging race of his career, and went off as the second longest shot on the board at 15/1. He would end up showing the way as he scored the victory! The winning trainer is no stranger to big results on the grass as Maxmillion Farm gets it done, and E T Baird is the winning rider. This was just the second time the race was run, and first time the race was run normally, and it is the first such win for each of them. Congratulations! The winning time was 2:25.24. Let’s take a look!
(½ Mile- :48.39)- Our eventual winner, Maximilian Farm’s Last Way To The Beac is strong right front the gate and jumps out to a half length lead. The one horse that started running with him is the horse that ends up finishing second as Immookielee, from Smokey Stover, runs to his outside initially but after half a mile, he’s a length behind. It was a more conventional opening half mile this year, making us glad that we were not going to see the kind of fractions we did in this race last time. After them, it is a group of three, with Arindel’s Afterburner, running between horses, having a slight edge. Guardian (Team 7 Illusions) is on his inside, and 9 One 1 (Maxmillion Farm) on his outside. There’s about a four length gap to the rest of the field. Jakarta (Fractious) leads that group, with Crimson Rioja (Mo Mentum Farm), Broad Brush (Mb Stables), Owens (Mb Stables), and Cp Free Niner (Family Racing) running behind him.
(¾ Mile- 1:12.26)- Very little changes over this portion of the race. Last Way To Beac does add to his lead a bit, now being ahead of Immookielee by about two lengths. Afterburner tries to pull away from Guardian and 9 One 1, as well. Otherwise, not much else happens, so let’s move on.
(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- The backstretch trip concludes with little change happening as well, and Last Way To Beac continues to run well into the turn. Now, we had to be wondering if the rest of the field had let the longshot get away from them. His lead is two over Immookielee, and that one has a similar lead on the next group of horses. The one that was exciting to watch during the turn was Jakarta, the horse that had a four length or so gap in front of them to the first half of the field. He made a strong move about midway into the turn and was now four wide of Afterburner, Guardian, and 9 One 1 for the third position. The others were quickly becoming afterthoughts.
(Finish- 2:25.24)- Last Way To The Beac has plenty left for the stretch run, and is able to cruise to win that actually looked pretty easy. The best Immookielee could do was close to about a length behind and while Jakarta did get the third spot, he spotted the leaders too much ground to do anything more. Afterburner gets fourth over Guardian and 9 One 1, with the rest of the field hardly being noticed all race. Rounding it out, it’s Broad Brush, Crimson Rioja, Owens, and Cp Free Niner.
About the Winner- Last Way To The Beac, trained by Maxmillion Farm, and ridden to victory by E T Baird, is a three year old gelding by Britslastbutnotleast and is out of One Way To The Beach. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Lemax Farms as a second quarter two year old, and acquired by Maxmillion Farm in private sales for $275.000 in January 2021. The win is just his second in 11 starts, and his first stake win. His career earnings are now $579.480.
Track: Firm
Time: :481 1:121 2:001 2:251
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 8 – 10 Paid 52.80
$1 Trifecta: 8 – 10 – 4 Paid 144.50
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
