Contradiction Gets His Signature Win In PA Derby

By Nynl Stables on September 26, 2021 • ( 1 )

The PA Derby (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
PRX- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
September 25, 2021

Last month, Contradiction raced on this track in the Jones Stakes, and ended up finishing second. It would be the third time out of four races that he had done so, but his winless streak was getting longer. While he’s had a great year, he had not won since October, and with a little more distance this time than he had in his last race, the Shark Force gelding picked up the win. If you were keeping score, that’s a win for Shark Force in both the PA Derby and the Cotillion. Here, the winning trainer is Aer Stables, someone we don’t see at the track quite as much lately, and it is his first win in the race. Jockey S X Bridgmohan is now a two time winner, having also won in 2011. Congratulations to them! The race was run in a time of 1:47.96, which is in line with recent winning times. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :47.38)- Rowdy Rb, running for Mb Stables, is fast out of the starting gate and jumps out to an uncontested two length lead. Initially, there were three even groups of three running behind him, and in the middle of the first threesome would be our eventual winner, Contradiction, for Aer Stables. Running to his inside is the pacesetter’s stablemate, Proud Crown, and on his outside it’s TwinTowersRacing’s Sunderland Til I Die, who went off at very long odds. The next group of three sees Tequila Rise (Nakamura Stables) running on the rail, with Sports Page (John Henry) in the middle, and Just Wanna Blaze (Gdp Inc) on the outside. By the time we reached a half mile, one of the horses from the back group, Grayte Cruise (Fractious) moved up to join this middle group. This would leave the slight post time favorite, Electric (Angelos Stable) and Shared Legacy (Witeout Stables) as the trailers.

(¾ Mile- 1:11.06)- Down the backstretch and into the turn, Rowdy Rb continues to lead the field, but his lead has shrunk over Contradiction. That one has emerged as the quickest of the three stalkers, and is now just a length behind while in a great spot to make the pass for the lead. Things start to get very tight for third as Proud Crown holds his line towards the inside, but Sports Page joins the mix now, looking to follow Contradiction in that lane to the front. Sunderland Til I Die was holding his line, while Just Wanna Blaze set his sights on making outside move potentially around many of these while in the turn. Grayte Cruise was just to his inside, and seemed to have the same plan. Tequila Rise was looking for room along the inside and still very much in the mix for now. It was about four lengths back to Electric, and about two more to Shared Legacy.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Completing the run around the turn, Contradiction continued to gain on Rowdy Rb and would be matching strides with him entering the stretch and would take over the top spot soon enough in the stretch. Proud Crown remained third, a half length ahead of Sports Page and Sunderland Til I Die. Taking the wide lanes seemed to be a good idea for Just Wanna Blaze and Grayte Cruise, and while they had not really passed anyone yet, that seemed imminent. Tequila Rise was still hanging around, but you could forget about Electric and Shared Legacy now.

(Finish- 1:47.96)- Contradiction takes hold of the lead in the stretch, and pulls away by a length to get his first win in eleven months! Once he got around Rowdy Rb, that was pretty much the race for him as no new challengers were emerging. The bids of Just Wanna Blaze and Grayte Cruise were only going to be for second, and in the end, they share second. Rowdy Rb settled for fourth, ahead of another dead heat, this between Proud Crown and Sports Page. Rounding it out, it’s Sunderland Til I Die, Electric, Tequila Rise, and Shared Legacy.

About The Winner- Contradiction, trained by Aer Stables, and ridden to victory by S X Bridgmohan, is a three year old gelding by Shark Force, and is out of Because I Said So. He was bred in California as a yearling by Mo Mentum Farm, and acquired by Aer Stables when he was still unraced in April 2020, for $150.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in fifteen starts, his second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $1,195.200.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Contradiction

Aer Stables

Bridgmohan S X

6.20

1^3/4