Pasadena Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
SA- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
February 19, 2022
The Pasadena Stakes was an interesting race in that it did not feature any big headliners but plenty of up and coming talent seen throughout the starting gate. The question would be which one of them would step up to the task, and the answer would be one of the longest shots on the board. There is always a risk when putting money on a 37/1 longshot, but there was nothing creepy about the cashing in on the reward. Creepy Risk, a gelding by Creepy Palace, was making just his second career start, coming a month after winning on debut at TAM. In the Pasadena Stakes, he would build on that further, going right out to the lead and staying there for his trainer, Fractious. It is the first win in the race for both Fractious and jockey V Espinoza. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:33.02, shattering the former stake record by three tenths of a second. Let’s take a look!
(¼ Mile- :23.40)- The eventual winner, Creepy Risk, was indeed the quickest out of the gate, getting out to a clear lead for Fractious by a length and a half. Behind her, how are they lined up? You guessed it! With three stalkers right behind him! Dolomites has the rail here for Smokey Stover, with Tsaraki Moon in the middle for Nakamura Stables, and Odett in the third lane for Patterson Stables. Behind them, we had yet another group of three, though Weeknd The Hills (Rock Creek) proved to be unable to run with Oh Brother (Rampage Stable) and The Big Beast (Fractious). Next comes Cairod Prince (Fractious), pulling to the inside of Weeknd The Hills. Applejack (Allinthegate) is three wide here, and the trailer is Talador (Mb Stables).
(½ Mile- :46.52)- Creepy Risk remains the leader over the backstretch, adding to his lead to make it two, if not three lengths. Behind him, the field is content to maintain their positions from where they were at a quarter mile, so there is not much new to say at this point. Recap the first quarter mile for how they still ran here behind the leader. Let’s move on!
(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- This newcomer Creepy Risk is certainly looking like a good one, maintaining his lead and looking very comfortable on the front end. Entering the stretch, he did not have the looks of a horse that was going to be tiring off and letting everyone else have a shot at him. If someone was gonna snag the victory away, they would have to get up there and earn it. Behind him, none of the three stalkers were making a push. Dolomites was looking like he would be the most able, and he was a half length ahead of Tsaraki Moon and Odett while being in a good position on the track. Early in the turn, we saw Oh Brother advance, and now he is running in the fourth lane, pulling to the outside of Odett and looking like one who’d be positioned nicely to take a run at Creepy Risk. You’d be hard pressed to be excited about any of the other five here, but if one was going to be a deep closer, it was time to get going.
(Finish- 1:33.02)- It seemed unlikely that there would be any form of a stretch collapse from Creepy Risk, so those who did place a bet on the longshot could start to think about how they would spend the money. He would make it look easy all the way to wire, winning comfortably by a length and a half. We need to remember this race, because based on this, I think we have a true budding star in this division to watch for the entire year. Plenty here for Fractious to be excited about. There was nothing wrong with Dolomites, and the runner up was actually just .02 off the stake record himself, going to show how impressive Creepy Risk was. Oh Brother took the outside lane to get third, and a steady run for Tsaraki Moon gets him fourth over Odett. The others never made their presence felt. Weeknd The Hills, Cairod Prince, Applejack, The Big Beast, and Talador round it out.
About The Winner- Creepy Risk, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by V Espinoza, is a three year old gelding by Creepy Palace and is out of Limited Risk. He was bred in Kentucky by Fractious as a third quarter two year old and has been with the trainer throughout. Congratulations to the connections! He is 2-for-2 in his career with this being his first stake win. His career earnings are now $75.900.
Track: Firm
Time: :232 :462 1:091 1:33
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 7 – 3 Paid 878.90
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 3 – 5 Paid 1,174.80
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
