KD Turf Sprint (Grade 2) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
KD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Turf
September 10, 2022

It was a good day to be starting from the outside at KD, as earlier in the day Creepy Rocky Party won the Simpson Stakes from post 13, and in the KD Turf Sprint, the top three spots at the end would be from the outside posts. Mb Stables made it happen in this race, taking home the win with Pxg, and the second place spoils with Elijah G all while the horse that we thought was his best entry failed to hit the board. Creepy Rocky Party wasn’t an upset, but Pxg here in the KD Turf Sprint would be. The horse went off at odds of 21/1, and was the third longest shot on the board. He got just 1.5% of the picks in the pick ‘em, so either one or two people thought it would be his day, and everyone else liked other options. Pxg came in on good form, it just wasn’t in races like this. Now, he has his signature win, which is the third in the race for Mb Stables, all of which have come in the last four years. Jockey R M Hernandez is a first time winner. Congratulations to them! The race was run in a time of 1:08.72, on the turf surface listed only as good. Here’s a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.72)- Things are pretty tight on the front end early on in this race, as we get a break of three horses running together and four more running directly behind them. The first group sees Elijah G, from Mb Stables, being the quickest and he does so while running on the outside. Threshold’s Labor Force runs between horses and on the rail is Shakespearean, out of Mb Stables. The next group of four features the Royalty Stables- trained Valvano running on the outside, and he seems interested in moving up into the first group early within the turn. Our eventual winner, Pxg, sits in a good spot for the turn here for Mb Stables, although it will require a three wide trip. Maxmillion Farm’s Cherokee Devil is to their inside, and on the rail, his stablemate, Insist On Perfection remains close by. Mystery (Fractious) and Kid Commander (Allinthegate) are in the middle of the field, and three lengths from the lead. Behind them, we have a little bit of a gap before we see a three wide group consisting of Shelbags (Lindeman Prairie), Scott The Cherokee (TwinTowersRacing), and Commanding Millions (Rock Creek). It’s one more length to Fight The Good Fight (TwinTowersRacing).

(½ Mile- :45.49, Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Over the second half of the turn, Elijah G would be able to gradually pull away from Labor Force and Shakespearean, and his stablemate, Pxg, could not have been any happier about that. He had patiently run behind Elijah G during the turn and by continuing to do so, this left him with a clear lane to run evenly with Labor Force while preparing to make a move for the lead. Shakespearean, Cherokee Devil, and Valvano were all still around two lengths back from the lead but had not made a push for the lead. It was not too late to do so, but it needed to begin at this time. Insist On Perfection was moved off the rail and lost critical ground to nearby rivals. Mystery was showing interest in joining the lead pack, but as for everyone else in the back, we had not seen much of anything yet.

(Finish- 1:08.72)- Elijah G looks good early on in the stretch, but with about a furlong and a half to go, he sees a horse coming up along his inside. Mb Stables isn’t worried about that, though, as now he can hope for the 1-2 finish. Valvano and Labor Force were still close enough to where he couldn’t count his money yet. Insist On Perfection and Cherokee Devil had a clear lane if they could find more push. Getting closer to the wire, Pxg would make the pass for the win, and at this point, there was no one else in the field that was going to spoil this moment for Mb Stables. Pxg picks up the victory, doing so by a length over Elijah G, and the margin was the same length to Valvano, who prevailed in a photo with Insist On Perfection. Cherokee Devil was within half a length of them. The rest of the order will read Mystery, Scott The Cherokee, Shakespearean, Labor Force, Shelbags, Kid Commander, Fight The Good Fight, and Commanding Millions.

About The Winner- Pxg, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by R M Hernandez, is a six year old gelding by Laffin Five Oh and is out of the late Peppermint Dove. He was bred by Broken Spoke Stables in Texas as a second quarter two year old and was acquired by Mb Stables in February 2019, via Tiratzo, in private sales for $35.000. The win is his twelfth in 34 starts, his sixth stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $1,240.590.

Track: Good
Time: :22³  :45²  :57   1:08³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 12 – 11 Paid 40.10
$1 Trifecta: 12 – 11 – 13 Paid 1,336.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES