Twilight Derby (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Turf
October 29, 2022

Black Card came into the Twilight Derby looked like one of the top choices but was still searching for his first stake win after a couple of close calls earlier this year. At SA on Saturday, he would pick that up, winning by half a length. Black Card is trained by Wood Duck Stables, and for the trainer, it is their first win in the Twilight Derby. This is also true for the jockey, R A Vazquez. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:45.31, which is among the better winning times of the race in its history. Let’s take a look at it now!

(½ Mile- :47.06)- Perception jumps right out of the starting gate for Mb Stables, and holds an uncontested lead of a length and a half down the front stretch the first time and into the opening turn. He would have two stalkers, and one of them would be our eventual from Wood Duck Stables, Black Card. That one is positioned on the rail with the Mb Stables- trained Master of Disguise running to his outside. Papua New Guinea is next, running by himself in the middle of the field for Nakamura Stables. At the back of the pack, Elite Fire (High Voltage) and Animal House (Night Rider Stables) are 4-5 lengths off the lead.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.20)- Perception continues to lead the way down the backstretch, but both Black Card and Master Of Disguise right behind him look to be positioning themselves to make a run for the lead within the turn. Black Card comes down a lane and moves to be within a length at the top of the turn. Master Of Disguise may have forgotten who his stablemate was here, and was courteous to allow Black Card to have that lane while settling for the third lane for himself. Those two are still side by side. The gap grows to the rest of the field as Papua New Guinea begins to back out and neither Elite Fire nor Animal House are ready to make a run.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Black Card looks good around the turn, and gains a little bit of ground with every stride until he is side by side with Perception at the top of the stretch. Master Of Disguise is still in the picture here, but nearly a full length back of Black Card now. Within the turn, Elite Fire catches his spark and begins making up ground pretty quickly so he certainly looks like someone the leaders will be contending with very soon. Animal House was a couple lengths further back and Papua New Guinea was no longer enjoying himself.

(Finish- 1:45.31)- Black Card pushes in front early in the stretch, and with Perception beaten and Master Of Disguise not able to keep up, the only one he had to worry about now was Elite Fire. That was closing well, but looked like he was running out of time to catch Black Card. It would take that one suddenly showing signs of fatigue, and as one that likes going even longer than this, that didn’t seem like something that would happen. Black Card continued to run well enough to the wire, and while Elite Fire to get within half a length, he never really threatened for the victory. Perception holds off Master Of Disguise for third. Animal House is fifth, ahead out of the outclassed Papua New Guinea.

About The Winner- Black Card, trained by Wood Duck Stables and ridden to victory by R A Vazquez, is a three year old gelding by Residue and is out of Stopchargingmaria. He was bred in Ontario by Fractious as a third quarter two year old, and was acquired by Wood Duck Stables when he was still unraced for $26.010 in the December 2021 auction. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in nine starts and first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $323.700.

Track: Firm
Time: :47   1:10¹  1:33²  1:45¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 1 Paid 8.90
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 1 – 4 Paid 309.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES