Whitmore Stakes (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
OP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
March 18, 2023
Saturday would be the birth of a new Grade 3 within our game, as the Whitmore Stakes took place at OP, sending its field of its field of ten older horses six furlongs around the main track. Several horses looked to be contenders, but in the end, there could only be one left to party as the race’s winner. Blamethespeedparty was a longshot in the race, going off at odds of 10/1, as many bettors were likely turned off by his last start. Though, perhaps it would be a change of tactics that would help him out, and this time he would be near on the lead for Martyparty enroute to the win. When he has started near or at the front in the past, he has actually been very successful, so perhaps we will see this a lot more from him. Martyparty and jockey J R Velazquez will go down as the first winners of this race. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:08.66. Let’s take a look at it:
(1/4 Mile- :22.26)- The race would begin with the “other” party jumping out to the lead as Threshold’s Flip A Coin Party starts a lot better than he would finish by opening up a length advantage on the rest of the field. Queens Commander runs second on the outside for Angelos Stable, and behind him we have a five wide group. Having the edge on this pack is our eventual winner, Martyparty’s Blamethespeedparty, as he is able to run comfortably along the rail. Carnoustie (Smokey Stover) is right next to him, and in the middle of five, it is Plan To Wheel (Fractious). The outside pair is Cherokee Asset (Rock Creek) and Crimson Sun (Riggins Racing). A length behind this pack are Bigmouth Raj (Night Rider Stables) and Wally (Royalty Stables), while Gas Lighting (TwinTowersRacing) is all by himself at the back.
(1/2 Mile- :45.27, Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go))- For now, Flip A Coin Party still seems to be running well as he handles the turn well, but the other party is going to have a lot more life for the stretch. Blamethespeedparty continued to have an ideal rail trip, holding his line while in the turn and moving into the second position. Once there, he still had room to move to the inside, and it seemed like he would be taking advantage of that pretty quickly in the stretch. Queens Commander ran third, but lost ground on exit of the turn and both Carnoustie and Plan To Wheel were prepared to make the pass of him in the stretch. Crimson Sun continued to take the wide route around the track, and if he was going to make a late bid, he would have to do it while passing Queens Commander to his outside. Meanwhile, Cherokee Sunset was doing well to the stay in the mix. The three that had been at or near the back had yet to make a push forward.
(Finish- 1:08.66)- With a furlong to go, Blamethespeedparty completes the pass for the lead, and Flip A Coin Party must have been caught in the tailwind, because he would drop back quickly. Once in front, Blamethespeedparty would not really have another to get up and challenge him. Crimson Sun was running well on the outside, and his bid got him within half a length at the end, but I never felt as though he was going to make a winning pass. In the end, this is a strong win for Blamethespeedparty over Crimson Sun. It was a length and a half to a third-place dead heat between Plan To Wheel and Cherokee Asset, with Wally in close proximity. Rounding it out, it’s Bigmouth Raj, Carnoustie, Queens Commander, Gas Lighting, and Flip A Coin Party.
About The Winner- Blamethespeedparty, trained by Martyparty and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a four-year-old gelding by Blame and is out of Crack Speed. He was bred by Martyparty as a yearling in California, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 18 starts, his second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $494.990.
Track: Fast
Time: :221 :451 :57 1:083
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 1 – 7 Paid 112.70
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 7 – 3 Paid 727.50, 1 – 7 – 4 Paid 727.50
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
