The Suburban (Grade 2)- $350.000 Purse
BEL- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Dirt
July 8, 2023
It’s safe to say that I didn’t see this coming in the Suburban, but neither did most of the bettors, as Eight West Party was a 16/1 longshot for the race and only two other horses had longer odds. There was not a lot of reason to be excited about a horse that hadn’t hit the board on the dirt since July 2020, but there is a reason they run the races and, on this day, Eight West Party would be the best of them all, coming from well off the pace to score the biggest win of his career. He is trained by TwinTowersRacing and was ridden by M Franco. For each, it is their first win in the Suburban, so congratulations to them on the victory! The race was won in a time of 2:00.34, which is a middle of the road winning time when the race was held at ten furlongs. Let’s take a look at it!
(1/2 Mile- :47.07)- Breaking exceptionally well out of the starting gate will be The Martian, running in the silks of Mo Mentum Farm, and he will hold an uncontested lead of a length as they run around the opening turn and move into the backstretch. Ey Mon, trained by Arindel, is second, and also running all by himself. We see our first side by side racing a length behind that one, with a three wide group. Crack Dab has a neck in front of that for Gdp Inc., with Cantillon Effect (Night Rider Stables) to his inside and Sensei (Mb Stables) on his outside. Pluckzy (Gdp Inc) is next as he runs in the middle of the field with Killer Instinct (Mb Stables). It’s a gap of about two, to Quality Road (D J C Racing Stables), and the next in line is our eventual Eight West Party, for TwinTowersRacing. For now, it was eight lengths off the lead party for horse number eight, ahead of only Spankersville (The Sidley Stud) and super longshot, Detained (Rock Creek).
(3/4 Mile- 1:11.22)- The next two furlongs complete the backstretch trip, and there is no change at the front as The Martian still runs all by himself in front with Ey Mon following. No changes, either, with the three wide group of Crack Dab, Cantillon Effect, and Sensei that had been behind him. The rest of the field after that is holding their positions, with no one making a move further back. For Eight West Party, the deficit is still eight lengths. Let’s see if the action starts to pick up as we move on!
(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Around the turn, The Martian is still leading, but it’s now quite clear that he is not going to stay there. Ey Mon, who had been stalking him throughout the race was now looking to make his move for the lead, but the larger move came from Sensei, who was especially strong over the second half of the turn and now also within a length of the leader. The two he had been running with, Crack Dab and Cantillon Effect were horses that he left behind, and neither of them looked as though they were going to push forward. Pluckzy advanced his position, and was now running beside his stablemate, though Killer Instinct was not able to keep up with his. Further back, Eight West Party made a power move early in the turn, showing everyone that he was one to watch. M Franco positioned him to the fourth lane, which would keep him from running into traffic further ahead. He was only up to eighth but cut his distance to the leaders in half.
(Finish- 2:00.34)- While Eight West Party was looking really good early in the stretch, most people were probably watching the post-time favorite, Sensei, as that one was taking over the top spot and hoping to finish strong. Sensei did do well to grab the lead, but Eight West Party was having a strong run on the outside and gaining ground quickly. At first, maybe it looked like Sensei might hold him off, but getting closer to the wire, Eight West Party dug down even more and found enough to get up in time for the win! Now, he’ll work on doing that consistently, but after the Shoemaker Mile on the grass at SA, he has now strung two strong races together, so we’ll have to show him a little more love when we see him again in the short term at least, Sensei is a solid second, with Ey Mon getting around The Martian for third. Spankersville came on for fifth, topping Pluckzy, Killer Instinct, Quality Road, Crack Dab, Detained, and Cantillon Effect.
About The Winner- Eight West Party, trained by TwinTowersRacing and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a five-year-old horse by Pinnacle West and is out of the late A 8. He was bred in Louisiana by Martyparty as a first quarter two-year-old and was acquired by TwinTowersRacing in a March 2020 private sale when he was still unraced for $40.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 31 starts, his second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $480.810.
Track: Fast
Time: :47 1:111 1:354 2:001
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 8 – 9 Paid 130.70
$1 Trifecta: 8 – 9 – 6 Paid 295.10
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
