CT Classic (Grade 2)- $1,000.000 Purse
CT- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
August 23, 2024

Nine horses made their way to CT on Friday for the running of the CT Classic, but only one of them could pick up the winner’s share of the $1,000.000 purse. After nine furlongs on this beloved bullring, it would be the choice of the betting public, Lunar Victory getting the win. It’s the second win in three starts for the Residue gelding, and it’s the first in the CT Classic for his trainer, Fractious, as well as his jockey, P Lopez. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:47.22, the second quickest in the race’s history. Only T S Indy, in 2012, was quicker. Let’s take a look at how the race went down:

(½ Mile- :46.49)- Bunter Hiden is the quickest from the gate, for Night Rider Stables, but he will give way to his stablemate, Eichel, who surges to the front after initially having a more midpack start. These two Night Rider runners are about a length and a half ahead of a group of four. On the outside, the Mb Stables- trained Good Memories has a half-length advantage over the others in group as Seydoux II (Luz International) and Calling All Angels (D J C Racing Stables) match strides for fourth. Within a length of them is our eventual winner from Fractious, Lunar Victory, and he’ll run in the second lane. It’s two more lengths to America First (TwinTowersRacing), then comes Electric (Angelos Stable). Even further back, Racket Cat (Alydar Stables) has conceded a ton of ground.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.55)- Moving forward, Eichel is the race leader still as he holds on over Bunter Hiden, but these two Night Rider Stables horses are getting caught by those who had been stalking the pace. Good Memories is leading the way amongst that group, still while running on the outside. Lunar Victory is right to his inside, and is now in the fourth position, a head in front of Calling All Angels. Seydoux II, however, has backed out of that group. It’s still about two more to America First and Electric with Racket Cat by himself at the back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.0F To Go)- At the top of the final turn, both Good Memories and Lunar Victory push forward and begin to make their move on the two pacesetters. Midway through the turn, it would be Lunar Victory emerging as the quicker of those two and he would pull out to a length lead on Good Memories pretty quickly. It was a nice advantage for him at the top of stretch, and it didn’t seem like any new challengers were coming from behind quickly enough. Calling All Angels looked the best of the group, but still had about two and a half lengths to make up on Lunar Victory.

(Finish- 1:47.22)- All that’s left to do in this one is to watch Lunar Victory run! He’s been able to maintain his stride into the stretch, and there was no one that was able to catch him. When all is said and done, he goes on to a comfortable length and a half win which really seemed like it was a lot more. Good Memories was as much of a clear second as Lunar Victory was a winner, and it will be Calling All Angels getting up for third in a photo with Electric. Rounding it out, it’s Racket Cat, Eichel, Bunter Hiden, America First, and Seydoux II.

About The Winner- Lunar Victory, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by P Lopez, is a four-year-old gelding by Residue and is out of Havre de Grace. He was bred in Ontario by Fractious as a third quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 20 starts, his third stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $1,057.960.

Track: Fast
Time: :46²  1:10²  1:35  1:47¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 7 Paid 19.80
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 7 – 2 Paid 579.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES