Phoenix – Grade II

6 Furlongs Dirt $400.000 Three Year Olds and Up

Winner: Hollywood Cruiser. 7-year-old gelding. Dream Cruise/Hollywood Returns (Hollywood Kruz). Grit and determination earned a hard-fought win for this veteran who took down his second graded stakes win almost two and half years after his last. Broke well and stalked in tandem with General Zod the entirety of the race. Rival had the inside shorter trip, but Cruiser was not letting anyone by on this day, and he persevered by a neck at the wire. The win gives trainer Threshold his first Phoenix win and punches an automatic ticket to the Breeders Cup at Del Mar.

Second: General Zod. 4-year-old colt. Wired Up/Toc Army Wife (Cherokee Desires). Already one of the top sprinters in the game this season and guaranteed a spot in the gate in the BC Sprint prior to this race and he showed why here. Broke well along with the winner and they Affirmed and Alydared it the entire way. Both showed heart and the competitive spirit we all wish to see but Zod came up just shy. In good form for trainer Royalty Stables going into the big one.

Third: Glee. 5-year-old gelding. Supercomplication/Gleem (Mr Creepy). Another sharp effort from this recently claimed gelding. Picked up by Night Rider Stables for just $7.500 in May he has missed a G1 and a G2 in his last two starts by a combined length. Was flying home late but just ran out of ground. Widest of all he managed to nail third on the wire picking up some crucial qualifying points. It may not be enough to get him to the BC, it seems a longshot, but it would be fun to see him take a shot there.

Dorian Gray and Hurricane Ridge dead heated for fourth for Mb Stables and The Sidley Stud respectively. The field was spread out across the entire track, and a magnifying glass was needed to separate third through sixth. Sitting at thirteenth and eighteenth in the Spring qualifying we could see these two at Del Mar in a month.

Winning time: 1:08.88

Correction: My preview article mistakenly stated this race would be run on Saturday rather than the actual Friday date. Apologies to anyone who went to the track a day late and missed this one.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES