The three year old gray earned his first ever stakes title and his third win in five career starts here at SUN on Sunday as he controlled the pace throughout the event, not allowing any late runners to upset this victory.
- Mine That Bird Derby- Purse $100.000
- Sunland Park- For Three Year olds
- One Mile and one sixteenth in distance- Main track
One of two three year old grays to capture a stakes event here at SUN on Sunday, A Boy And His Dog was quick to get out to the front in the early stages of this affair. Hitting the line for the first time, A Boy And His Dog would get a head in front of inside runner Hollywood Hero ( Nakamura Stables ) and as the field approached the clubhouse turn, he had managed to clear Yankee Doodle Dandy ( John Henry ) to his immediate inside and find the rail with a length and a half lead. After posting fractions of 23.57 in the first quarter, then additional fractions of 23.86 and 23.62, he would hit the top of the lane ahead of his two closest rivals, those being Midnight Lightning ( South Beach Racing ) by two and a half, and Mb Stables On The Dot by three and a quarter. While the real pressure didn’t develop till the final sixteenth of the race, A Boy And His Dog would walk away with a two length victory over a late charging Zafonic Way ( The Freakshow ) and Yankee Doodle Dandy in a final time of 1:42.15.
For trainer Choppy, this would be his 21st stakes title of his career and his first of this season. I can remember a time back in 2012 when after four seasons of competing at both free and pay tracks, he was unable to gain a stakes victory. He moved his complete barns close to MNR for that 2012 season, and you could almost fall over him at that track as he hussled from barns to the paddock to bring another runner to a race. That year he brought some 2776 horses to the starting gate, and he would place one/two in the Firecracker Stakes on July 4th weekend to earn his first ever stakes win. The runners were Il Spirito Grato and Bella Morte. There was definitely fireworks ablazing in his stables that night, you know it.
As for runner-up Zafonic Way, the betting public were banking on his efforts to bring home the victory making him the post time favorite. If this event would have been a mile and an eighth, it may have been a different outcome. He has definitely shown that when it comes to running these longer route events, he will be making his presence felt as the field hits the wire. Watch for this one when he goes longer and higher in his future.
The show money would go to Yankee Doodle Dandy who has been tackling some of the top runners in the game, and hopefully his efforts here will be the foundation for the building blocks in his future efforts, as he starts to refocus on his caliber of racing. While the returns have not been there for the investment made back last August, in not the near distant future we will see him grow.
Final share of the purse money went to On The Dot who in my opinion ran the perfect race with placing mid pack early on, then moving to third down the backstretch hoping to make a late charge. It seemed that On The Dot is poised to go longer in his future as well, and should reap the benefits of that move.
| Race #4 16:00 Mine That Bird Derby 1 1/16 Mile Dirt Stake Purse $100.00 Open 3 Year Olds. |
| ## | Horse Name | Owner Name | Jockey | Odds | Fin | Time | SRF | ||
| 9 | A Boy And His Dog | Choppy Inc. | Perez M A | 9.10 | 12 | 1:42.15 | — | ||
| 5 | Zafonic Way | The Freakshow | Eikleberry R | 2.80 | 21/4 | 1:42.57 | — | ||
| 8 | Yankee Doodle Dandy | John Henry | Tohill K S | 9.65 | 3nk | 1:42.65 | — | ||
| 12 | On The Dot | Mb Stables | Chirinos R | 4.10 | 41/4 | 1:42.70 | — | ||
| 1 | Midnight Lightning | South Beach Racing | Fuentes M T Jr | 10.25 | 51 | 1:42.79 | — | ||
| 4 | Night Of Day | Alydar Stables | Gomez E P | 7.35 | 6nk | 1:43.02 | — | ||
| 11 | Red Dawning | Serenity Stables | Negron L | 16.55 | 7no | 1:43.07 | — | ||
| 6 | Hollywood Hero | Nakamura Stables | Arrieta F | 17.05 | 8no | 1:43.08 | — | ||
| 10 | Black Smoke | Oquinn Farm | Contreras L | 8.60 | 95 | 1:43.09 | — | ||
| 2 | Stylin N Profilin | Rampage Stable | Laviolette B S | 8.80 | 102 | 1:44.11 | — | ||
| 7 | Gone Quiet | Ace Racing Stable | Juarez A J Jr | 428.10 | 11 | 1:44.59 | — |
Track: Fast
Time: :232 :472 1:11 1:42
$2 Mutuel Prices:
| 9 – A Boy And His Dog | 20.20 | 8.20 | 5.60 |
| 5 – Zafonic Way | 2.80 | 14.50 | |
| 8 – Yankee Doodle Dandy | 5.80 |
$1 Exacta: 9 – 5 Paid 271.50
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 5 – 8 Paid 856.80
Scratched: Green Leaves
Duffer
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded
