May 31, 2016
Owner The Sidley Stud continued to send forward competitive and hard-working horses and that could not have been more evident than on Saturday afternoon, when hard-knocking three-year-old A Little Influence ran down the speed to score the AP Classic for his fourth career win. A homebred out of Grade II turf winner A Little Extra, from a three-time winning dam on the grass, he was born to handle this company and surface and did so with aplomb, rocketing to a stakes-record setting win that earned him a huge 100-speed rating, one of the best in this division all season long.
While the speed was certainly alive and well in the AP Classic, there really was no clear leader in the early stages and Pump Action Shotgun (11.70) took the advantage from midpack with Icicle Dawn (9.30) second and Prudent Romany (3.85) hugging the fence. As the field moved into the tight first turn, the leader was eager to save some ground and finally got to the rail, which left the backfield wide through the first split of 23.61. Fast Thomas (3.90) sprinted forward as Icicle Dawn dropped back into fourth before quickly being overtaken by A Little Influence (7.45), who was caught almost four-wide behind leader Pump Action Shotgun. Into the backstretch, a trio of runners separated themselves and almost sprinted past the half-mile pole in 47.09 but the key was happening in behind as A Little Influence was able to get into a tucked-in fourth, and that would make all the difference. Pump Action Shotgun looked to shake clear into the final bend as Fast Thomas stalled and Prudent Romany looked to scoot up the inside but all the while, the backfield was getting into gear and the stalkers were ready to pounce. Six-furlongs came up in a sharp 1:10.23 and from there, the sprint was on with only five-lengths from first to last and as the leader tried to hold on, A Little Influence made his move and was quickly tracked by Tokyo Secret (5.30) from last. Into the final furlong, it was a complete scramble with horses coming from every which direction and Pump Action Shotgun was simply swallowed up by the closers, with everyone making a truly desperate lunge. At the wire, A Little Influence and Tokyo Secret battled it out for every inch and the former got the best of his rival by .01 seconds, with Icicle Dawn sneaking up the fence for third over Locked Down (*2.15), who was made the favourite but simply failed to find his best kick until way too late. Pump Action Shotgun went from first to fifth in a matter of strides while Prudent Romany and Fast Thomas completed the field but in the end, first to last were separated by two-lengths in a race where anyone could have won with the right trip.
A Little Influence showed a completely new dimension in winning the Grade II AP Classic but a case can be made for almost everyone in this field and the coming events in this division will be truly wide open. Tokyo Secret will love the added distance, Locked Down ran out of time and Icicle Dawn looks to be improving with each start so look for the Grade III American Derby to be amazing, unless some of these head to the biggest prize of them all in the $1250.000 BEL Derby Invitational.
Congratulations goes out to owner The Sidley Stud and their three-year-old colt A Little Influence, the toughest of winners in the Grade III AP Classic!
Prediction Icicle Dawn / Locked Down / Tokyo Secret
Winner A Little Influence
Three-year-old gray colt
A Little Extra-Bad Influence (London Fog)
Owner The Sidley Stud
Time 23.61, 47.09, 1:10.23, 1:39.98 (NSR)
Overall
A Little Influence 7.45 broke well, stalked, just lasted
Tokyo Secret 5.30 far back early, wide rally, missed
Icicle Dawn 9.30 fell back into backstretch, rallied inside again
Locked Down *2.15 back early, too late
Pump Action Shotgun 11.70 set pace, tired in final strides
Prudent Romany 3.85 pressed, evened out
Fast Thomas 3.90 no late momentum
Triple T Racing 🙂
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
