DMR Mile (Grade 2)- $300.000 Purse
DMR- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
September 2, 2023

Just two months ago, American Generals was making his turf debut while running for $25.000 tag. He would win that race, and then won an allowance last month. In the DMR Mile, he would be making his graded stake debut and also running long for the first time. In preparation for this, he worked exceptionally well here on the 25th of August, suggesting that he would have no issue with running a mile. The betting public was not convinced, however, and made American Generals a 17/1 longshot, with only East of Creep having longer odds. That doesn’t have to mean anything, and the three-year-old Generals Opus gelding prevailed in a photo at the wire to get the big win for his trainer, Blazin D. For Blazin D, it is his first win in the DMR Mile, and that is also true for the jockey, F Pennington. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:32.58, which is among the better winning times of the race. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :23.27)- The race begins with Threshold’s Certified Yank claiming the top spot, and he’ll show the way down the frontstretch with a length lead. That’s where we’ll find Aerialist, trained by Mb Stables, running side by side with Fractious- owned East Of Creep. Running fourth on the rail is the eventual winner from Blazin D, American Generals. He’s about three lengths from the lead but does have a lane available to him to push forward a little more if he wanted to take advantage of it. Near to him is the trainer, Atomic Eclipse, out of Spankys Barn.

(1/2 Mile- :46.58)- Around the first turn and into the backstretch, Certified Yank continues to hold a lead of a length and a half. Aerialist begins to win the battle with East Of Creep and is a half-length ahead of that one. American Generals is fourth on the rail, still, and close enough to the leader to not be hurried to get to the lead at this time. Atomic Eclipse is still right beside him.

(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Early in the turn, both Aerialist and East Of Creep move over a lane to try and pass Certified Yank, but only one of them is able to make this work. Aerialist, for now, looks good, with a clean pass of the pacesetter, and moving into the stretch a neck in front of him. East Of Creep, however, lacked any kind of response to do the same. American Generals was having no problem maintaining his stride as he ran long for the first time and take over the third position and is about a length behind Aerialist. Atomic Eclipse took the wide route around the turn and also looked like a major player.

(Finish- 1:32.58)- Aerialist holds the lead into the stretch, but both American Generals and Atomic Eclipse are gaining too much ground on him too quickly to think that he would have a chance to hang on all the way to the wire. With a half furlong to go, the race was now going to be decided between American Generals and Atomic Eclipse, and they seemed to be matching one another’s stride. It looked like this could go either way, and a photo would need to be examined before the winner could be declared. Ultimately, it’s American Generals prevailing over Atomic Eclipse as the two of them entertained with an exciting stretch battle. Aerialist takes third by a length over East Of Creep, who edged out Certified Yank.

About The Winner- American Generals, trained by Blazin D, and ridden to victory by F Pennington, is a three-year-old gelding by Generals Opus and is out of American Kitty. He was bred in California as a third quarter two-year-old by Blazin D, the only trainer for which he has ever known. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in seven starts and first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $241.620.

Track: Firm
Time: :23¹  :46²  1:09⁴  1:32²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 4 Paid 29.00
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 4 – 2 Paid 19.80

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES