The Mint Million – Grade III
1 Mile Turf Stake Purse $2,000.000 Open 3 Year Olds And Up.
1st Atomic Eclipse Spankys Barn Gaffalione T
The last time this one won a race it was a shock win in the BC Mile, today his odds weren’t as long but after three successive defeats like the BC Mile, he wasn’t one of the favorites. In a carbon copy performance, he sat off the pace and drove through late for a narrow win and really is one of those ‘big race’ type horses that seems to lift when the purse goes over the million mark. All credit to the trainer who didn’t rush his champion after the BC but instead brought him to the boil slowly and he peaked at exactly the right time. The key now will get him to peak again in November, but if he arrives there in this frame of mind who is to say he can’t do it again.
2nd Jakarta Nakamura Stables Elliott S
The old warrior very nearly got up in a tight finish in what was his best race for some time. He is one of those horses that seems to have been around forever and is always a threat in any race he runs in. Today he just came up short but pushed his earnings over the $2,500.000 mark and remains the only successful son of his sire Kilmonger.
3rd Hawaiian Lord Our Athletes Buick W T
This was a remarkable result for this horse as he took a ten-pound swing in the weights with Albaquirky and threw it right back at him. He had no right to beat that one home, but I am not sure that weight works the same as it does in real life handicapping here at HRP, so he once again beat that one on merit after their meeting in the Fourstardave last time. This one is certainly in a good vein of form this year and remains an entire so could take his career into his retirement when the time comes. Beaten less than a half-length today by a BC winner he never gave up all the way home and as always showed up for the fight.
4th Last Way To The Beac Maxmillion Farm Jimenez A
Got up on the speed where he like to be but couldn’t hold them down the stretch. This was another valiant effort by the six-year-old who just keeps on going.
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
