The Pennine Ridge (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
AQU- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Inner Turf
May 25, 2024

The last time that Chaparral Cowboy was on the turf, he won the Grade 3 De Mille Stakes at DMR, but after that, he would run on the main track for three straight races. He did not get positive results on the dirt, so it was back to the turf. It turns out that the colt couldn’t have been happier to be back on this surface, as he went on to win the Pennine Ridge. It is the third win out of four turf races in his career, with only the BC being a blemish on that record. While there is always a greater allure to running on the main track, it seems as though this Cowboy likes the grass underneath him and chances are good, we keep seeing him race on the green after this. He is trained by Nakamura Stables, who won the race for the first time. Jockey M Franco is now a three-time winner and has now done so in back-to-back years. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:45.50, which can’t fairly be compared to the times from BEL but is in line with those races. Let’s take a look at it:

(½ Mile- :47.26)- From the outside, Grand Zion breaks the quickest for La Canada Racehorses, and initially opens up by length down the frontstretch. By the time they make the move around the turn, the two horses to his inside have inched closer are within half a length. Among them is our eventual race winner from Nakamura Stables, Chaparral Cowboy, who is positioned well between horses. He had started at the back in his last two races, so this was also tactically back to how he had been running last year. To their inside, Back Class, is hanging right there with them for TwinTowersRacing. Running fourth on the rail is Lasting Impressions for Alydar Stables, and he is about a length from the front. Convincing, the post time favorite from Diablo Diablo sits a couple lengths back with Stage Door Johnny, trained by D J C Racing Stables, running nearby. We’d have a big gap to the rest of the field, with Neutrino (Mb Stables) being the best of the rest. It’s then Just Another Day (Fractious), Japan (Mo Mentum Farm), and Zensation (Threshold).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.63)- Heading down the backstretch, and happy to feel grass underneath him, Chaparral Cowboy takes the lead from Grand Zion and inches forward by almost a full length from that one. Back Class is still in close proximity, though Lasting Impressions has lost some ground on the rail. Convincing is doing well to keep pace with them, and may have gained a little bit of ground at this point. His speed was too much for Stage Door Johnny, who begins to drop back further. None of the four at the back have shown intentions of making a push as of yet.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Chaparral Cowboy is full of run around the turn, and handles it exceptionally well. His lead is now a little over a length over Grand Zion and Back Class, who are running evenly for second. Lasting Impressions is hanging on to fourth, but the one to watch at this point is Convincing, as he has made up ground in the turn, and is only a length out of second. He had time to get the leader, but he had to take an outside run around the turn, and that could prove to make a difference at the wire. Meanwhile, Neutrino looked good over the second half of the turn, but still had a lot of ground to make up. For now, he had passed Stage Door Johnny, but it would be a monumental task to get the win at this point. Japan and Just Another Day were lacking response, and maybe Zensation could get by a couple before this was done.

(Finish- 1:45.50)- In the stretch, Chaparral Cowboy was in control of the race, and with less than a furlong to go, seemed to have the race in the bag. Convincing did not seem to be coming quickly enough. Somehow, at the wire, this got a lot closer than it seemed like it would, but fans of Chaparral Cowboy will still say that there was never a doubt that he was going to win. A valiant try by Convincing almost got there in the end, but he will settle for second. A steady run from start to finish by Back Class gets him third, by half a length over Lasting Impressions. Grand Zion settles for fifth over the too little too late running Neutrino. The rest of the order will read Zensation, Japan, Just Another Day, and Stage Door Johnny.

About The Winner- Chaparral Cowboy, trained by Nakamura Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a three-year-old colt by Aggravated Sky and is out of Distorted Jangles. He was bred as a yearling by his trainer in California, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 11 starts, his third stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $347.000.

Track: Firm
Time: :47¹  1:10³  1:33⁴  1:45²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 8 – 7 Paid 87.30
$1 Trifecta: 8 – 7 – 6 Paid 1,480.60

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES