Billy Joel Gives Brilliant Performance in BC Turf

By Nynl Stables on November 8, 2020

BC Turf (Grade 1)- $4,000.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
November 7, 2020

It was about six o’clock on a Saturday, the virtual crowd shuffled in. They were not looking for tonic and gin, but rather the 18th running of the BC Turf. A purse of $4,000.000 would be divided among the top four finishers, making it the second biggest race of the day in terms of the money awarded. There were stars of the game all throughout the starting gate, and many people were leaning towards Immoral, from Mb Stables, as he would be the post time favorite. Maybe this could be the race where Maxmillion Farm could cement his legacy as a turf king and finally get a winner here. Or maybe it would be our pick, Billy Joel, and not just because we are a great fan of his namesake’s music. The El Gran Broomstick gelding has been nearly unstoppable since he moved to the grass this year, and as he is just three, there is still plenty more that he could do. The trainer of this star is La Canada Racehorses, and the long time trainer is able to pick up the first BC win of his career. Special congratulations go out to him in that regard. Aboard the winner was L Saez, and he also wins for the first time. The race would be run in a time of 2:24.64. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :48.05)- Our eventual winner, Billy Joel, broke well out of the gate for La Canada Racehorses and was one of the quickest horses around the opening turn. He would not be the leader, however, as Controlled Power, from Spankys Barn would be a little faster and would get credit for leading at half a mile. Raj Action Packed also broke well for Arindel and was within a length of the top two. Eventually joining them at the front was the Our Athletes trained Multiple Shadows, who advanced in the turn to take the fourth spot. Behind the top four would be last year’s winner, John Henry’s Dead Madness, who was about two lengths off the pace and was slightly ahead of Blame It On Luck (Mb Stables) who crept up along his outside, and each of Immoral (Mb Stables) and Hammerfest (Smokey Stover) who were on his inside. After another length and a half, it was another group of four, which consisted of Workload (Mb Stables), Xmas Snow (Maxmillion Farm), Winter Solstice (John Henry) and Momentus (Fractious). It was two more to Sunlander (Estero Farms) and Chayse (Crocker Ggs).

(¾ Mile- 1:11.87)- Around the clubhouse turn, Controlled Power continued to show the way with Billy Joel matching his stride to his outside in the third lane. Raj Action Packed remained between them, but about half a length behind them. Towards the end of this turn, Multiple Shadows began to lose some ground to the three that he was so interested in running with during the first frontstretch portion. Dead Madness held his ground, and both Immoral and Hammerfest maintained their positions towards the rail, and were in very good striking range for when they decided to make a move. Blame It On Luck, who like Multiple Shadows moved up in the frontstretch, lost ground in this turn. Winter Solstice and Workload remained four and a half lengths behind with Xmas Snow, and the trailers continued to not push forward yet.

End of Backstretch (3F To Go)- The backstretch was an interesting portion of the race, because it was here that we saw Billy Joel begin to pull away from Controlled Power. This was likely because the latter was unable to keep up with him, but this allowed him to take a length and a half lead over Raj Action Packed, who also lost a little bit of ground to him. Meanwhile, both Immoral and Hammerfest, two horses that really were executing the same game plan throughout the race to this point, moved a couple lanes over so that they could pass Raj Action Packed to his outside. Leading into the turn, they were still a length away from doing so and had approximately three lengths to make up on Billy Joel.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Completing the run around the turn, La Canada Racehorses really had to be liking what he was seeing now. Billy Joel was still in great stride, and was able to increase his lead over second place by about two lengths. He also had to be happy to see that both Immoral and Hammerfest had not made up ground as quickly as it seemed like they would in the turn. In fact, they were still running even with Raj Action Packed, who was not packing it in in the same manner that Controlled Power did. Those two were coming, but they had a lot of distance to make up on a horse that was still running very well. Behind them, they were beginning to line up in a somewhat orderly fashion, with Workload having the edge for the moment with that wall of horses. Sunlander and Chayse were each showing their intentions now of making a charge to the front, but at this point, it didn’t seem like that bid would be for the top spot.

(Finish- 2:24.64)- Billy Joel enters the stretch running well, and while Hammerfest was coming on strong, as was Immoral, he had built up a good enough lead to where everything figured to be okay for him as long as he could maintain this stride. He would be able to do so, hitting the wire first, and scoring the first BC win for La Canada Racehorses. Hammerfest ends up a length back in second, slightly ahead of Immoral. Raj Action Packed ran a consistent race throughout, and for that, he gets a fourth place check. Behind then, really, a bunch of horses who did not make an impact in this race. Chayse slipped through the wall to be fifth but never threatened for a piece of the purse. The final remaining running order is Sunlander, Workload, Blame It On Luck, Momentus, Winter Solstice, Dead Madness, Xmas Snow, Controlled Power, and Multiple Shadows.

About The Winner- Billy Joel, trained by La Canada Racehorses and ridden to victory by L Saez, is a three year old gelding by El Gran Broomstick, and is out of the late Steel Laff. He was bred as a yearling in Louisiana by Broken Spoke Stables, and acquired by La Canada Racehorses in October 2018 while he was still unraced for $20.000. The win is his sixth in 13 starts, his fourth stake win, and third graded win. His career earnings are now $2,854.480.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Billy Joel

La Canada Racehorses

Saez L

4.40

1^3/4