Sullivan Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
GG- For Three Year Olds Foaled in CA
One Mile on the Turf
May 1, 2016

If you look at some of the horses that Bottoms Out has beaten over the course of his career, such as The Perfect Day and Edwin Drood, you would think that he too would be racing at CD on the first Saturday of May.   Those races were a long time ago, and as those horses proceeded to get better, Bottoms Out began to carve his own path to success.   Since he did not finish out 2015 well, trainer Blushing Meadows sent him to the grass and right away he was rewarded.  He won the first two races on the turf (excluding his debut race which was run on the grass) that he ran in, but they were allowances and you just know that Blushing Meadows has far greater expectations then simply that.   In his last start, he didn’t show his best stuff in the Grade 3 Transylvania Stakes, making today all about getting redemption.  The race seemed to be wide open, but he would be made the post time favorite, and was amongst our top horses for the race here as well.   Today, Bottoms Out was the best of them all, and is now three-for-our on the grass this year.  As a horse that once beat some very good three year olds, and under the guidance of an elite trainer, you just know there is plenty more success in store for this Copper Bottom gelding.    The win marks the first in the stake for both trainer, and jockey J J Hernandez.  The time of victory was 1:33.35, just slightly off last year’s stake record.  Let’s look deeper at how it happened.

1st- 2- Bottoms Out (2/1)-  Our eventual race winner from Blushing Meadows got off to an average start, and would assume a midpack position in the opening furlongs of the race.  Around the first turn and into the backstretch, J J Hernandez kept a distance of about three lengths between his gelding and the leaders.  He seemed to be simply waiting for his time to strike by maintaining this gap, and would begin to get a little closer as they moved into the final turn.  This is the point where Bottoms Out looked to make his move, and while he watched Escobas Grandes make a three wide move, Hernandez did not have any hesitation to move four wide.   It did not take much to move into the second position, but the question would be whether or not he could make the pass of Escobas Grandes because that one was ready to put up a fight.   In the final half furlong, Bottoms Out was at his best, and would be able to complete this pass just in time in order to get the win!  Congratulations to trainer Blushing Meadows on the win!  Bottoms Out has some great pedigree, being by the red-hot Copper Bottom and out of Crying Out Loud (Charley Farley).  This three year old CA-bred was bred as a yearling by Team 7 Illusions and was acquired by Blushing Meadows, via LionKing Stables as an unraced horse in private sales for $38.000.  Congrats again!

2nd- 4- Escobas Grandes (5/2)-  It was a pretty good start for the Drabfantasy entry, as he would opt for stalking trip behind the two leaders, about a length and a half back as they moved around the opening turn and into the backstretch.  R A Baze kept him in check from making his move too early, and waited until the run around the final turn would begin.  At this time, he would look to make a three wide move around Handsome Stallion and Virgin Sturgeon, and he would complete these passes rather easily.  The looming problem would be the approaching Bottoms Out, who was hitting his best stride here as well.  He responded with some good run at the top of the stretch and looked like he might hold off today’s ultimate winner, but that one would prove to be too strong in the later stages of the race.  Drabfantasy should be happy with the run his colt gave today, regardless.

3rd- 6- Virgin Sturgeon (9/1)-  Despite coming into the race off a very impressive work, the Wolfs Den entry was still one of the longest shots on the board.  He would look to get involved early, and would shadow the pacesetting Handsome Stallion around the opening turn.  While the other one would set the opening fractions, Virgin Sturgeon would take over the lead shortly after the half mile mark and looked good as they made their way into the turn.  It would be the turn that would not be his strong suit, as he would be passed by Ecobas Grandes and begun to backpedal with Handsome Stallion and was flat in the stretch.  His third place run really because a story of just being the best of the rest, and he will need to find a way to finish better in the future.

4th- 5- Power Indy (5/1)-  The Power Racing colt was not interested in running early at all, and would go promptly to the rear of the field.  By the time they began rounding the first turn, he was about two lengths behind the next closest horse, and overall seven lengths back at the top of the backstretch.  No advancement seemed to be forthcoming on the backstretch or even into the turn as he was still two lengths behind the closest competitor at the top of the stretch.  With a furlong to go, he was still last.  At this time,  D Van Dyke moved him to the rail, and he began to pick up the pieces of tiring horses in front of him.  It wasn’t necessarily an emphatic close, or else he likely gets Virgin Sturgeon too, but it still earn the trainer a check.

5th- 1- Western Ideal (7/1)-  The impressively bred colt out of Night Mare Racing was given his toughest assignment of his career today and he did not step up the way that his trainer was hoping.   He would begin the race near the back of the pack, about four to five lengths from the lead, running to the inside of Know How Skeleton.  The two of them would then seem more interested in keeping each other company throughout the entire race, and would fail to make any notable moves to the front.

6th- 3- Know How Skeleton (11/1)-  It was a surprising to see the Chili King Stables runner be the longest shot on the board, but in the end he just proved the doubters to be correct.  He started near the back of the pack, and kept Western Ideal company about five lengths from the leaders.  We were waiting for him to make his move to no avail and seemed to match strides with Western Ideal the whole race.  Hopefully he at least made a new friend.

7th- 7- Handsome Stallion (5/1)-  The handsome Pacific Diamond entry was looking his best early on,  being the quickest out of the gate and was able to get an inside lane for the opening turn.  He would set the opening quarter in :23-flat and half in :46.29.  Not too long after the half mile, he was passed by Virgin Sturgeon for the lead.  Handsome Stallion would try to hang in there for a little while afterwards but midway through the turn, it became clear that he was done

Track: Firm
Time: :23   :46¹  1:09²  1:33¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 4 Paid 23.30
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 4 – 6 Paid 90.80

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded