SUN Derby (Grade 3)- $800.000 Purse
SUN- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
March 26, 2017
To win in baseball, it takes good pitching and good hitting. Normally, you won’t see a baseball analogy in horse racing, but it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to say that Dixieland Force was the starting pitcher who needed to give six or seven good furlongs, err, innings to allow the bats to come up and win the game late. Dixieland Force, not known for fast starts prior to this race, did what he needed to do, allowing Bronx Bomber to step up to the plate in the stretch and get by key rivals. It was a well executed game plan by trainer Aer Stables, and the victory sends Bronx Bomber to the KYD. This is a stake that Aer has had success with in the past, winning it also in 2015 with King Cobra, a horse that would not only make it to the KYD, but he win the race! Jockey J Alvarado is a first time winner of the race. Congratulations! The time of the victory was 1:47.97. Let’s take a look at!
½ Mile (:45.55)- Dixieland Force, from Aer Stables, explodes out of the gate and has a two length lead before they even enter the opening turn. He brings the heat, and hits the corners well as he rounds the first turn. Once we move into the backstretch, he has opened up now to about three lengths, setting this blistering opening fraction. While there was not another one keeping that much pressure on him, the three behind him consisted of some of the races strongest contenders. Pain (Smokey Stover), Banshee Star (Joseph Racing), and Sea Bird 11 (Blushing Meadows) seemed to keep a decent enough distance behind. Bronx Bomber (Aer Stables) did not go right to the back, and after a good break himself from the gate, he would settle into a position in the middle of the field, about six lengths back. Running right beside him John Henry’s Red Panther. Behind them, about seven and a half lengths back, the post time favorite, The Force Awakens (Diablo Diablo) second of four wide, with Danzing On The Rocks (Mb Stables) to his inside and Major Weiner (Night Rider Stables), and Shrek (Crocker Ggs) to his outside. Further back, stablemates Psychic Ability and Towering Above, from Mb Stables ran side by side, then Winged Feeney (Four Winds Racing), and being totally off the viewer was Haynes Away (Stone Creek Farms).
3/4 Mile (1:09.46)- There was not a ton of movement as the field moved down the backstretch. Dixieland Force continued to lead, but you could see that his pitch count was getting high and the stalkers began to close in on him as we moved into the turn. Running particularly well here was Banshee Star, cutting the deficit to a length and a half but also pulling away from Pain and Sea Bird 11. Behind them, we did not see the push forward yet from Bronx Bomber, and Red Panther still seemed to be matching his strides. One of the better movers at this time was Major Weiner, the eventual third place finisher, who pulled away from the three he had been running with to pull alongside Red Panther. Others towards the back were looking to find their lanes.
One Mile (1:34.74)- Trainer Aer Stables certainly said job well done to Dixieland Force, who ran out of gas midway through the turn and he would no longer be a factor. At about the same time, Bronx Bomber exploded with run, making a power move to the outside of not only his stablemate, but of Banshee Star and Sea Bird 11 as well. Red Panther tried to make the same move, but did not have the same power in his stride as Bronx Bomber at the top of the stretch. When Dixieland Force did bow out, Banshee Star had emerged with the lead and had pulled away by a length over Sea Bird 11. He was in a good position on the track, but you could also sense there was going to be trouble coming from behind. Major Weiner also handled the turn exceptionally well, and had he not been very wide on track, he would have surely prevailed in the second place photo. Pain, our pre-race selection, had nothing for the stretch. Danzing On The Rocks, The Force Awakens, and Psychic Ability were keeping pace with the pack well but did not seem to have a winning push in them. On exit of the turn, an opening was created along the rail, and the deep closer Winged Feeney, who had been falling off the viewer at one point himself, pounced on this opportunity, allowing himself to make a thrilling close in this lane while many were probably focus on the others in the field. Towering Above waited a little too long to really get moving, while Shrek showed nothing. Haynes Away was in good stride late but was too far out of it to make anyone worried about him.
Finish (1:47.97)- In the final furlong, Bronx Bomber still had almost two lengths to make up on Banshee Star. At first, I was unsure that he was going to be able to complete this pass in time, but he never gave in, and drove hard to the wire to get the win! Banshee Star may have shown some signs of fatigue in the dying moments as well, and nearly found himself caught by Major Weiner for third. If that one did not have to run so wide, he would have had a better result. While all this was going on, it may have been easy to overlook Winged Feeney up on the rail, who made up a ton of ground. You have to wonder with that one, could he have won this, if he was just a couple lengths closer at the start? Elsewhere in the field, Sea Bird 11 ran consistently to the wire to hold off Danzing On The Rocks and Psychic Ability, who were pack racing all day, as well as Towering Above, who showed some life late. The favorite, The Force Awakens was a disappointing 9th, and Red Panther seemed destined for a better finish but was empty in the stretch, coming home 10th. Haynes Away, Pain, Shrek, and Dixieland Force round out the running order.
About the winner: Bronx Bomber is a three year old colt by New York Yankees. Who else? He is out of Charlies Glare (both Charley Farley and Jolly Be Great in the bloodline). He was bred in New York as a first quarter two year old by Aer Stables, the only trainer he has ever had! Congratulations again! The win is the biggest of his career and his third in nine career starts. His career earnings now sit at $629.400. He’ll be heading to the KYD and hope to do what King Cobra once did for the trainer, win the SUN Derby, and then the KYD!
Track: Fast
Time: :452 1:092 1:343 1:474
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 10 – 8 Paid 103.10
$1 Trifecta: 10 – 8 – 6 Paid 1,674.50
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
