The Pan American (Grade 2)- $250.000 Purse
GP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Inner Turf
March 28, 2020

With Chayse, it never seems like you know what you are going to get. He has been inconsistent over the course of his career, at times looking like he’s capable of being a BC champion, and other times, finishing well behind. In the Pan American, Chayse was looking to do something that he has done once before, and that is win two consecutive races. This time, they would be graded stakes. Could he be trusted to do that? After twelve furlongs on the grass, we got our answer as Chayse pulls off the win, handing Techfluence another narrow defeat in this stake. Now, the winning trainer, Crocker Ggs, will be looking for this to be much bigger then a win, but the beginning of a run where Chayse can consistently perform at this level. Crocker Ggs is now a first time Pan American winner, and that is also true for jockey G Franco. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 2:25.30, one of the better times in the history of the race. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :46.48)- From the outside, its Techfluence going out to the early lead for The Sidley Stud, and after having a couple running with him for the first couple furlongs, he would eventually open up a lead of a length and a half as they rounded the opening turn and prepared to run down the frontstretch for the first time. Raj Action Packed, out of Arindel, was another the began well, but retreated a bit, being stuck in the fourth lane around the turn. Captain Cook, from Nakamura Stables, was right to his inside, and neither of them were quite able to move over closer to the rail as they were unable to clear a group of three horses that were holding their ground. This is where we found the reigning BC Turf winner, John Henry’s Dead Madness, as he was to the outside of both Taniwha, the 2018 Pan American winner now running in the Aer Stables silks, and Chaos Itself, from Gdp Inc. There was a gap of couple lengths to the next group of horses. Revolutionary Cat (LionKing Stables) and Prince Of Theories (Mb Stables) ran side by side with Koda (Estero Farms) in the third lane. It’s another two lengths to Expert Eye (TwinTowersRacing) and Thanks For Nothing (D J C Racing Stables). Trailing? Well, that’s our eventual winner Chayse, who wanted nothing to do with the early pace, dropping immediately to the back for Crocker Ggs, and running nine lengths behind early on.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.23)- Down the frontstretch, Techfluence is reeled in just a little bit by J R Velazquez, and because of this, we see horses that were stalking him get closer. For a moment, it looked like it would be Raj Action Packed doing so, be would be restrained approaching the turn, and would leave that to Captain Cook, who took over the second position, with Chaos Itself running just to his inside. Taniwha stayed on the rail, and Dead Madness was the last horse of this first pack. There was still a gap of two lengths or so to the next group, and there was not much variation in how they were running. Chayse was still at the back, minding his business, pulling to the outside of Thanks For Nothing, but still had those nine lengths to make up.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- When the field reached the end of the backstretch portion, it was still Techfluence out in front, and he would actually re-open his lead back up by almost three lengths. Captain Cook and Chaos Itself, the two main pursuers previously were unable to keep up and began their drop to the field. Raj Action Packed inherited second because of this, but was not advancing on the leader, yet. Meanwhile, at the back, Chayse was running perfectly for a horse of his style. During the backstretch, G Franco moved him to the outside, into a clear lane, and gradually advanced his position. At the top of the turn, that deficit was now seven lengths, but he had passed the other four horses that were part of that second pack. He still had that gap to make up, and once he did, he should be able to continue in his lane and further his advance. Once they hit the top of the stretch, Techfluence continued to lead, but had several challengers emerging. The closest was Koda, who ran well along the outside throughout and pulling to within a length of the leader. If he could maintain this strong stride, his advantage over the other closers should have been enough. Further back, Chayse continued his advance, bringing Thanks For Nothing with him, and the two of them were about four lengths back. At this point, you could forget everyone else, and that includes Taniwha and Dead Madness, each of whom were lacking the necessary stretch response.

(Finish- 2:25.30)- Techfluence never went away in the stretch, and kept digging in and battling hard. Koda, who had been gaining seemed to slow his advance once he was right behind Techfluence, and in hindsight it’s interesting that he never would make this pass, since that seemed inevitable at the top of the stretch. That is a credit to Techfluence. However, he could not hold off everyone. Both Chayse and Thanks For Nothing were running well, but Chayse outkicked Thanks For Nothing by a length, and as they approached the wire, he would be the biggest concern for Techfluence. He kept on coming, and in what was excellently run tactical race, he nips Techfluence at the wire to get the win. Koda was in the photo as well to be third, with Thanks For Nothing fourth. Raj Action Packed stayed with them to an extent to be fifth, and it was a couple lengths to the rest of the field, who were not factors in the end result. The remaining order is Dead Madness, Taniwha, Captain Cook, Prince Of Theories, Expert Eye, Revolutionary Cat and Chaos Itself.

About The Winner- Chayse, trained by Crocker Ggs, and ridden to victory by G Franco, is a four year old gelding by Perfect Command, and is out of Double Pink. He was bred in California as a second quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 11 starts, his fourth stake win, and third graded win. His career earnings are now $536.770.

Track: Firm
Time: :46²  1:10¹  1:59²  2:25¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 12 Paid 156.40
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 12 – 11 Paid 2,144.70

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES