City Sniper Prevails in KY Jockey Club

By Nynl Stables on December 1, 2019

KY Jockey Club (KYD) (Grade 2)- $250.000 Purse
CD- For Two Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
November 30, 2019

The first five in the field were separated by half a length, leading to an exciting finish in the KY Jockey Club that saw City Sniper prevail in the end. It is a victory that will give him 10 KYD points, and you know never know how valuable they may be for the big race. The other four that finished near him also received a little something, since there was a dead heat for fourth. There is a lot of time before the KYD and many big preps to be decided, obviously, but if one point gets one of these horses in, then maybe they will look to the KY Jockey Club. For the winner City Sniper, this horse was acquired by John Henry more then likely through some sort of larger trade, and they pick up their first win together, and the trainer’s first win in the stake. J R Leparoux was aboard and also wins for the first time. The time of the win on the track only listed as “good” was 1:44.03. Let’s take a look!

(1/4 Mile- :24.01)- From the outside, the longshot Zigs Really Poor is pushed out to the early lead for Rock Creek, however, he would not hold off the ambition of Chai Morning, out of Aer Stables, to get up to the front. His move saw him pull out to a length lead while running in the third lane around the opening turn. Zigs Really Poor remained in second, and had company to his inside in the form of Lord Of Peace, from Our Athletes. Those three would be the initial front runners. Behind them in the middle of the pack, we had a three wide group which featured the eventual winner, as well as our pick to win, John Henry’s City Sniper running in the money lane to the outside. Intaglio (Arindel) was in the middle here and Commander Kemp (Mb Stables) was positioned well on the rail. Next came Lawn Party (Rampage Stable), and the four trailers who were running four wide. From inside to outside, they are Stark (D J C Racing Stables), Starship Leader (Mb Stables), Telladifferentstory (Nakamura Stables), and Hollywood World (Estero Farms).

(½ Mile- :47.62)- Moving down the backstretch, Chai Morning was looking quite good on the front end, and continued to lead the field as they approached the turn. His lead was a length and a half, and Zigs Really Poor was struggling to keep up with him. Lord Of Peace seemed to be restrained just a little bit from putting up more of a challenge to the leader, and ran patiently on the rail. This meant that Commander Kemp needed to move down a lane as he looked to make the pass for third. Meanwhile, City Sniper was having a comfortable trip to the outside, with three lengths to make up but still with plenty of time. Intaglio was beginning to lose ground with those he was running with before. Stark, Starship Leader, and Lawn Party maintained their position while both Telladifferentstory and Hollywood World lost another two lengths of ground.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- It is still Chai Morning up front, and his lead remains length or so. Lord Of Peace was now starting to emerge as one of his top challengers, hoping to be rewarded for his earlier patience. Commander Kemp needed to now move down another lane to get around Zigs Really Poor, who was still lingering at the front, but didn’t seem to be about to make a run. City Sniper ran in the fourth lane now with two and a half lengths to make up and keeping pace with Commander Kemp. A little further back, Stark was looking very ambitious, but he had no room to run around the turn, altering his path to avoid running into the back of other horses. Starship Leader was still directly to his outside, and in a similar situation. Intaglip was beginning to lose more ground and Lawn Party’s outside move looked to be coming up empty. Hollywood World and Telladifferent story got closer, but still had a lot of work to do.

(Finish- 1:44.03)- In the stretch, Chai Morning was doing his best to keep up, but an exciting race was certainly shaping up. Lord Of Peace had gradually cut into his lead, and Commander Kemp was running well. Then, on the far outside, City Sniper was gaining with every stride. Meanwhile, Stark, finally with running room was making a fascinating bid. At the wire, five of them seemed to have a chance with the photo for win between City Sniper, Chai Morning, and Lord Of Peace being extremely tight. It would be City Sniper by the narrowest of possible margins getting the win over Chai Morning, and Lord Of Peace settling for third. The fourth place photo showed that Commander Kemp and Stark were even and declared as a dead heat. There was about a length and a half to the rest of the field, and Hollywood World took sixth over Starship Leader. Rounding it out are Zigs Really Poor, Telladifferentstory, Lawn Party, and Intaglio.

About The Winner- City Sniper, trained by John Henry and ridden to victory by J R Leparoux, is a two year old gelding by Motor City, and is out of Primary Target. He was bred in the great breeding state of Pennsylvania by Joshua Stables as a yearling and acquired in private sales, probably as part of a trade, from Fractious in August. The win is his fourth in six starts, his third stake win and second graded win. His career earnings are now $333.000.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

City Sniper

John Henry

Leparoux J R

4.35

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