Sky Classic Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
WO- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
August 21, 2016

Cju’s career started later then most, but he is making up for lost time as a four year old.  That’s not exactly an easy thing to do, either, given how three year olds seem to be relentlessly beating up their elders in races like this year.   He’s had a good career which has seen a graded victory in the past, but in the Sky Classic, he was making the transition to the grass for the first time.  Trainer Maxmillion Farm has been preparing him for this all month, and he has to be thrilled with the immediate results, which sees a victory against the likes of War Scent and some pesky three year olds enjoying their weight advantage.   It is the first time that Maxmillion has won the Sky Classic, and the same holds true for the jockey, E J Wilson.  The time of victory was 1:58.76, ranking it among the quicker races of the stake.  Congratulations to our winner, let’s take a deeper look!

1st- 7- Cju (10/1)- Our eventual winner from Maxmillion Farm may have actually never ended up seeing another horse in this race.  He was sharp right out of the gate and into the first turn.  War Scent ran with him for a little while in the opening moments, but it would not take long for Cju to open up a two and a half length advantage on the field early in the backstretch run.  Despite the lead, he was actually pacing himself quite nicely, running the opening half in :48.08.  He continued to hold this lead throughout the backstretch and into the turn, still without much pressure behind him.  Six furlongs went in 1:11.52.   In the turn, there was some shuffling around of other positions, but he would still lead by two lengths as they hit the top of the stretch, going a mile in 1:34.89.  When it came crunch time, the others started to nip into the advantage a little bit, but Cju was still cruising and was still running too well for the others too eat into his lead any more then very gradually.   Perhaps E J Wilson needed to give him some slight urging with a furlong to go, but really, Cju made this look very easy as he gets the win, in a time of 1:58.76!  Cju is a four year old autogen bred in Ontario by Maxmillion Farm as a three year old.  They have been together throughout!

2nd- 8- Broomstick Rattler (8/1)- Today’s runner up from John Henry situated himself in the middle of the field, a length behind the three wide battle for third in the early moments.  Looked to move up somewhat over the backstretch, but still had almost five lengths to make up going into the turn.  In the turn, he would begin to move forward, but he would be at his best in the stretch.   Running about five wide, there was no one better at this point in the race and given how well Cju fought to fight off the pack to the wire, it’s impressive that he got as close as he did.

3rd- 1- Stormy Passing (8/5)- The post time favorite from C.R. Racing got off to a fairly good start along the rail and was about three lengths off the pace in the opening moments.  L Contreras may have been thrown off by the sudden restrain of War Scent, and continued to battle with So Much Pluck as they moved into the turn. Ran well in the stretch and begin to reel Cju in a little bit, but that one would prove to be too strong.  Unfortunately for the trainer, the hard closing Broomstick Rattler got up for second just in time.

4th- 5- War Scent (3/1)- Sharp out of the gate for Mb Stables, and would be just a length behind the pace setting Cju as they began the run down the long backstretch.  This would be short lived, however, as J R Velazquez quickly went into restrain mode, letting several go by.  He was nicely resurgent in the stretch, but could not make up all the ground that he needed.

5th- 2- Roger The Australian (8/1)- The three year old from Threshold could see them all in front of him to begin the backstretch trip.   He was relatively unbothered by this position in the backstretch, and was content to remain there into the turn.  Midway through, it became time to go, and Roger The Australian would respond with some stretch run, but it would too little too late at the point.

6th- 6- General White (8/1)- Unexpectedly, the Eastern Equine entry was flat out of the gate and started near the back.  He is usually closer to the front early then this.  Continued to keep Roger The Australian company in the backstretch. As they approached the exit of the turn, F Pennington swung him out about 4-5 wide and he was able to make some advance, though never posed a threat top three.

7th- 4- So Much Pluck (43/1)- The longest shot on the board from Sanny Village would start well, and would be the outermost horse of three wide battling for third into the backstretch. Seemed to be in good shape in the backstretch, running with Stormy Passing in what became a second place battle with War Scent’s retreat.  In the turn, he began to lose ground as he simply could not find the same power in this stride as those coming from behind him would, and lost track position.

8th- 3- A Little Influence (9/1)- The entry from The Sidley Stud started better then he would finish, being just off the lead in the early moments.  Backed out of being between Stormy Passing and So Much Pluck soon into the backstretch and had fallen five and a half lengths back into the turn. Unable to pose a threat in the stretch.

Track: Firm
Time: :48   1:11²  1:34⁴  1:58³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 8 Paid 121.60
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 8 – 1 Paid 96.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES