BG Stakes (Grade 2) (KYD)- $1,000.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
April 4, 2020
Earlier this week, Mb Stables organized a group of trainers to conduct a poll in order get a feel on the community consensus of the top KYD contenders in the game right now. Class Edge was 8th in that poll, with the opinion being that if we were to get a wet track, that he would be the favorite, and we shared that opinion in the preview. La Rosa Stables listed him as seventh in his detailed preview as well. No one wants to finish 7th or 8th in the KYD, nor do they want to depend on the weather to make the track wet once again. On Saturday, the track was dry, and Class Edge stepped up and picked up the win. We’ll see how much of a statement that made when the next expected poll comes out, but for now let us congratulate Chili King Stables on the win, his first in the BG Stakes. We won’t remind him of the difficult history the BG Stakes winner has had in the KYD, however. History can be changed! I Ortiz Jr is the winning jockey, his first such win here as well. The race was won in a time of 1:48.14, which is a midpack time overall in comparison to past editions. Let’s take a look at what happened!
(½ Mile- :46.18)- At the start of the race, no one is shot out to early lead, leading to the field being spread across the track for longer then one would expect early on. Eventually, the Gdp Inc-trained Masons Day would take the lead after starting from one of the outermost posts. This led to him being wide in the turn before sweeping over to the rail as he began his run around it. He would be a length and a half over the second place Cheap Trick, from Nakamura Stables. This is a horse that started to Masons Day’s outside, and was in the same predicament early on, but did not elect to charge to the front. Therefore, he completed the run around the opening turn while running six wide. The other horses in that group, from inside to outside, were Night Creature (Aer Stables), Moment In Time (D J C Racing Stables), Sweet Sweat (Mb Stables), Deeds Not Words (Alydar Stables), and Genghis (Arindel). They could all be considered stalkers as they were two lengths out. Boardwalk (Fractious) was behind that wall early on, running behind Night Creature and Moment In Time. Beside him, the eventual race winner Chili King Stables’ Class Edge was situated between Sweet Sweat and Deeds Not Words. City Sniper (John Henry) and Grandstand Jockey (Night Rider Stables) were next, each of whom quickly retreated from the initial break of horses to get inner track position. Stormin Charlie (Nakamura Stables) and Bobs Ticket (Mb Stables) followed, and trailing would be Regional Tune (Estero Farms).
(3/4 Mile- 1:10.13)- As the field moved down the backstretch and into the turn, Masons Day was unable to maintain his pace and was caught by the wall of horses that had been stalking him. At this part, we had six horses now spread out across the track that were within half a length of one another. This was certainly exciting, and led to other horses that were behind them needing to adapt to what had developed in front of them. Night Creature was able to move off of the rail to avoid running over Masons Day, and was immediately to his outside. On the far outside, we had Cheap Trick, and in the middle of them were Moment In Time, Genghis, and Sweet Sweat. Deeds Not Words was dropping out of this pack. There were two horses running behind this wall at a half mile, and they were what would become out top two finishers. One of them, Boardwalk, elected to remain on the inside and kept his position behind Night Creature. If Masons Day was going to drop out of it, this would be a good move, as he could take over the rail for the stretch. The decision was not as easy for Class Edge, but I Ortiz Jr knew he had no other option then to move his horse out wide, into the seventh, or even eighth lane. Meanwhile, both City Sniper and Grandstand Jockey maintained positions towards the inside, three lengths back. Bobs Ticket and Stormin Charlie ran side by side as well, looking to advance. Regional Tune trailed, and was seven and a half lengths off the pace.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Things continued to be crazy at the front, but for a moment Night Creature was looking like he had cleared everything that he had been running with. After handling the turn very well, he had a length advantage over the rest of the field and a great lane in which to utilize for the stretch. Aer Stables had to like this, thinking that another big prep win might be coming, if his horse could maintain his form. Looming right behind him was Boardwalk, who got the lane he was hoping for in the turn, and perhaps it was good for him that Night Creature cleared the field as quickly as he did, because this allowed him to have a larger opening to come on through, and he would do exactly that. On the far outside of this wall of horses was Class Edge, who was making progress while covering additional race track. Once hitting the top of the stretch, he did not have any other hindrances, so now it was time for him to show what he was made of. The other horses in the middle of this pack; Moment In Time, Sweet Sweat, Genghis, and Cheap Trick, held their ground and hoped that doing so would still lead to a piece of the purse. There was a four wide wall behind them as well, consisting of the comers in City Sniper and Grandstand Jockey and the goers, Masons Day and Deeds Not Words. Bobs Ticket and Stormin Charlie had now where to go. The trailer, Regional Tune, had room on the rail to come through and maneuver traffic that could improve his ultimate finishing position.
(Finish- 1:48.14)- In the middle of the track, Class Edge showed impressive stride, and would make his charge to the front to get this big win. If the ending race time does not impress you as much as other prep races, bear in mind all of the extra race track that he had to cover in order to get this win. Closer to the rail, Boardwalk had a good looking stretch performance and will not go home empty handed. Other then the second place portion of the purse, he’ll get enough points to head to the KYD as well. Night Creature ran third, steady enough to hold off the others. Point wise, he’d qualify for the KYD, but whether he is sent there remains to be seen given the stable restrictions the game puts on his trainer. Placing fourth is City Sniper, and those points put him 21st on the leaderboard. He is definitely at the mercy of the AR Derby and Coolmore Lexington, but everyone ahead of him will likely not go to the KYD. Moment In Time and Sweet Sweat narrowly miss picking up points, as did Regional Tune who closed very well from the inside. Rounding out the order, we have Genghis, Grandstand Jockey, Bobs Ticket, Deeds Not Words, Cheap Trick, Masons Day, and Stormin Charlie.
About The Winner- Class Edge, trained by Chili King Stables and ridden to victory by I Ortiz Jr, is a three year old colt by Asset Class, and is out of Angelic Appeal. He was bred in California by Sccj Stables as a first quarter two year old, and acquired by Chili King Stables in July 2019 after just two career starts for $225.000 in private sales. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 11 starts, his third stake win, and second graded win. His career earnings are now $1,424,000.
Track: Fast
Time: :46 1:10 1:35 1:48
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 5 – 2 Paid 226.40
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 2 – 1 Paid 2,242.20
Winner picked by NS
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
