The Withers (Grade 3) (KYD)- $250.000 Purse
AQU- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
February 5, 2022

Come To Poppa is a very talented racehorse, and that was on display in the BC Juvenile, when he finished second in a photo to Grouse Mountain. He has also been a little inconsistent, and that makes him a little tough to bet on, and that was seen in the Pick ‘em, and his eventual odds that approached 18/1. After winning the Withers, he is perfect 2-for-2 in 2022, with both races coming here at AQU, so if this can happen more often and more consistently, not only will Come To Poppa be picked more often at the betting window but he should be considered a solid KYD contender. His trainer is South Shore Stables and he was ridden by R Bejarano. For each, it was their first win in the Withers, so congratulations to them! The race was won in a time of 1:48.18, and that is the quickest of the five runnings of the race at nine furlongs. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :47.21)- Bursting out of the gate quickly would be our eventual winner, Come To Poppa, for South Shore Stables and he will have some company at the front early on with Inspector Gadget, from Nakamura Stables, running beside him. These two initially opened up a two length advantage over the first group of three, which initially were Shamo and Dwindle, each from Mb Stables, and Come With Assets, from Fractious. However, soon enough, Smokey Stover’s North Island began to push forward on the outside and went around all three of them. Then, Federation, trained by D J C Racing Stables, makes his own push but has more interest in moving forward. So much so, that after half a mile, he was up in third, and a length behind Inspector Gadget. Looking back further, after Come With Assets, we had Silver Rocket (Crocker Ggs), and our filly, Directors Chair (Nakamura Stables). One more length to Gigabyte (Smokey Stover), followed by Cheveley Park (Mo Mentum Farm) and Evgenii (Arindel).

(¾ Mile- 1:10.83)- The backstretch trip concludes with Come To Poppa looking too fast for Inspector Gadget, as well as everyone else, as he opens up a two length lead on the rest of the field. Inspector Gadget is still second, but Federation is about to go around him in the turn. North Island stays in the mix in fourth with Shamo, Dwindle, Come With Assets, and Silver Rocket holding their spots in the middle of the field. Midway into the turn, Gigabyte began to show a lot more interest, swinging wide for a potential move. Directors Chair was still running with the pack, but also needed to get her run going.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Entering the top of the stretch, you had to wonder if Come To Poppa had gotten away from them. His lead only grew, to now three lengths and no one who was running closest to him was making any sort of move. The next three positions were held by Inspector Gadget, Federation, and North Island, and they were only falling further behind the leader. Shamo, Dwindle, and Comee With Assets were still in the middle of the pack, and still not making any sort of push. Gigabyte looked like a potential threat, though, as you could see that he had plenty left in the tank, but there was a lot of ground still left to cover. He had a clear lane to do it in, though.

(Finish- 1:48.18)- With a furlong to go, Come To Poppa was looking pretty safe, but in the late moments, South Shore Stables had to start sweating it out. Gigabyte was coming on pretty well on the outside, cutting into the lead pretty quickly. Still, Come To Poppa had a nice cushion over him, allowing South Shore Stables to cheer for the wire to hurry up and get there. His entry would hold on, getting a win by a neck over Gigabyte. Shamo ran well in the stretch to be a clear cut third, but didn’t have anything for the top two. Directors Chair had a little bit of late run to finish fourth and get the final piece of the purse narrowly over Come With Assets. Rounding it out, it is the post-time favorite Dwindle, then North Island, Inspector Gadget, Cheveley Park, Federation, Silver Rocket, and Evgenii.

About The Winner- Come To Poppa, trained by South Shore Stables and ridden to victory by R Bejarano, is a three year old colt by Proud Chai and is out of Mucho Hyped Up. He was bred in California by South Shore Stables as a yearling, and they have been together throughout! Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in ten starts, his second stake win, and first graded win. His career earnings are now $712.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :47¹  1:10⁴  1:35¹  1:48

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 9 – 5 Paid 66.60
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 5 – 3 Paid 77.10

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES