National Museum Of Racing (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SAR- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Inner Turf
August 5, 2022

Ever since being gelded and being moved to the turf, Commander Chai has been excelling with Maxmillion Farm. It had been a couple months since he had last raced, but that was in an ungraded stake that he won and he seemed destined to build on that here. Our pick to win the race would not disappoint, utilizing a stalking trip and drawing away at the end to win by three over a turf course listed as good. This is the second time that Maxmillion Farm has won the race, as he also did so in 2018 with K T Warrior. J R Velazquez has been a more common sight in the winners circle after this race, as he earned his fifth win. Congratulations to them! The race would go down in a time of 1:34.14, and is the only edition of the race that was run at a mile that also went on a “good” track. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :23.76)- Three of them break well and are running side by side by side down the frontstretch and into the clubhouse turf. John Henry’s Miami My Amy holds the advantage by half a length as he runs in the third lane. Matching strides for second, it’s our common runner-up, Full Speed for Mb Stables, and Sharkamaulu for Arindel. Tucked in right behind them by a length and a half is our eventual winner, Maxmillion Farm’s Commander Chai and he is able to enjoy a spot on the rail. It’s about three lengths to Hardline Cobra (TwinTowersRacing) and about another two to Inspector Gadget (Nakamura Stables).

(½ Mile- :47.44)- Running down the backstretch, Miami My Amy and Full Speed are now running right along side one another, but Sharkamaulu is unable to keep up. He loses about a length to those two, and J R Velazquez does well to see this early with Commander Chai, and moves his horse a lane over to now be following Full Speed. It’s only about a length and a half separating them at this point. There’s still quite a gap to Hardline Cobra and Inspector Gadget.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- With plenty of horse underneath him, J R Velazquez decides that there is no reason to wait around and makes his move early within the turn. He would do this by moving Commander Chai into the fourth lane, and it would be impressive just how quickly and easily that the gelding would make this look. By the time they hit the top of the stretch, the race may have already been in the bag as his lead was now about a length and a half. Full Speed was second, but given how easily he was passed, it didn’t seem like he would be a threat. Miami My Amy and Sharkamaulu also had nothing. Further back, Inspector Gadget passed Hardline Cobra but still had a lot of ground to make up.

(Finish- 1:34.14)- With the race in hand, all that was left to do in the stretch was watch Commander Chai run. He would continue to run well to the wire, and would win this race by a very comfortable three and a half lengths as no one was able to challenge him. Inspector Gadget ran well in the stretch, but that was always only going to be for second, and second he gets. Unfortunately for Full Speed, that knocked him out of his favorite spot, and into third, but he holds off Miami My Amy for that spot. Hardline Cobra and Sharkamaulu round it out.

About The Winner- Commander Chai, trained by Maxmillion Farm and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three year old gelding by Chai Bay and is out of Beautiful Command. He was bred in California as a first two year old by Serenity Stables and was picked up by Maxmillion Farm in private sales for $175.000 in November 2021. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in ten starts, his second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $277.880.

Track: Good
Time: :23³  :47²  1:10⁴  1:34

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 4 Paid 17.20
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 4 – 5 Paid 46.10

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES