AP Million (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
AP- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
August 10, 2019
There was plenty of reason to be excited about Dead Madness, a three year old that has really come into his own during this season. As he kept going longer and longer, his talent would become more and more apparent, and that led to a win in the Grade 1 BEL Derby last month. On this form, we made him our pick for the race, and despite odds of 7/1, he was still the second choice on the board. In the AP Million, he would be the best again, winning by about a length. He is trained by John Henry, who only needed to spend $40.000 to pick him up about eleven months ago. E Maldonado was aboard, and for both, it is their first win in the race. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:58.11, which is middle of the road for the history of the race. Note that Sunlander was a scratch for this, allowing the Oval Express Farms also eligible, Sweet Son, to become part of the field. Let’s take a look!
(½ Mile- :46.42)- From the middle of the starting gate, both Proud Child, out of Joshua Stables, and the eventual winner, Dead Madness, from John Henry break sharply. They clear the rest of the field by a length quickly, with Proud Child ultimately being a length better then Dead Madness as they go by the grandstand the first time, and into the turn. There is a pack of five behind them, and Decibel emerges as the best of this group for his trainer, Threshold. Then it’s four wide, consisting of, from inside to outside, Oh Awesome One (TwinTowersRacing), Sezarchai (Ekli Stable), Lunar Blaze (John Henry), and Sweet Son (Oval Express Farms). After that, we had a gap of three lengths to everybody else. Sonnenkonig (Gdp Inc), Coco (Joshua Stables), General Ferro (Mb Stables) and Residue (Fractious) were four-wide. Then came Puget Sound and Confined, two more from Mb Stables. Lets Do It Big Boy (RNP Stables) would trail.
(3/4 Mile- 1:10.06)- Proud Child continues to lead the way down the backstretch without getting much pressure applied to him until we approached the turn. Decibel moved into the second position, and looked to make a three wide move. Dead Madness responded to Decibel’s advance and temporary passing of him to move a lane over and also look to get by Proud Child. The four who had behind them started to get a little closer, too, and both Lunar Blaze and Sweet Son were in the money lanes. Of those running further back, Coco was getting more in the mood to run now, but others were not pushing forward.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- This race would end up being won at the top of the turn. Dead Madness made such a powerful pass in splitting both Proud Child and Decibel that the former leader was caught by the tailwind and could not recover. However, he also made quick work of Decibel, and now led the field by a length as they approached the top of the stretch. Decibel was hanging on to second well as others began approaching. Lunar Blaze seemed to be in a particularly good position at the top of the stretch, and a nice clear lane emerged for Oh Awesome One. Sezarchai was keeping pace, and Coco continued to advance. Sweet Son dropped out of it with Proud Child. The rest of the field had not yet made their presence felt.
(Finish- 1:58.11)- In the stretch, it was all about watching Dead Madness run. He put the field away up until this point and did what was needed all the way to the finish. In the final half furlong, he may have lost some of his leg kick, allowing others to cut into the margin of victory, but there was no concern that the win was in jeopardy. Decibel held off Coco for second, the latter of which probably spotted the leaders too much ground early on. Lunar Blaze was in this picture as well, but settled for fourth as his stablemate gets the win. Oh Awesome One ran a solid fifth, and beat the Mb runners of Puget Sound and Confined, two horses that got interested too late. Sezarchai seemed destined for a better finish, but was flat in the stretch, finishing eighth. Rounding out the order, we had General Ferro, Sonnenkonig, Sweet Son, Lets Do It Big Boy, and Residue. Eventually, the rabbit Proud Child finished as well.
About The Winner- Dead Madness, trained by John Henry, and ridden to victory by E Maldonado, is a three year old gelding by Moment Of Madness, and is out of Brawl Dead End. He was bred in New York by Mb Stables, and acquired unraced in the March 2018 auction by Tacaro Farm for $10.000, who sold him six months later to John Henry for $40.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his sixth in ten starts, his third stake win, and second graded win, each of which are Grade 1’s. His career earnings are now $1,334.900.
Track: Firm
Time: :462 1:10 1:333 1:58
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 9 – 10 Paid 145.30
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 10 – 3 Paid 1,432.40
Scratched: Sunlander
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
