Whittingham Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Quarter on the Turf
May 23, 2020

In the Whittingham Stakes, the longest shot on the board would pick up the big win as Dons Carry On, sent off at odds of 26/1, proved to be the best over the ten furlongs. He was the only three year old in the field, so the three pound weight allowance certainly did help his cause at least somewhat in what would be a very tight finish at the wire. Before today, the race had never been won by a three year old. Dons Carry On was lightly raced as well, and had rotated wins and duds in his early career. That pattern showed that he was ready to get a win, and trainer Nolespan Racing is happy that the trend continued, but now that it has the trainer hopes for a better follow up. He is a first time winner in the stake, and that is also true for jockey U Rispoli. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:58.45, the second fastest in the race’s history. Only the great Spanish Showboat, in 2018, was faster. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.12)- There are a few horses who fight for the early lead as they move through the opening portion and onto the frontstretch. Ultimately, it will be Threshold’s Maniaco del Controll who emerges as that leader, and he will hold a length lead over his rivals when they hit the finish line the first time, and into the opening turn. For a moment, it looked like Freaky Onez, out of Maxmillion Farm, was going to challenge for the lead a little more then the would end up doing. He’d be the outside horse of three that were stalking Maniaco del Controll. On the rail, Armed Escort was there as well for Mb Stables, and between them it was the Nakamura Stables-trained Edging In. After a length and a half gap, we had another group of three; and it was where we would find our eventual winner, Dons Carry On, from Nolespan Racing. To his inside was No New Friends, from Hambletonian Stable, and on his outside was Yesterdays Pride, from Alydar Stables. It was a couple more back to Red Arrow, out of Estero Farms. Well behind the pace was John Henry’s Homme de Guerre.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.48)- Freaky Onez waits until they are well into the turn to get up and challenge Maniaco del Controll for the lead. It looks like he might take over as they hit the top of the backstretch, but Maniaco del Controll would maintain a slight advantage. For Freaky Onez, this meant a four wide run around the opening turn. Edging In started to do exactly that early into the backstretch Armed Escort also closed the gap, putting the two of them less then a length from the top spot. Behind them, the three wide group that Dons Carry On was in the middle of would continue to maintain a steady pace, and hold their positions. Red Arrow got a little closer to them, but Homme de Guerre was not ready to start getting involved.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- As the field reaches the end of the backstretch, we see Freaky Onez packing it in. Meanwhile, as Maniaco del Controll continues to hold on to his lead with a very steady run, we start seeing Dons Carry On show his intentions of shooting through the middle of the field. Edging In had joined Maniaco del Controll at the front end at the top of the turn. Yesterdays Pride was also looking pretty good at this point and Red Arrow is showing a lot more interest. At the top of the stretch, Edging In was looking very good and possibly like the one to beat. He was able to stick to the rail while rounding the turn, and looked to pass Maniaco del Controll, but Maniaco del Controll was not letting that be easy. For a moment, it was starting to look like these two were going to pull away from everyone else, they had handled the turn so well. Dons Carry On still had a length to make up, but had room to come right between them. Armed Escort was the same distance behind, and seemed to be in a good position. No New Friends started inching forward here as well. Meanwhile, Yesterdays Pride struggled in the turn just when it looked like he was poised to make a move, and he would no longer be a factor. Red Arrow had made steady progress, but would need a lot more in the stretch. Homme de Guerre was still at the back, and still had five lengths to make up.

(Finish- 1:58.45)- With half a furlong to go, Dons Carry On had done enough to pull even between Edging In and Maniaco del Controll. Of that battle, Maniaco del Controll showed some strong resiliency to prevail over Edging in, but he had a young three year old to outlast in the stretch. Dons Carry On would be the best at this time, splitting the two of them to win the race by half a length. In a very close photo for place, Maniaco dfel Controll holds off Edging In. Another horse that ran well in the stretch was No New Friends, but he ran out of room to advance further, and settles for fourth, nipping the wide running Red Arrow. Armed Escort takes sixth, topping Yesterdays Pride, Homme de Guerre, and Freaky Onez.

About The Winner- Dons Carry On, trained by Nolespan Racing, and ridden to victory by U Rispoli, is a three year old colt by Don Prospector, and is out of Jake Delivers. He was bred in New Mexico by Nolespan Racing as a second quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in six starts, his second stake win, and first graded win. His career earnings are now $202.200.

Track: Firm
Time: :47   1:10²  1:34¹  1:58²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 6 Paid 971.50
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 6 – 5 Paid 1,598.10

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES