Clark Handicap (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 29, 2019

Those who create the morning line are certainly not SRF readers! Eclipse My Knowledge saw his morning odds be programmed in at 15/1, and that would only increase to 16/1, despite winning a very similar race right here in his last start. Why? I can’t tell you, but we did make him our pick to win in the preview. He did not disappoint, and ran this race much like he ran the Lukas Classic, and while he had tougher competition in this race, duplicating that race was good enough to win, just as was predicted! Sometimes, you really have to wish these payouts could happen in real life for a horse that really should have been the favorite (or at least one of them), to begin with. (Interesting sidenote: the top three horses in this race were the three horses that came out of the Lukas Classic to run here). The winning trainer is Nakamura Stables, earning his second win in this race. Five years ago, he won with the late Diamond Sales. Along for the ride was A Beschizza, earning his first Clark Handicap win. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:47.44, one of the better winning times of this race, and nearly identical to Nakamura’s winning time with Diamond Sales five years ago. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :46.74)- Crush Spebrate is eager to run already, and jumps out to a length and a half lead pretty quickly as we move into the opening turn. This lead holds up for the run around the turn, and into the backstretch as well. About midway through that portion, we start to see TwinTowersRacing’s Dauzac emerge from what had been a four wide group for second and put a stronger challenge on Crush Spebrate. Two lengths behind the leader, the horse that did get a lot of money, Maxmillion Farm’s Dastardly Havoc is next in line. The eventual winner, Eclipse My Knowledge is running to his inside for Nakamura Stables with a comfortable rail trip to this point. The third lane here belongs to Dustu, out of Team 7 Illusions. It’s another length to Having a Blast (Mb Stables), who is in the fourth lane. One more length to Smugglers Blues (John Henry) and L A Raw (D J C Racing Stables), who run together, and the trailer is Xmas Snow (Maxmillion Farm). Seven and a half lengths separate first from last.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.23)- Completing the backstretch trip, and moving into the turn, Crush Spebrate is looking quite strong. What appeared to be challenge coming from Dauzac never materialized, and that one started to fade back a little, hindering the potential progress of Dastardly Havoc. Eclipse My Knowledge maintained a methodical run while on the rail, and was now in third position, and trailing the leader by two and a half lengths. Dustu was unimpeded by Dauzac while on the outside and alongside the eventual winner. Having A Blast remained in the fourth lane, but had not made any advance. Smugglers Blues and L A Raw were maintaining their lanes but also not making a move. However, Xmas Snow was looking eager, and was preparing to make an outside run.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- It is still Crush Spebrate out in front as he has had a great run to this point, and still looks like he has more in the tank. At the top of the stretch, his lead was a length on Eclipse My Knowledge who was gaining well. He moved off the rail at this point in order to prepare for his hopeful pass for the win. Otherwise, with the exception of Xmas Snow who had a lot of ground to make up, there was not another challenger looming. Dauzac continued to struggle, and essentially took out Dastardly Havoc in the process. Dustu was not making a further push to the lead, and nor was Having A Blast. Smugglers Blues moved to the rail to hopefully pick off a few positions. L A Raw was exploring options while Xmas Snow was prepared to leave him in the cold.

(Finish- 1:47.44)- In the stretch, Eclipse My Knowledge moved to the outside of the leader, Crush Spebrate, and pulled away for the win. It looked like Cursh Spebrate was going to give him a good battle for a while, but with about half a furlong to go, Eclipse My Knowledge truly got the better of him, looking good all the way to the wire. On the far outside, a storm was approaching in the form Xmas Snow, but this bid, while valiant, proved to be too little too late, and he will settle for third, behind Crush Spebrate who held on for second. Dustu was the best of the rest in a three wide photo for second that also featured Smugglers Blues and Having A Blast. Dastardly Havoc is eighth and can blame the one finishing next to him for it, Dauzac.

About The Winner- Eclipse My Knowledge, trained by Nakamura Stables, and ridden to victory by A Beschizza, is a four year old gelding by Knowledge Geek, and is out of Blue Eclipse. He was bred in California by Nakamura Stables as a first quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. The win is his eighth in 25 starts, his fourth stake win, and second graded win. His career earnings are now $925.540.

Track: Fast
Time: :46³  1:10¹  1:34⁴  1:47²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 6 Paid 320.30
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 6 – 8 Paid 1,615.10

Scratched: None

Winner picked by NS

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES