Summer Stakes (Grade 1) (BC)- $250.000 Purse
WO- For Two Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
September 20, 2020
The Summer Stakes once again delivered on its reputation of being a very competitive race as the top seven horses finished within one length of one another. Sure, we see that a lot, but with so much on the line, that photo means the BC for its winner, and not a cent of earnings for others. Mb Stables was happy with the way the photo ended up, as his horses would finish in the top two positions. Grabbing the win would be Evergreen, getting the headbob over stablemate Furious, and each a nose ahead of third place Extremo, from Acber Stables. For Mb Stables, it is his second straight win in the race, and fourth overall. It’s the first Summer Stakes win for jockey A Beschizza. Congratulations to them! The race was won in a time of 1:33.79, the slowest winning time in ten years, but all that was needed. Let’s take a look!
(¼ Mile- :22.88)- The party gets started on the east coast with West Coast Party jumping out to the lead for trainer, Stald Gullis. He had an early battle with Race To The Top, but the Nakamura Stables entry conceded that race at the start to his rival and dropped into a stalking position. Behind him, our eventual winner from Mb Stables, Evergreen, sat just off the lead, two and a half lengths back, while running to the outside of Fractious-trained Whatchagonnado, who held the rail. It’s another length and a half to a three wide group, consisting of, from inside to outside, Beach Xaar (Diablo Diablo), Religion (D J C Racing Stables), and Furious (Mb Stables). Next in line are Obedient (Mb Stables) and Stealth Command (Estero Farms). The trailers are Extremo (Acber Farms), Cheesy (Keikowin Racing), and Coronavirus (Aer Stables).
(½ Mile- :45.89)- West Coast Party slows it up a little bit running down the backstretch, but there is not a lot of movement going on behind him. Race To The Top begins to fall into the clutches of both Evergreen and Whatchagonnado, who were preparing to go by on each side of him. Behind them, there was a two length gap to the heart of the pack, and while we saw some side to side shifting of horses looking for better lanes back there, there were not any particularly noteworthy moves. Stealth Command and Extremo seemed better positioned now to make a run when they were ready.
(Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Rounding the turn, West Coast Party was in good stride, but the lead became in jeopardy as Evergreen made his push towards the exit, and emphatically moved to the outside of the early leader. He was now within half a length of the lead. Race To The Top was hanging in there for now, but Whatchagonnado was now getting boxed in on the rail. Behind them, the field began to tighten up, and you could see the makings of our latest race here on HRP that will have a bunch hitting the wire in close proximity. The best lanes at this time seemed to belong to Furious, Stealth Command, and Extremo, and no surprise that they would all end up finishing well. Beach Xaar looked ambitious and seemed poised for a good run, too.
(Finish- 1:33.79)- For Evergreen, the best news was that he was always ahead of the pack of pursuers, so this enabled him to have a clear path to make his move to the lead and run his race to the wire while trying to hold off all of the others. He moved down in the stretch a little, so this allowed Whatchagonnado to have a lane to run in, but it may have messed up Beach Xaar. Meanwhile, Furious, Stealth Command, and Extremo were making the most out of their lanes. If others wanted to show more, they had more traffic to deal with. With a furlong to go Evergreen seemed more comfortable then he would end up, but he would be able to cling on for the victory as many of them hit the wire together, including seven within half a length. It is Evergreen with the win, over Furious and Extremo, with pacesetter West Coast Party getting fourth. Tough luck finishers in fifth to seventh are Stealth Command, Cheesy, and Whatchagonnado. The other five, after a length, were all side by side as well. Obedient gets the nod over Beach Xaar, Race To The Top and Religion, with Coronavirus safely quarantined in last.
About The Winner- Evergreen, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by A Beschizza, is a two year old colt by Centerpiece and is out of Calm and Collected. He was bred in Florida as a yearling by Mb Stables, the only trainer he has ever known. The win is his second in five starts, and his first stake win. His career earnings are now $195.800.
Track: Firm
Time: :224 :454 1:091 1:333
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 3 – 7 Paid 125.40
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 7 – 12 Paid 1,682.90
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
