Simpson Stakes (Grade 1)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Three Year Olds
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
September 7, 2024
It had been eleven months since Exemplary last won a race, and he did not get off to a particularly strong start as a three-year-old. Recently, he had been showing signs of getting closer to that victory and had run third in the Quick Call at SAR last month. In the Simpson Stakes, he would make the most of his opportunity to cash in a big part of this $2,000.000 purse, as he grabbed just the third victory of his career. Exemplary is trained by Mb Stables, and the trainer has now won three of the six editions of the Simpson Stakes. P Lopez is the winning rider, and it is his first trip to the winner’s circle. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:13.90, the second quickest in the history of the race. Let’s take a look at it now:
(1/4 Mile- :22.70)- Bronze Crown will be the early leader of the race, running for TwinTowersRacing, but he will have to take the turn about five wide as he was not able to clear the rest of the field. A tight three-way battle for second, about half a length behind him, prevents him from being able to do so. Supered is in the middle of that trio, for Team 7 Illusions, and to his inside is the race’s eventual winner from Mb Stables, Exemplary. Thug is on the outside of that group, for TwinTowersRacing. Running fifth on the rail is the D J C Racing Stables owned Awad, and because he was close enough to that group of three running for second, they could not get to the rail, either, making Bronze Crown have to go five wide. The next three are very close, as well, and this includes Maxmillion Farm’s Fayette County, who holds the lane right behind Thug. To his inside are Good Knights (Our Athletes) and Jurassic Park (Smokey Stover). It’s another length to Heinous (Mb Stables) and Last Round (Fractious), and another to the trailers Bad Fear (Mb Stables) and Cousy (D J C Racing Stables).
(½ Mile- :45.57, Top of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Working our way around the turn, the front group is very close together for most of it, but as we get closer to the top of the stretch, we have one that emerges as the best. That would be Exemplary, who would outkick the others that had been running near him to be clear by about a length as they enter the top of the stretch. For now, Bronze Crown is trying to hang in there, but it seems like that will be short lived. Awad had just enough room to through on the rail, and Supered was very much still a contender. Thug was losing ground, and Good Knights hoped to be able to come through to the inside of Bronze Crown. Fayette County would make an outside bid, and Heinous did not have much room to run while closer to the rail. Jurassic Park seemed to be boxed in at this point. Last Round, Cousy, and Bad Fear were still close enough to make a run, but they needed to begin that now.
(Finish- 1:13.90)- Exemplary would lead the way in the stretch, holding his length advantage which kept him out of harm’s way as others in the field looked to find their best running lane. Awad would become the biggest challenger, but Exemplary would get the breaks in this one that perhaps he had not had in any of his races for the last eleven months. Awad would get close, and valiant bids were also made by Good Knights and Heinous once they had room to run, but this would be Exemplary’s day as he gets the victory. Second goes to Awad, who was the one we picked to win. Longshot Good Knights takes third in a photo over Heinous, and it’s a length and a half to Jurassic Park and late running Cousy. The rest of the order will read Last Round, Fayette County, Supered, Bronze Crown, Bad Fear, and Thug.
About The Winner- Exemplary, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by P Lopez, is a three-year-old colt by Tactical and is out of The Belle Tolls. He was bred in California by Mb Stables as a first quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in 14 starts and second stake win, each of which are graded. His career earnings are now $1,454.200.
| ## | Horse Name | Owner Name | Jockey | Odds | Fin | Time | SRF | ||
| 3 | Exemplary | Mb Stables | Lopez P | 7.25 | 11/4 | 1:13.90 | |||
| 1 | Awad | D J C Racing Stables | Velazquez J R | 3.50 | 21/2 | 1:13.98 | |||
| 6 | Good Knights | Our Athletes | Geroux F | 34.25 | 3hd | 1:14.09 | |||
| 4 | Heinous | Mb Stables | Ortiz I Jr | 10.65 | 41 | 1:14.12 | |||
| 7 | Jurassic Park | Smokey Stover | Gutierrez Mario | 6.25 | 5nk | 1:14.41 | |||
| 2 | Cousy | D J C Racing Stables | Hernandez R M | 11.30 | 6nk | 1:14.48 | |||
| 9 | Last Round | Fractious | Gaffalione T | 64.35 | 7nk | 1:14.53 | |||
| 11 | Fayette County | Maxmillion Farm | Dominguez Jo | 19.55 | 81/2 | 1:14.60 | |||
| 8 | Supered | Team 7 Illusions | Beschizza A | 10.50 | 91 | 1:14.73 | |||
| 12 | Bronze Crown | TwinTowersRacing | Bridgmohan S X | 10.30 | 91 | 1:14.73 | |||
| 5 | Bad Fear | Mb Stables | Franco M | 7.45 | 111/2 | 1:14.98 | |||
| 10 | Thug | TwinTowersRacing | Cedillo A | 5.90 | 12 | 1:15.09 |
Track: Firm
Time: :223 :452 1:081 1:134
$2 Mutuel Prices:
| 3 – Exemplary | 16.50 | 7.60 | 5.40 |
| 1 – Awad | 4.80 | 3.70 | |
| 6 – Good Knights | 31.40 |
$1 Exacta: 3 – 1 Paid 37.80
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 1 – 6 Paid 1,524.00
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
