Final Delivery may have given his connections a little scare early in the race when he was forced off the rail and shuffled all the way back to fifth, but he was never more than three lengths off the lead, and when asked to run, he responded quickly and decisively.
The eventual winner broke sharply and held his position on the rail just behind Renal Pleasure and Banshee Star as the field approached the clubhouse turn. But midway on the turn, Renal Pleasure moved to the rail in front of him, and with Foolish Panther to his outside, he was forced to drop back to fourth alongside Foolish Panther.
Banshee Star pulled clear of the field by 1 ½ lengths, while Stanford took second from Renal Pleasure who was beginning to fade on the rail, forcing Final Delivery off the rail. By now he was fifth by 3 lengths and surrounded by horses. Foolish Panther pulled up alongside Stanford, denying Final Delivery a route to the front.
The field reached the far turn and Foolish Panther swung just wide enough to give Final Delivery an opening which he took full advantage of. In just a few jumps he was past Foolish Panther and less than a length behind Stanford. He seemed to hang for a second, but as they straightened in the stretch, he exploded, taking the lead with a furlong to run. Stanford went with him but couldn’t keep pace as Final Delivery drew away by 1 ½ at the half-mile marker and 2 at the wire.
It was the third win in seven starts for the Mb Stables home-bred and brings his earnings to $261.800. But maybe more importantly, the victory gave the chestnut colt 10 KYD points.
Order of Finish:
Final Delivery – Made a big move on the turn for home and pulled away to win by 2
Red Panther – Came flying from the back of the pack in the stretch to finish 2nd
Stanford – Stalked the pace throughout and finished 3rd less than a length behind Red Panther
Banshee Star – Set the pace from early on but faded in the stretch to finish 4th
Foolish Panther – Made a big fun on the backstretch but couldn’t get past the leaders and finished 5th
Nineties Batler – Came from the back of the pack to finish 6th
Greek Consul – Lost ground with a wide trip and finished 7th
Condottieri Secret – Never better than seventh, finished 8th
Renal Pleasure – Led briefly but faded badly and finished 9th
CONGRATULATIONS MB STABLES!
Categories: STAKES ARTICLES
