Shadwell Turf Mile (Grade 1)- $875.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
October 3, 2020

In 2020, Going Gone entered the starting gate for the Shadwell Turf Mile for the fourth year in a row. The prior three races were 7th, 9th, and 8th, so even though this gelding has otherwise been successful in his career, you’d be forgiven if you looked past him. This time, things would be much different, as he ends up getting the win. Maybe it was being on the rail, maybe his fourth different jockey in those four races was the answer, but now Going Gone can put his name on the list of winners for the race. Both trainer John Henry and jockey G Franco will do the same. The time of the win was 1:32.88, putting it in the middle of the pack when looking at past race times. Let’s take a look!

(¼ Mile- :22.97)- Breaking well out of the starting gate, it would be the Our Athletes trained Lab Cat, but this would mean that she would have to run around the entire opening turn about eight lanes over before only being able to move over to the fourth lane for the backstretch. Bombastic Nobility, on the far outside for Oval Express Farms, was in the same moment for a bit, but would wisely back off of that in favor of moving over, putting him in the middle of the field. The ones that Lab Cat had to deal with at the front, now, were Pure Gifts, from John Henry; Through The World, from La Canada Racehorses; and Di Vieux Carre, from Gdp Inc. They were all within a length of the leader. La Canada Racehorses was looking to pick up his second big turf win of the day, but maybe do so without splitting the purse, as Billy Joel rocked his way to a dead heat win in the Hirsch Turf Classic. Horses numbered 1-4 were next in line and looking like they never left the starting gate how they were lined up. That of course, is where the race winner was positioned as John Henry’s Going Gone ran comfortably on the rail, with Show Shocker (Maxmillion Farm), Paris Diplomat (D J C Racing Stables), and Bobs Ticket (Mb Stables) right beside him. Bombastic Nobility was next, then came the post-time favorite, Spiral (Mb Stables) and Multiple Shadows. That one had the Our Athletes-A Beschizza combination going again, hoping for a repeat of the First Lady. Trailing are outside horses that wisely dropped to the back: Masons Day (Gdp Inc), Bold Express (Mb Stables), and Sunday Phunnies (Nakamura Stables).

(½ Mile- :45.69)- Lab Cat, still in the fourth lane, remains the leader with Pure Gifts not going away immediately to his inside, about half a length. Through The World is sitting in the third position here, still within a length himself, keeping the top two from moving over to the rail any further. Di Vieux Carre, apparently, was close enough to him here to keep Through The World from doing so. That one was starting to drop, forcing Going Gone to move down a lane, and this made him lose a small amount of ground to Bobs Tickets, Paris Diplomat, and Show Shocker, all of whom had better lanes at this point in time. Things were tightening up behind them.

(Top of The Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- The lead still belongs to Lab Cat, but that looks to only be for a little while longer. If you had money on Bobs Ticket right now, you had to be feeling good as he came on running quite strongly on the outside, reminding everyone what he can do when the turf is firm. For Going Gone, things were getting quite congested in front of him, and his stablemate, Pure Gifts may have been a hindrance for him a bit as he moved down, and down again. Fortunately for him, both Show Shocker had to do this as well if they wanted to get by Lab Cat, so now Going Gone was five lengths over, and had got by both of those two. Bobs Ticket looked to be the toughest one for him to get by now. Eventually, someone had to take the rail, and that would be Bold Express. All the movement downward by others, allowed plenty of room for this one, and he would make the most of it, making a good push which moved him to be within a length of Going Gone, although there were many horses in between them at this point.

(Finish- 1:32.88)- At the top of the stretch, it looked like Going Gone reached his full stride just a little quicker than did Bold Express and Bobs Ticket, allowing him to take the top spot. However, those two rivals were also running well, and not giving in. However, Going Gone, after not even hitting the board in this race the last three years was not going to give in. Bold Express, in the very last strides made a great push, but in the end it is Going Gone getting the win by a nose. Bobs Ticket, perhaps due to the wider trip, could not quite run with them to the wire, and hangs for third, almost being caught by Show Shocker and the consistent running Di Vieux Carre. Rounding out the order its Paris Diplomat, Sunday Phunnies, Spiral, Lab Cat, Bombastic Nobility, Multiple Shadows, Pure Gifts, Through The World, and Masons Day.

About The Winner- Going Gone, trained by John Henry, and ridden to victory by G Franco, is a six year old gelding by the great Cherokee Sunset, and is out of Faith On The Move. He was bred by Team 7 Illusions as a second quarter two year old in California, and acquired by John Henry via Team 7 Illusions, after passing through Rouge River Stables, John Henry on a first go-round, Mojica Racing, and then Team 7 again; in August 2018 for $330.000 tag in private sales. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his twelfth in 37 starts, his seventh stake win, and sixth graded win. His career earnings are $2,117.720.

Track: Firm
Time: :22⁴  :45³  1:08⁴  1:32⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 11 Paid 106.50
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 11 – 4 Paid 778.50

Scratched: Technic

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES