The Pennine Ridge (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
BEL- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Eighth on the Inner Turf
June 1, 2019

General Ferro had been entered for the $500.000 PEN Mile on Saturday, but trainer Mb Stables scratched him quickly, and placed him here, in the $200.000 Pennine Ridge. This made him one of the favorites for this race, and in the fifth running of the race, he would step up and pick up the win. It is the first win in the stake for Mb Stables, and that is also true for jockey M Franco. The time of the victory was 1:45.70, the third fastest such time thus far. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :47.19)- Almost Always, out of WIlliams9, is initially the quickest out of the gate and seems as though he will lead the field into the first turn. However, General Ferro, our eventual winner out of Mb Stables, has other ideas, and shoots to the lead just as the run into the turn begins. Hard Cider, from D J C Racing Stables, sneaks around the outside of Williams9 as well, and takes second after half a mile. Almost Always is third now on the rail, with Nav Man running to his outside for Aml Racing. There is then a gap of about two lengths to Manifestation (Arindel) and Dog Of Pompeii (Winning Link Stables), who are running side by side about four and a half lengths back. Nearby to their inside is Sargeant Major (Arq Racingfarms), with Laffin Jamie (High Voltage) by himself and trailing.

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.21)- General Ferro extends his lead down the backstretch with a pretty run, and that advantage is now over two lengths. Hard Cider still runs in the second position, and Almost Always has conceded another length and now trails by three with Nav Man still running beside him. Further back, there is not much change. Manifestation and Dog Of Pompeii are still inside and Sargeant Major still on the rail. Laffin Jamie has shown more interest, and now looks to make a four wide move around the turn.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- It’s all General Ferro now. The field has let him get away as he still leads by two and a half lengths into the top of stretch. There has not been one challenger gaining much ground while in the turn, and while some shuffling begins at the exit of the turn, it probably needed to happen earlier. Hard Cider is still second, but has never looked to a mount a challenge, nor has either Almost Always or Nav Man. Manifestation has moved up a bit, and Laffin Jamie was coming on, but had a lot of ground to make up.

(Finish- 1:45.70)- In the stretch, General Ferro does all he needs to do, which is maintain a steady stride to win the race by just over a length. Manifestation made up ground well to be second, and should show promise as he moves forward. Laffin Jamie gets third, but seemed to have begun his run too late. Sargeant Major gets the fourth place check, but never challenged for anything more then that. Hard Cider, Almost Always, Nav Man, and Dog Of Pompeii finish out the running order.

About The Winner- General Ferro, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco is a three year old colt by Ferro, and is out of General Counsel. He was bred in California as a first quarter two year old by John Henry, and acquired by the Mb Stables, unraced, in private sales for just $10.000 last April. The win is his fourth in 11 starts, and is his first stake win of any type. His career earnings are now $213.890.

Track: Firm
Time: :47   1:10¹  1:33³  1:45³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 2 Paid 53.20
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 2 – 8 Paid 1,340.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES