Summer Stakes (Grade 2) (BC)- $200.000 Purse
WO- For Two Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
September 18, 2016

It’s still very early and all, but here’s a hunch that we are going to be hearing the name Generals Opus for a long time.  The Summer Stakes provides a great opportunity for two year old turf stars to showcase their talent, and the winner of course, is BC headed assuming the trainer opts for that route.  Coming into the race, Generals Opus seemed like the best bet.  He was our pick, the post time favorite, and the most prolific winner heading into the race.  It’s early, but Sunday in the Summer Stakes this young colt was quite impressive.   The proud winning trainer is Mb Stables, and he wins the stake for the second time in three years.  Aboard the winner was J R Velazquez, and it’s the first time he’s won the race. As far as our picking him, that might not be a surprise, but hopefully you were listening to our second choice, as we hit that as well, and got a decent exacta out of it!  Now that race time, that is definitely something that will get your attention, as the race was won in a time of 1:32.97, which shattered the old stake record (and this is a stake with a deep history) by about half a second.  Congratulations to the winners! Here’s a deeper look!

1st- 3- Generals Opus (9/2)- Despite being the favorite, we were still able to get a pretty good price on the eventual winner from Mb Stables today.  He was not interested in running early, however, going right to the back.  When things stabilized in the backstretch, Generals Opus was ninth, and about 4 ½ lengths from the leaders.  He ran here three wide, with Sir Plucky Money and Finalist.  Moving into the turn, the gap to the leaders increased another lengths, but J R Velazquez began to size up his move at this time.  With about three furlongs to go and approaching the exit of the turn, Generals Opus made an incredibly powerful sweeping move.  This would force him outside, but that would not matter, at this time he was possessed and had a gear everyone else could only dream about.  At the top of the stretch, all we had to do was watch him run.  It was pretty evident that he was clearly the best at this point, so we basically just sat back and watched as he flew by those who had been ahead of him, making some very talented horses look slow.  Ye Charley could not hold him off, and Sir Plucky Monkey started moving too late.  Generals Opus was dominant to the wire, and wins by 2 ½ lengths.  Generals Opus is a two year old colt by Broonstick Opus and out of Generals Cowgirl (General Assembly/Mama Ucha, Mama Ucha is also the dam of Chai Latte).   He was bred in New York by Mb Stables, the only trainer from which he has ever known.  Congratulations to the connections!

2nd- 1- Sir Plucky Money (23/1)- Somehow the Blushing Meadows entry was allowed to be the longest shot on the board.  Early on, he was not too interested in the early pace, and had a nice position on the rail as they moved into the turn.  He would wait a little longer then Generals Opus did to make his move, but when he did, he was as good as anyone.   In the final furlong, once he was able to get by Spring Stormtrooper, he was particularly explosive.  I liked that I saw at this point in the race, and we’ll be seeing a lot more from him down the road.  But, probably not at 23/1.  You had your chance at that price!

3rd- 9- Ye Charley (5/1)- Quickest of them all out of the gate for Kopites, setting the opening quarter mile in a time of :23.01.  Conceded the lead soon after, but still continued to run in good stride.  Ran well while around the turn while Roombound was forced to go four wide, and he would re-emerge with the lead into the top of the stretch, seemingly in good shape.  Remained in good stride for much of the stretch run, but there was no way Generals Opus was going to be denied.  In the end, it’s a strong third, though I may have liked to see him put a more of a fight for second.

4th- 4- Spring Stormtrooper (8/1)- The Stald Gullis entry got off to an average start along the rail, tucking in behind Plucky Opus.  Stayed in the spot around the turn, and never really mounted a challenge to take the lead, but what he was able to do was simply, run consistently all the way to the wire.  In doing that, he was able to pick off the positions of a couple that tired out and gets a check for his trainer.

5th -7- Tune Up (15/1)- Didn’t get too involved with the leaders, but the Australia Wide entry also did start well, and stalked the frontunners early on.  Hung around in this position, and looked to make a move on exit of the turn.  This forced him wide and almost got him run over by Generals Opus.  While in that lane, he ran well, but fell short of picking up a check.

6th- 11- Roombound (22/1)- The longshot started decent for Brave, but after a couple furlongs, he made a considerable push forward to challenge the leaders, and took over the lead soon after Ye Charley hit the quarter.  While running four wide, he would be the leader at a half, running in :46.00.  This would ultimately be too much for him, as he would be passed by Ye Charley again, and would eventually drop out of it.

7th- 8- Plucky Opus (6/1)- Got off to a strong start for Big Guns Stables, challenging Ye Charley for a moment before opting to stalk.  Remained in a consistent stride while rounding the turn, but as they moved into the stretch, it started to become apparent that he was not going to be as quick as the others. Struggled more then I would have preferred to see in the final half furlong.

8th- 6- Gold Strike (6/1)- The Eastern Equine entry was very sluggish out of the gate, and could see them all in front of him as they ran down the backstretch.  Hung around at the back for much of the way, and moved to the rail in the stretch to pick off a couple spots from those who were tiring.

9th- 5- Meant To Be Alone (14/1)- The last of the horses that showed some interest in running early; the second Kopites entry was about three lengths off the lead for much of the backstretch run.  Midway through, when those who were behind him started to move forward, Meant To Be Alone just did not have an answer.

10th- 10- Twisted Laff (9/1)- It was an average start for the Broken Spoke Stables entry, but soon in the backstretch, he would move forward as well and would be with the leaders as they moved toward the turn.  Called it a day when it came time for the stretch run.

11th- 2- Finalist (10/1)- Started the race near the back of the field early, but actually kept good company, being right between the eventual winner and runner up while they moved down the backstretch for Joshua Stables.  However, when they made their moves, Finalist did not show anything.

12th- 12- Flying Swift (20/1)- Fortunately for the trainer, M.b.o. Racing Stable, his filly did better in the next race.  Here, Flying Swift did not start well and never made his presence felt.

Track: Firm
Time: :23   :46   1:09¹  1:32⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 1 Paid 125.10
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 1 – 9 Paid 463.80

Scratched: Charlie Paycheck, Hispaniola, Sicario, Two Codes

Winner and Exacta Picked by NS

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES