Bold Venture Stakes (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse
WO- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Dirt
June 12, 2021
The betting public thought much better of Geronimo than we did in our picks, making him the post time favorite. In a photo that may have required an expert eye to determine the winner, Geronimo stepped up and earned his fifth career win. We were a little concerned about him being occasionally inconsistent and simply leaned towards others, but the Pocono General gelding certainly showed what he is capable of in this win! It results in the first win in the Bold Venture Stakes for Nakamura Stables and rider R M Hernandez, so congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:14.82, just a hundredth of a second off the stake record. Let’s take a look at it!
(¼ Mile- :22.64)- The stablemate of our winner, Kiss The Snake, is certainly in the mood to run right from the gate, bursting out to a lead of about two lengths. He’s all by himself down the backstretch, and his closest pursuers are the two that would get their photo taken together at the wire. Geronimo holds the rail well for Nakamura Stables, running to the inside of the TwinTowersRacing-owned Expert Eye. Admire, from Angelos Stable, leads the next group while running in the third lane, and he has Beast Mode (Bears Stable) on his inside and Cold Case (John Henry) to his outside. Next it’s In Waiting (Rampage Stable), who is on the rail, and Tudor One (Spankys Barn). At the back, we have Iguacu Falls (D J C Racing Stables), Ferrari Pininfarina (Night Rider Stables), Sinissippi Chai (Hawaiian Shirt Guy), and Charity Jane (Mella Sabella).
(½ Mile- :45.47, Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Kiss The Snake kept the lead to herself on the backstretch, and around the turn, but everyone knew that this would not last forever. Moving into the top of the stretch, the field began to close in on her, with Expert Eye looking to be the first one to go by. He was less than a half length back at this point. Geronimo was not quite there yet, but positioned to come on between them, about a length behind. Cold Case had a great lane for the stretch if he could make it stick with a run, and both In Waiting and Admire seemed to be in striking distance. Further back, there was a lot of shuffling around for position, and they began to line up. You had the feeling that someone was going to come out of that with a strong closing effort, but for the moment, it was uncertain who that would be.
(Finish- 1:14.82)- Expert Eye takes the lead early in the stretch, but now must contend with Geronimo, who has a little more run. Geronimo completes the pass with about half a furlong to go, needing to be strong every step of the way with In Waiting close by to his inside. Approaching the wire, though, Expert Eye was not going to give up and almost came back on him in an exciting stretch battle. It ended up being very close at the wire, with Geronimo getting the win by a nose over Expert Eye, and In Waiting was seen in the picture, too, about a half length back. Iguacu Falls would be the one making the great closing bid, but he would simply run out of time at the end. It’s not a complete waste, though, as he earns the fourth place spoils narrowly over Admire. Rounding it out, we have Tudor One, Kiss The Snake, Ferrari Peninfarina, Cold Case, Sinissippi Chai, Charity Jane, and Beast Mode.
About The Winner- Geronimo, trained by Nakamura Stables and ridden to victory by R M Hernandez, is a four year old gelding by Pocono General, and is out of Mama Knows. He was bred as a yearling by Nakamura Stables in California, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 22 starts, and his third stake win, all of which are graded. His career earnings are now $690.700.
Track: Fast
Time: :223 :452 1:084 1:144
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 1 – 10 Paid 13.10
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 10 – 4 Paid 95.30
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
