Hirsch Stakes- Grade 1 (BC)- $300.000 Purse
DMR- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
July 28, 2019
Ghost In The Shell took longer then most contenders at this level to break her maiden, but once she did, she progressed herself into running at the graded level. She may not have run well in the Acorn, and that may have been a big reason why she was a 15/1 longshot here in the Hirsch Stakes. It would be this race that Ghost In The Shell would have her biggest win of her career, punching her ticket to the BC Distaff with a sharp looking win. Her trainer is Spankys Barn, someone who turned her career around after acquiring her in the auction by getting her to run long. He wins the race for the first time. Jockey D Van Dyke, a regular rider of Ghost In The Shell, gets his second win, having also won last year with Enoughs Enough. The time of the win was 1:41.56, the fourth quickest in the race’s history. Congratulations to the winner! Here’s a look at it.
(1/4 Mile- :23.32)- Test Of Time, out of La Canada Racehorses, jumps out to early lead, entering the first turn with a length advantage over Simmer Down Stable’s Stellar Wind, who started from the outside. Ghost In The Shell, our eventual race winner out of Spankys Barn, is up front in the early going, assuming a stalking position, and is able to move over to the rail for the opening turn. To her outside, both Camp Hollywood (Estero Farms) and Queenhood (Mb Stables) are running side by side, trailing the leaders by two and a half. Back a little more, we see the pack, and they are running four wide across the track. From inside to outside, this consists of: Jinxed Queen (Joshua Stables), Sneaky Opus (Joshua Stables), Love Struck Baby (D J C Racing Stables), and Seek Victory (Mb Stables). Ineffable (TwinTowersRacing) runs by herself at the back early on.
(½ Mile- :46.97)- Moving into the backstretch, there is only one horse making an advance, and that would be Seek Victory, who had been four wide around the opening turn. She moves herself up to now be running three wide in a battle for second, a group that continued to consist of Ghost In The Shell. Test Of Time was still the leader, and while she had nearby stalkers, she was not being pressured as of yet. No changes elsewhere in the field, so let’s move on.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Test Of Time handles the turn well, and continues to lead as we move into the top that stretch, but that advantage is now just a head as Ghost In The Shell pulled up to her outside. At this time, Ghost In The Shell was looking good, though she had other concerns. Seek Victory sought her goal while running on the outside, and maintained good track position. Meanwhile, the rail had become wide open for Camp Hollywood to potentially come on through and there was no reason to think that she could not capitalize and make a bid. Queenhood was still close too, and looked to ride it out in her lane. Jinxed Queen and Sneaky Opus were passing the tiring Stellar Wind, and it looked like there was a lane available for one of them to come on through, but the stablemates would need to sort out between themselves who took it. Love Struck Baby lost a lot of ground, and Ineffable had still not made a run.
(Finish- 1:41.56)- Ghost In The Shell made easy work of Test Of Time to take the lead, and once she had it, she was still full of run. No one was going to catch her, and while there were some valiant efforts behind her, this day belonged to her, and to Spankys Barn. Camp Hollywood did all she could on the inside, and that is good enough for second. Third goes to Seek Victory, who covered a lot of extra race track. Sneaky Opus beat her stablemate to the lane that seemed to be there at the top of the stretch, but Jinxed Queen was just fine with that as Camp Hollywood moved down just enough to give her a lane as well. They go fourth and fifth, with Jinxed Queen sharing that spot with Test Of Time. Queenhood was in the mix all day, but never really advanced, and takes seventh. The rest of the field were not contenders, as Love Struck Baby, Ineffable and Stellar Wind round out the finishing order.
About The Winner- Ghost In The Shell, trained by Spankys Barn, and ridden to victory by D Van Dyke, is a three year old filly by Virtual Realism, and is out of Fatal Fuego. She was bred in California by Rampage Stable, and acquired by Spankys Barn in the December 2018 auction for just $14.120. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her third in 10 starts, and is her first stake win of any type. Her career earnings are now $304.120.
Track: Fast
Time: :231 :464 1:103 1:412
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 4 – 5 Paid 212.00
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 5 – 9 Paid 1,826.80
Scratched: None
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
