Lexington (Grade 3) (KYD)- $400.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
April 15, 2023
The running of the Lexington represented the final opportunity for a horse to earn valuable KYD points, with twenty of them on the line for the winner. There were a few in this field that came into the race tied with 30 points, an amount that by itself would be highly unlikely to get in, but a win would change everything. One of those in that tie was High In Hollywood, for The Freakshow, and the gelding made the most of his chance, with a come from behind win by half a length! With that, The Freakshow will have a runner in the KYD. Now, it should be said that he is technically 22nd in points, but there are seven Mb Stables trained horses in front of him, and that trainer can only run three in the Derby. So, of course, Mb could decide to sell a bunch, but I doubt he will. Congratulations to The Freakshow on the win, which is his first in the Lexington. Jockey J R Velazquez, surprisingly, is also a first-time winner, so kudos to him as well, especially with making the late run. The second-place finisher, Alive, needed more, and will need to pursue other options. Apache Rise Again, the post time favorite, was probably safe before, but now he is a lock. The race was won in a time of 1:41.17, which misses the stake record by just .01! Let’s take a look at how it went down!
(1/4 Mile- :23.32)- As the race begins, the Mb Stables- trained Prince George is the quickest out of the gate and looks like he will be the leader after a quarter mile, but on the outside Arindel’s Dirty Dirty Sin is a little faster and holds a half-length lead at this point. Arindel will be happy that his horse was able to quickly get over to the rail, as well. More Twist, in Mb silks for the first time, is closer to the front than he usually is since 8.5 furlongs is not otherwise enough distance for him. Also stalking the front two with him, are the Riggins Racing pair, Magical Sunset and Alive. Appeal For Mercy runs in the middle of the field for Diablo Diablo, and Apache Rise Again begins to move to his outside for Apache Warrior. Further back, and about five lenghts from the lead, we have a group of four in which our eventual winner, The Freakshow’s High In Hollywood, is a part of. Vince The Prince (Riggins Racing), Martinez (Royalty Stables), and Buccaneers Bounty (Nakamura Stables) are the other three here. At the back of the pack, we have Neon Town (Broken Spoke Stables).
(1/2 Mile- :47.01)- Down the backstretch, Prince George gets back around Dirty Dirty Sin, and effortlessly pulls a length ahead of him at a half mile. More Twist is doing a good job of keeping pace with them as he runs in third lane and starts to pull even with Dirty Dirty Sin. It’s another length to the stablemates from Riggins Racing, as More Sunset and Alive keep the leaders well within striking range. Not much is changing with either Appeal For Mercy or Apache Rise Again for now, and looking back a little further, High In Hollywood now has a head in front of Vince The Prince, Martinez, and Buccaneers Bounty, but he had not begun to make a move yet. Neon Town continued to run by himself in the back.
(Top of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- As the field completes the backstretch portion and moves around the turn, Dirty Dirty Sun decides he has done enough racing today and begins his drop to the back. Prince George was not having any such problem, as he was still in a good stride for the turn, but he does get some new company. It’s a familiar face for him, as stablemate More Twist takes over the top spot, and maybe this newer tactic will work out well for him. There was plenty of room between these two, and Alive looks to make the most of it. Apache Rise Again, while dealing with a wide trip, was looking strong and moved into fourth. More Sunset and Appeal For Mercy were trying to keep in touch with the lead group. Meanwhile, as all this was going on, High In Hollywood would begin to look like he would have something to say about the result just prior to reaching the top of the turn. That is when he began to pull away from the horses that he had been running with and set his sights now on those further ahead of him. He would be able to take the lane behind More Twist to do this, and by the time he had entered the stretch, he was up to seventh, but more importantly, within three lengths and a clear lane in front of him until he got to More Twist. The others were now looking like non-factors.
(Finish- 1:41.17)- Early in the stretch, High In Hollywood had just a little more skip in his step and began closing in more on the leaders. Prince George and More Twist still seemed to be running well, and both Alive and Apache Rise Again looked like they might be tough to pass as well. In the closing moments, especially the final half furlong, High In Hollywood was clearly the best in the stretch, finding room in between Alive and More Twist to emphatically make the pass for the lead and never looking back en route to a half a length of victory. Alive grabs second with Apache Rise Again third. Magical Sunset’s consistent stride earns his trainer a fourth-place check, while surprisingly both More Twist and Prince George are out of the top four, placing fifth and sixth. Neon Town made some late passes to be seventh, ahead of Appeal For Mercy, Buccaneers Bounty, Vince The Prince, Martinez and Dirty Dirty Sin.
About The Winner- High In Hollywood, trained by The Freakshow and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three-year-old gelding by Hollywood Freak and is out of High N Tight. He was bred as a third quarter two-year-old by his trainer in California, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in six starts, and his first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $462.160.
Track: Fast
Time: :231 :47 1:11 1:41
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 9 – 1 Paid 97.00
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 1 – 8 Paid 241.20
Scratched: Confidentialist, Ferrobomber Laga, Poolside Brave
— NS
Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES
