Impressive Win for Grayte Cruise in The Southwest

By Nynl Stables on February 16, 2021

The Southwest (Grade 3) (KYD)- $750.000 Purse
OP- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
February 15, 2021

On Monday at OP, another new player emerged as one to watch for the KYD as 26/1 longshot Grayte Cruise pulled off a surprising victory in the Grade 3 Southwest, earning the biggest share of the $750.000 purse. This was not one of my picks for this race, but it was noted that he could be a potential spoiler in this race. As a third quarter two year old, Grayte Cruise was behind many others in the division, but showed a lot of promise. He would win his first two races, and then at SA on the 6th, he turned out a very impressive work. The Southwest would be his first race in two months, and a big step up from the optional claimer he was last seen, so most people focused their picks on horses with more experience. I can’t say though that in reality, I would not have taken a shot on him at a 26/1 price. He won’t have a long odds next time, we can count on that. The winning trainer is Gdp Inc, and he does so for the first time, as does his rider, J Stein. Congratulations! We did have two late scratches in the race as Archduke Charles and Tko would be pulled from the race. The race was run in 1:41.48, the third quickest when at this distance. Let’s take a look!

(¼ Mile- :24.33)- Longshot War Chant, from Aer Stables, breaks well and our eventual winner, Grayte Cruise, from Gdp Inc, is right there, and it seems like these two will be the early frontrunners, along with Brave Companion, out of Nakamura Stables. However, Shifu Tan, the Keikowin Racing entry, had other ideas and assertively pushed to the front within the race’s opening turn. He would have some company with this move, as John Henry’s Sports Page also made a push at this point. For him, it was a four wide move. These two would therefore be your early leaders. Test The Party Code, out of Mb Stables, would advance on the inside to be third, and ran a length back, with Brave Companion now beside him. As for War Chant? He was not going to concern himself with the moves of his rivals and settled into the fifth position and Grayte Cruise would do the same thing right beside him, two lengths from the lead. This proved to be the right call for the race’s eventual top two finishers. Behind them, they were four wide. From inside to outside, that was Furious (Mb Stables), Cherokee Falcon (Chili King Stables), Lins Destiny (Estero Farms), and This One Is Fast (Patterson Stables). The trailer were the two outside starters, Breath Of The Wild (Smokey Stover) and Sea Gold (Night Rider Stables).

(½ Mile- :48.08)- Sports Page leads the way down the backstretch, and does so by half a length over Shifu Tan. Test The Party Code is third on the rail, a length back. Behind them, you see a lot of side to side movement from others in the field, but no one is moving forward to challenge these three frontrunners any further. You could sense that something would be coming in the turn, however. Brave Companion seemed to have the best position here, a neck in front of the others nearby, and running in the game’s famous money lane. Grayte Cruise and War Chant were part of this group and Furious came up a little to join them, and Lions Destiny was starting to move a little closer. Others had more work to do.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- At the front, Sports Page continues to be the race leader, with Shifu Tan being a length back, and Test The Party Code still in the mix while on the rail. The big mover here, however, was Grayte Cruise, who simply handled the turn brilliantly. This allowed him to quickly close the deficit to the leaders, and breeze by Brave Companion as if that one was not even there. That allowed Grayte Cruise to now be in the money lane, and Gdp Inc had to be thrilled with how this race was developing at this point. This is where the race was won over War Chant, too. Bear in mind that Grayte Cruise and War Chant had been running together for much of the race. In the turn, Grayte Cruise made his move while War Chant would wait, and this would allow Grayte Cruise to gain a length and a half on this rival that would try to be catching him later. Elsewhere in the field, Brave Companion was dropping back, and Lions Destiny was moving up a tad. No one else was making a push.

(Top of Stretch, 1:41.48)- Grayte Cruise carried his momentum from the turn into the stretch well, but Sports Page was not going to go down without a fight. Approaching the wire, Grayte Cruise simply had far more power in his stride than Sports Page and would go on to win the race by a length. Sports Page tired in the closing moments and that would be costly as both War Chant and Test The Party Code slipped by for second and third. Sports Page is fourth and Shifu Tan is a length further back in fifth. You have to call everyone else’s race a disappointment. The remainder of the running order goes down as Breath Of The Wild, Brave Companion, Cherokee Falcon, Sea Gold, Furious, and This One Is Fast.

About The Winner- Grayte Cruise, trained by Gdp Inc and ridden to victory by J Stein, is a three year old gelding by Z Grayte One and is out of Di Girli. He was bred in California by Gdp Inc as a third quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! He is 3-for-3 in his career, and this was his first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $483.000.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Grayte Cruise

Gdp Inc

Stein J

26.00

1¹