Clark Handicap (Grade 1)- $500.000 Purse
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 23, 2018

The storm has arrived, and as we move into next season, Maxmillion Farm has plenty of reason to be excited about his Chrystal Ball gelding that seems to be hitting his strongest storm fury right now. A Storm Has Arrived recently was placed into the graded company, and has been knocking on the door of picking up such a win. His speed figures were improving, and this made him a pretty good pick for the race. He was our pick in the preview, and he was well regarded amongst those who participated in a forum competition to make trifecta picks for this race, provided by Gdp Inc. Despite that, he still went off at odds of 11/1, giving those who believed him plenty of return on their wagers. For winning trainer Maxmillion Farm, this is his first win in the stake. The same is true for jockey L Saez. The time of the win was 1:47.55, a middle of the road winning time when looking at prior editions. Let’s take a look at it.

(½ Mile- :47.23)- Breaking from the gate, both John Henry’s Made To Sin and Kryptonite, from TwinTowersRacing start well and have a good duel between them on the approach to the opening turn, and as we made our way around it. Ultimately, Kryptonite wins this battle, and at half a mile, he has pulled away by a length over Made To Sin. That one is still running second, but now has our eventual winner, A Storm Has Arrived pulling up along his outside for Maxmillion Farm. These two stalk our pace setter, while El Gran Black keeps them close by in fourth, for Mb Stables. Super Jack, for Gdp Inc, is running fifth here while four wide, potentially being able to pull to the outside of A Storm Has Arrived at this juncture of the race. Behind them, there was a wall of four across the stretch, consisting of, from inside to outside: Seminole (On The Map Racing), Evil Position (Maxmillion Farm), Rumble and Stranger, the last two from D J C Racing Stables. Lets Do It Big Boy, who did not start well for RNP Stables, is next, with the trailer being Duke Or Earl (Gdp Inc).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10. 68)- Kryptonite continues to show the way down the backstretch and is able to slide over to the rail just prior to reaching the final turn of the race with a length advantage. A Storm Has Arrived, who has really run a smart race to this point, moves ahead of Made To Sin and inches just a little closer to the leader at the top of the turn. Made To Sin is third and still running steadily at this point. El Gran Black, who had been stalking the stalkers the whole race is continuing to do that while on the rail while Super Jack remains in the fourth lane and having the ability to pull to the outside of A Storm Has Arrived. Seminole was starting to look a little more interested now, and seemed to be monitoring room that could open up in the middle of the field. Evil Position and Rumble continued to run with him, though Stranger backed out of that pursuit, in favor of joining Duke Or Earl and Lets Do It Big Boy at the back.

(Top Of Stretch- 1.7F To Go)- Most of the way around the turn, Kryptonite is able to maintain the lead, but as we approach the exit, A Storm Has Arrived sets sights on his path to victory, and completes the pass for first just prior to reaching the stretch. As good as he may have looked here, there was cause for concern behind him, especially in the form of Sweet Jack. This one ha been just behind him the whole way, and he was able to match his speed around the turn. The problem is that he had to do more then just match it, and that length was seemingly much larger at this point. Made To Sin was hanging around this group still, but not posing a threat for the win. El Gran Black also was running consistently, and was less then two lengths out of it here. Seminole, Evil Position, and Rumble were still running with each other and looking for room. The lane Seminole seemed to be eyeing before never materialized. Duke Or Earl, Lets Do It Big Boy were at the back, and post-time favorite Stranger was becoming a considerable disappointment.

(Finish- 1:47.55)- In the stretch, there was no one getting in the way of the storm. The Storm Has Arrived, indeed, and pours it on in the stretch to pick up the big victory. Sweet Jack ran very well to the wire, and gained very sightly on the winner in the stretch, but that would only be good enough for second on this day. After them, we had a bit of a transition between some who had been running at or near the back, and those who were at the front. Kryptonite struggled in the stretch, and Made To Sin would not make a move forward. This allowed Seminole and Rumble, simply by maintaining their speed to finish 3rd and 4th, ahead of Made To Sin. El Gran Black lacked stretch response, finishing 6th, just ahead of Evil Position. Duke Or Earl, Kryptonite, Stranger, and Lets Do It Big Boy complete the running order.

About The Winner: The Storm Has Arrived, trained by Maxmillion Farm, and ridden to victory by L Saez, is a four year old gelding by Chrystal Ball, is out of Stormy General. He was bred in Ontario by Maxmillion Farm as a first quarter two year old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 12 starts, and his first stake win of any type. His career earnings are now $435.950.

Track: Fast
Time: :47¹  1:10³  1:34⁴  1:47²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 8 Paid 74.10
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 8 – 1 Paid 590.70

Scratched: Grounded In Reality

Winner Picked By NS

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES