The Fleet Sprint Handicap (Grade 3)- $500.000 Purse
OP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
April 13, 2024

Since June 2022, Incinerator has not finished lower than second in any race that he has been in, but it would take a claim by Night Rider Stables to start giving the horse the chances at the stake level. Incinerator won his first race for his new trainer, the $100.000 Thomas Stakes, and now in the Fleet Sprint Handicap, he would score the biggest win of his career. This six-year-old gelding is an interesting one to watch going forward, for sure. Night Rider Stables has made a habit of winning this race, as he now has done so four times. Jockey M Franco is a first-time winner. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:08.35, equaling the second quickest winning time in the stake’s history. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :22.15)- From the outside, TwinTowersRacing’s Booker will battle for the early advantage with the Mb Stables-trained Natural Instinct, and its Natural Instinct who has the upper hand at a quarter mile. Incinerator, our eventual winner from Night Rider Stables, also broke well out of the starting gate and will stalk the top two. Strong Kommand has the same idea for Maxmillion Farm while running on the outside. Next up, we have a four wide group in the middle of the field, which consists of, from inside to outside, Top Of The Crop (Maxmillion Farm), In Action (Spankys Barn), Blamethespeedparty (Martyparty) and White Sunshine (Spankys Barn). It’s another length to Cherokee Asset (Rock Creek) and another to Lokoya Road (Mb Stables) and Pure At Heart (Night Rider Stables). Danube (Mo Mentum Farm).

(½ Mile- :44.94, Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Natural Instinct and Booker are still the top two horses, and early in the turn, they get some company up front as White Sunshine moves forward to get within a length. Meanwhile, on the rail, Incinerator was having a very good trip, and would seem to have more than enough room to come through along the rail. The same could not be said for Strong Kommand, who ran along the outside. Blamethespeedparty is the best of the rest at this point, pushing a length ahead of Top Of The Crop, Cherokee Asset, and In Action. Lokoya Road had not gotten involved yet, while Pure At Heart and Danube ran at the back.

(Finish- 1:08.35)- Natural Instinct holds the lead early in the stretch, but Incinerator was not going to be denied on this day. As anticipated, this horse that knows how to win races maintained his smooth trip on the rail and would take the lead with half a furlong to go. At that point, all that was left was to watch him run to the wire, and he would go on to win the race by a length and a half. Natural Instinct is second, with stablemate Lokoya Road working his way through the field to get third, over a very tight grouping for fourth. Blamethespeedparty, gets the head bob on Danube for the fourth-place check, and White Sunshine and Booker were right there, too, and dead heat for sixth. Rounding it out, it’s Strong Kommand, Top Of The Crop, Cherokee Asset, In Action, and Pure At Heart.

About The Winner- Incinerator, trained by Night Rider Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a six-year-old gelding by Fire N Fury, and is out of the late Charge Extra. He was bred in Florida by Mb Stables as a yearling, and was acquired by Night Rider Stables, via Jormav, with a $50.000 claim in November 2023. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his sixth in 19 starts, his second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $551.310.

Track: Fast
Time: :22  :44⁴  :56³  1:08¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 4 Paid 47.60
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 4 – 9 Paid 1,268.10

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES