CC Jewel ($175.000 Purse)
CD- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 12, 2022

In the CC Jewel, most of the horses in the field had plenty of experience. Then, there was Komodo G, a Centerpiece colt that had only made two starts in his career. Both were in maiden claimers, making him just as eligible as anyone else in the field. On Saturday, this youngster pulled off the win, at odds of 21/1 for trainer Acber Farms. For the trainer, it is their first win in the CC Jewel, and it is the second time that jockey G Corrales has been aboard the winner. In 2018, he rode Catch A Buzz to victory. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:48.09, and as this was the first edition of the race run at CD, we can’t fairly compare that to the other editions on the race. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :46.79)- Suspect jumps to an uncontested lead out of the starting gate, and holds a length and a half advantage over his second place stablemate, Tropicality around the opening turn. However, further back in the field, Smoking Makes You Il did not necessarily start well for Night Rider Stables, but he was very ambitious to get to the lead. He would close the gap on Suspect, and by the time we had raced half a mile, he was actually a half length ahead of Suspect. Also, Gdp Inc’s Whitsunday would make a move forward himself, and end up third early in the backstretch by passing Tropicality. Running in fifth, our eventual winner from Acber Farms, Komodo G, was not concerned by everything that was going on in front of him, and was content to ride along in the middle of the field, about 3-4 lengths from the lead. It was a gap of two more to Pearls Before Swine (Mo Mentum Farm) and Di Canzone (Invicta Group Llc), who were running side by side. The trailers would be Bring The Pain (Spankys Barn) and Boogaloo (London Racing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.40)- Smoking Makes You Il now has a full length lead on Suspect as they complete the backstretch portion and move into the turn. Whitsunday draws closer to them, and is only a length behind Suspect now. Tropicality maintained his position on the track while Komodo G prepares to move around that one on the outside within the turn. Pearls Before Swine and Di Canzone are still two lengths behind him, running side by side, with Bring The Pain and Boogaloo further back.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Smoking Makes You Il is still in the lead, but he is beginning to show signs of fatigue as Suspect pulls right back up beside him. They are heads apart now entering the stretch, and Whitsunday inches slightly closer to the front, now being about a length back. Meanwhile, we could see the intentions of Komodo G as he made a wide move on exit of the turn and entering the stretch. He hadn’t passed anyone new yet, but this move would give him a clear lane in the stretch. Tropicality was still in the mix, and both Pearls Before Swine and Di Canzone gained a bit of ground. Boogaloo did too, but had a bigger task at hand for the stretch. Bring The Pain wasn’t bringing anything but pain for his trainer at this point.

(Finish- 1:48.09)- In the stretch, both Smoking Makes You Il and Suspect try to hang on as gamely as they can, but on their outside, but Komodo G and Whitsunday look strong. It appears as though the race will come down between those two, but in the final half furlong, Komodo G is clearly the best in the field and goes on to win by about a length. Coming on very strongly at the end would be both Di Canzone and Pearls Before Swine, and they would end up finishing second and third and Smoking Makes You Il hangs on for fourth narrowly over late running Boogaloo. Then, it’s Tropicality with Whitsunday shockingly collapsing late and dropping all the way to seventh, edging out Suspect for that spot. Eventually, Bring The Pain would finish, too.

About The Winner- Komodo G, trained by Acber Farms and ridden to victory by G Corrales is a three year old colt by Centerpiece and is out of Unaware. He was bred in Texas by Gustafson Stable as a third quarter two year old, and acquired by Acber Farms in the June 2022 auction, unraced, for $5.010. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his second in three starts and first stake win. His career earnings are now $126.080.

Track: Fast
Time: :46³  1:10²  1:35²  1:48

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 8 Paid 80.10
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 8 – 3 Paid 493.20

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded