Big Daddy ($125.000 Purse)
TP- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Six Furlongs on the Dirt
March 9, 2024

Saturday marked the first running of the Big Daddy at TP, and it would be a wet one, as a driving rainstorm left the track muddy. It didn’t stop the horse that we picked to win from winning the race, but it was certainly done in a manner that we were not expecting. Long Capo usually always goes right out to the lead early, so when he was only seventh at first call, you had to wonder if it was a tactical decision or if he was having trouble with what was the first time he ever ran on a wet track. In the end, he did not have any difficulty at all with running in the mud, as he went on to win by a length. Long Capo is trained by Asgar and was ridden by F De La Cruz, and they will go down as the first ever winners of this race. Congratulations to them! The time was 1:11.14, let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.57)- It’s going to be Union Mills out front today for Sccj Stables, and he will lead Maxmillion Farm’s Top Of The Crop by half a length while going down the backstretch. Tucked in right behind these two, are three stalkers, and 5 O Clock Somewhere as a slight edge amongst them as he runs on the rail. In between horses, it’s Threshold’s Hide N Command, with TwinTowersRacing’s Starship Haggis. Behind them, Tinkey’s Yashar runs side by side with the eventual winner of the race, the Asgar- trained Long Capo. Even though Long Capo is seventh of eight, he is only two lengths from the front, he’ll just have to pass a bunch, and he hasn’t always needed to do that. The trailer, Treat Me First, from Crocker Ggs is only three and a half lengths from the front.

(½ Mile- :46.29, Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Top Of The Crop is looking good as he rounds the turn while pulling away from Union Mills. Entering the stretch, he’s a length ahead of that one, and we had not yet seen anyone else make a push forward. 5 O Clock Somewhere and Starship Haggis will still run evenly with one another, but Hide N Command is starting to have a hard time keeping up with them. It’s another length to Treat Me First, who’s taking the wide route around the turn as he gets by a couple. We hadn’t seen much out of Long Capo yet, but he is still close enough to strike. Yashar, meanwhile, was losing ground.

(Finish- 1:11.14)- We enter the stretch with Top Of The Crop still looking good. With about a furlong to go, a seam develops right in front of Long Capo, and now we will see if he could show that speed that usually has early, this time at the end. Quickly, we could see that this one had plenty of run saved up and it didn’t take him long to make his way through the field. With half a furlong to go, he was up to second, and within half a length of the leader. There was nothing Top Of The Crop could do about this, other than to watch Long Capo go by and hope to hold on for second. Long Capo was much the best and wins by a length and a half. Top Of The Crop was caught in the tail wind, and lost second to Treat Me First, then third to Starship Haggis before settling for fourth. Rounding it out, it’s Union Mills, 5 O Clock Somewhere, Hide N Command, and Yashar.

About The Winner- Long Capo, trained by Asgar and ridden to victory by F De La Cruz, is a four-year-old gelding by Capo Di Tutti Capi and is out of Long Fog. He was bred by Asgar in New York as a yearling, and they have been together throughout! Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 16 starts and his first stake win! His career earnings are now $196.470.

Track: Muddy
Time: :22²  :46¹  :58³  1:11

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 5 Paid 34.70
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 5 – 8 Paid 376.90

Scratched: Harry Met Meghan(L)

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded