Kilroe Mile (Grade 1)- $400.000 Purse
SA- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
March 9, 2019
Lunar Blaze is doing a good job of changing the script on his career with John Henry right now. He had always been good, and in fact, very good, and that’s what made his long winless streak even more peculiar. Now, that streak is a thing in the past, and Lunar Blaze is making up for lost time, picking up what is now his third straight win. His six year old season is off to a red hot start, and it will be interesting to see just how hot this flame burns for the rest of the year. John Henry gets his first win in the stake, and jockey J R Velazquez gets his second win. For Velazquez, that prior win was in the first edition of the race, back in 2005 with Smokey Bear. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:32.83, similar to recent race winning times. Here’s a look at it!
(1/4 Mile- :23.14)- Three horses in the middle of the starting gate get off to the quickest start, but ultimately it would be Lunar Blaze, the eventual winner from John Henry, assuming the early advantage over Spanky Barn’s Controlled Power by half a length. Diamond Back, out of D J C Racing Stables, ran with them early but was a length back reaching the turn. The Grandmaster (John Henry) and Sports Car (Mb Stables) were within stalking distance of the frontrunners while in the inside two lanes. Nowhere Man (Mb Stables) and Oh Awesome One (TwinTowersRacing) ran in the middle of the field, with Happy Model (Estero Farms), right behind them and four lengths behind the leader. Trailing are Maniaco Del Controll (Threshold) and One Command (Chili King Stables).
(½ Mile- :46.16)- During the first half of the back stretch, Lunar Blaze and Controlled Power fo at one another pretty hard, and in the process pull away from the rest of the field by two lengths. Diamond Back is still third, but has fallen back to run with both The Grandmaster and Sports Car, neither of whom were pressing the pace any further. The back five were still aligned the same way as they were previously, with none showing an early sense of urgency.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- The race is still all about Lunar Blaze and Controlled Power, but now Lunar Blaze has outkicked his rival by about half a length as we enter the top of the stretch. The question would be who would emerge from the pack to put up a challenge for them. The Grandmaster and Sports Car were not still not making a push, and Diamond Back looked to be dropping back. The answer would be Happy Model, who used the familiar outside lane to his advantage and was ready to get by several of his rivals and make a bid on the top two. Nowhere Man was keeping pace in a decent manner and ready to advance forward, too. Otherwise, still wasn’t seeing a lot from the rest of the field.
(Finish- 1:32.83)- In the stretch, Lunar Blaze had plenty left in the tank to get the victory, outrunning Controlled Power by half a length. They would have a little more company at the wire as both Happy Model and Nowhere Man made impressive bids of their own. Happy Model ends up getting ahead of Controlled Power for the second position. Nowhere Man gets fourth. Initially, Nowhere Man looked like he was the better of two late closers, but credit Happy Model with making it very close. Oh Awesome One is the best of the rest, nosing out The Grandmaster. Maniaco del Controll, Diamond Back, Sports Car, and One Command are the final running order.
About The Winner- Lunar Blaze, trained by John Henry and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a six year old gelding by Peppermint Moon, and is out of Hearts On Fire. He was bred in California by Allinthegate as a third quarter two year old, and acquired by John Henry, via Australia Wide in December 2016 for $500.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his tenth in 32 starts, and is his seventh graded win. His career earnings are now $3,458.300.
| ## | Horse Name | Owner Name | Jockey | Odds | Fin | Time | SRF | |||
|
Lunar Blaze | John Henry | Velazquez J R | 4.25 | 11/4 | 1:32.83 | — | |||
|
Happy Model | Estero Farms | Gutierrez Mario | 3.75 | 2nk | 1:32.92 | — | |||
|
Controlled Power | Spankys Barn | Van Dyke D | 10.75 | 31/4 | 1:32.97 | — | |||
|
Nowhere Man | Mb Stables | Colon L H | 11.15 | 41 | 1:33.06 | — | |||
|
Oh Awesome One | TwinTowersRacing | Bejarano R | 9.25 | 5no | 1:33.26 | — | |||
|
The Grandmaster | John Henry | Talamo J | 11.00 | 61 | 1:33.27 | — | |||
|
Maniaco del Controll | Threshold | Baze T C | 7.65 | 7no | 1:33.49 | — | |||
|
Diamond Back | D J C Racing Stables | Ortiz I Jr | 32.40 | 8no | 1:33.51 | — | |||
|
Sports Car | Mb Stables | Pennington F | 3.00 | 91/2 | 1:33.52 | — | |||
|
One Command | Chili King Stables | Leparoux J R | 27.20 | 10 | 1:33.63 | — |
Track: Firm
Time: :23 :46 1:09 1:324
$2 Mutuel Prices:
| 6 – Lunar Blaze | 10.50 | 5.00 | 3.60 |
| 9 – Happy Model | 4.70 | 3.50 | |
| 7 – Controlled Power | 6.00 |
$1 Exacta: 6 – 9 Paid 38.60
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 9 – 7 Paid 344.90
Scratched: None
Winner picked by NS
— NS
Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES
