Lunar Blaze Keeps Shining In BEL Derby Invitational

By Nynl Stables on July 10, 2016

The BEL Derby Invitational (Grade 1)- $1,250.000 Purse
BEL- For Three Year Olds
One Mile and One Quarter on the Inner Turf
July 9, 2016

Pan Farms often gets a lot of attention when he buys or sells horses in private sales, but we’re going to gather that no one even noticed when he purchased Lunar Blaze for $40.000. That purchase from Allinthegate came in the middle of February, and Lunar Blaze was simply a horse who had a maiden win at TUP on his record, and was coming off a third place finish at the same track. Pan Farms always had confidence in the gelding, as he was promptly thrust into a $200.000 ungraded stake, in which he won. Then he won the Grade 3. Then a Grade 2. Now, here, he takes the Grade 1 BEL Derby Invitational. Not much left for Lunar Blaze to accomplish now until the BC runs around. He’s arrived now as one of the best! Kudos to Pan Farms for his work with this horse as he picks up his first win in this stake. Interestingly, for J R Velazquez, it’s the second time he won the race, but you have to go back to the debut event of 2003 to see his first win! The time of the race was a blistering 1:58.38, the fastest of the three editions of the race run at this distance. Here’s a breakdown as I experiment with a different approach.

The Start: Blue Guy (Grimley) and Lunar Blaze (Pan Farms) was no time getting out to the front from their outside starting positions. Tucked in right behind them about a length, both Eastern Townships (Harrell Racing) and the favorite of Yankees fans, Pinstripes Proud (Aer Stables) also get off to strong starts and follow the two leaders into the opening turn, with Rare Coincidence (Mb Stables) trying to keep a position between them. After those five, we start to move into those with a midpack position on the racetrack that are between four and five length out. Classic Cliche (Blushing Meadows) has the position along the rail in this spot, with Valiant Charge (Threshold) and Black Mach One (Pan Farms) matching strides beside him. Four wide, Gallivant (Joshua Stables), the one we selected to win the race, is hung out for a wide run around the opening turn. Along the rail, the 10th place Brain Power (Mb Stables) is within a length of Gallivant with Compress (Cherrytree Hill Farm) not starting all that well in his return to the grass. Lure (D J C Racing Stables) runs near the back with the two Drabfantasy entries, B K D Express and Broomsticks Heir at the very back.

Half Mile (:47.10)- Lunar Blaze and Blue Guy continue to battle it out on the lead, as each of them start to pull away from the rest of the field, leaving those who had been stalking them about two and a half lengths back. It’s still Eastern Townships and Pinstripes Proud in the third and fourth positions as there has not been many moves made yet in the race. The main moves seen were Valiant Charge dropping back a little, and B K D Express showing a little more interest in running early and passing a few.

3/4 Mile (1:10.35)- It’s still Lunar Blaze and Blue Guy showing the way at the front of the field and running side by side, but Rare Coincidence picks it up a notch and moved into the third position, getting by Pinstripes Proud and Eastern Townships, and closes the gap to the leaders to be under two lengths. Pinstripes Proud and Eastern Townships are still in good stride themselves, and Rare Coincidence getting by each of them may have served as their signal that it was time to go as well, as the three prepare to reel in the front runners. After them, there’s not much going on with the rest of the field. Gallivant is still in his four-wide lane as they move around the final turn, as the group of four he has been running with the whole way seem to just be riding around with the field. Compress seems to be in a tough lane with Valiant Charge falling back into him, and not able to alter course because of Brain Power and Lure being in the way.

Mile (1:34.06)– The field is now closing in on Lunar Blaze and Blue Guy and you had to wonder at this point if they were both going to be swallowed up by an onslaught from behind. Rare Coincidence seemed to be in the best shape, and now had pulled alongside the leaders to make it three wide into the top of the stretch. Eastern Townships and Pinstripes Proud continue to hang around with the field, but they are running out of passing lanes to choose from with this rush from behind. Classic Cliche proved to be particularly strong here, making an aggressive move off the rail and choosing what would seem to be the right lane to take, and to follow Rare Coincidence through. Valiant Charge also moved to the outside at the same time, but race traffic forced him about four wide into a lane behind Eastern Townships. Then you had poor Gallivant, who’s been four wide the whole way now have to go even more wide as he looks to make a move of his own. A little further back, Compress makes an emphatic move from the back, thanks in part to the move from Classic Cliche. For this brief moment, he showed the kind of powerful leg kick that we saw from in races like the FL Derby. The rest of the field were lined up beside one another looking to see if they too, could join in.

Stretch and Finish (1:58.38)- Lunar Blaze shows a ton of heart in the stretch as he digs into pull out the win. There were rivals all around him, and it seemed inevitable that Rare Coincidence was going to make the pass for the lead. You have to think that it is this kind of stretch desire that has allowed Lunar Blaze to go on the kind of run that he is having right now with Pan Farms, and if he shows this in the BC Turf (assuming that’s where he goes, and you may wonder if Pan might think about the Classic after this), he is going to be very tough to beat. In his second place run, Rare Coincidence did all the could. As Mb Stables brings him back to the paddock, he still should be pleased with the run he put forth. Eastern Townships and Pinstripes Proud did well to keep with the leaders the whole way, and was particularly impressed with Pinstripes Proud, as he made a large jump up in class with this race. He handled it well, and it also one to watch going forward. Eastern Townships is more of a known commodity, and his new trainer, Sanny Village, should be happy as well. Yeah, you heard that right, he was sold this morning for $305.000! Classic Cliche was within a length, and Compress battled better then this race line will make it appear. Also within a length were Valiant Charge and Gallivant, and they did so with outside trips. Still watch Gallivant, no one covered more race track then he did hear. Blue Guy is another where the race line won’t look as good as his actual performance. Considering how well Lunar Blaze ran to the wire, and that he was with him the whole way, there may be a silver lining there for Grimley, that he too, was only a length or so back. The rest of the field never made their presence felt here, but at the same time, none of them really raced horribly.

About the Winner- Lunar Blaze is a three year old gelding by Peppermint Moon (Hollywood Moon and Black Moon on that side) and out of Hearts On Fire (Red Rioja on that side). He was bred in California by Allinthegate as a third quarter foal, and was sold to Pan Farms in February for $40.000. Congratulations to all the connections!

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Lunar Blaze

Pan Farms

Velazquez J R

12.85

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