April 30, 2016

There were a lot of interesting choices in the Lyman Sprint Handicap on Saturday afternoon and a fast main track and a solid middle pace played right into the hands of the closers, and none was better than Mameluke as the four-year-old son of Luke Duke took home his first stakes victory. Purchased for $165.000 as a two-year-old after showing some excellent workouts, he has tried to find himself going a route of ground but cut back to seven-furlongs here and scored his third win in his last four starts while pushing his earnings for longtime owner Mm Racing close to the $300.000 mark.

Major Momentum burst from the gate while Fishie Lion dropped back along the rail and out of the chute, it was that early leader in front with Lukas Duke second and Union Chapel out wide in third from the farthest gate. A solid split of 23.38 led those three down the backstretch with Menagarie and Mameluke tucked in midpack and as the field raced into the far turn, it was Lukas Duke who started to flatten out with Union Chapel taking his aim on the leader. The half-mile came up in a quickening 46.44 and Major Momentum still had all the momentum up front but around the far turn, we quietly overtaken by his shadow with Menagerie looking for a way to scoot up the fence. At the head of the stretch, only one of the initial three was still there and that was Union Chapel, who grimly held the advantage with Mameluke breathing down his neck outside and Sun King trying to close very wide. Into the final furlong, they spread out five-wide into the track and Mameluke ended up with the best trip of all, racing away to a neck victory over a solid Menagerie inside and a game Union Chapel outside, who lasted Sun King for the minor awards. Major Momentum backed up finish fifth with Fishie Lion no threat from the back after a poor start, and Lukas Duke rounding out the field in what might just be a prep for other longer races down the line.

There were two sons of Luke Duke in the Lyman Sprint Handicap but while much of the attention might have been on Grade II winner Lukas Duke, it was Mameluke who stole the show with a hard-fought victory, his first in stakes company. There are a lot of options with this gelding going forward, both sprinting and routing, and races like the Parrot Key or even the All American at GG look promising as this gelding continues to find his four-year-old form.

Congratulations goes out to owner Mm Racing and their four-year-old gelding Mameluke, an off-the-pace winner of the Lyman Sprint Handicap at PRX!

Prediction                     Union Chapel / Lukas Duke / Sun King

Winner                          Mameluke

                                         Four-year-old bay gelding

                                         Luke Duke-Puppy Power (Dogs Bachelor Party)

Owner                            Mm Racing

Time                               23.38, 46.44, 1:09.78, 1:21.69

Overall

Mameluke                     4.85 broke evenly, outside run, up in time

Mengarie                       4.40 stalked in midpack, angled inside, missed

Union Chapel                7.20 set pace early, clear into lane, could not quicken

Sun King                        3.60 broke slow, minor late run

Major Momentum       *1.95 gate speed early, no late momentum

Fishie Lion                    249.95 lacked any drive

Lukas Duke                   5.80 faded in stretch

Triple T Racing 🙂

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded