The Coronation Futurity- $225.000 Purse
WO- For Two Year Olds Foaled in Canada
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
November 18, 2018

Not A Pretty One is indeed, not the greatest conformed horse that you will see. However, his blood is about as good as you can get, being out of the same dam that produced Pretty Ferro. The sire isn’t the same, but Better Tip Toe is by Chai Latte, and has been successful as well. Coming into this race, though, Not A Pretty One needed to rebound after a couple of disappointing graded runs, and this seemed like a great spot for him to do that in. He would accomplish just that, and now trainer Estero Farms hopes that he will hold up and have a career that can be full of stake wins as well. Estero wins this race for the first time, and that is also true for the jockey, R M Hernandez. Congratulations to them! The time of the victory was 1:48.90, the third quickest in the history of the stake! Now, we just have to find out what in the world happened to Majestical. Here’s a look at the race!

(½ Mile- :48.55)- Initially out of the gate, we don’t see anyone really looking to take charge of the early pace. It is not until we approach the first turn to where we see one of our horses begin to emerge as that pacesetter, and that would be Candlestick, for Mb Stables. Into the first turn, Candlestick seems to like it up front and begins to put some distance on the field, eventually opening up by a couple lengths. His stablemate, Figured Out, looks to cut into the gap a little as we move into the beginning of the backstretch portion. It’s another length and a half to our pick, and the pick of most of the survivor contest despite his odds here, Smokey Stover’s own, Majestical. Chaos Itself is next on the rail, running four and a half back for Gdp Inc. He has The System, from Mo Mentum Farm to his outside, and our eventual winner, Not A Pretty One is three wide here for Estero Farms. Watching it all unfold in front of him is Gunpowder Choice, who seemed a little indecisive at times in how he wanted to run early, for Night Rider Stables.

(3/4 Mile- 1:12.24)- Candlestick continues to lead as we make our way down the backstretch. The advantage remains two lengths over Figured Out, who did not make any further move on his stablemate at this time. Majestical still seems to be running fine here, keeping a sensible pace going while in the third position. Not A Pretty One is starting to show a little more interest now, and begins to creep up to the outside of Majestical and gain slight ground on the pacesetters. Chaos Itself remains on the rail, but did not have much room to work with. The System falls back to join Gunpowder Choice at the rear of the field.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Up front, it is still Candlestick, and he leads by a length and a half as they hit the top of stretch. Figured Out remains second, cutting the gap just a little bit. Majestical is still in third, and has everything in striking range right now. Surely, everyone who picked him to win had to like where he was on the race track at this point. To his outside, Estero Farms might have been seeing deja vu here with how his other winner I just finished writing about, Alpha Uno, was running. He had three lengths to make up in the stretch and needed to run on the outside. Yep, very familiar to how he just won the Thunder Rumble if you haven’t watched that one yet! Chaos Itself seemed to still have plenty of run at this point, but his bigger issue would be whether or not he would get running room. The System was looking a little flat here, while Gunpowder Choice finally decides to take the outside lane after seemingly pondering this move for half the race.

(Finish- 1:48.90)- Candlestick was hold his own well in the stretch, but Not A Pretty One was gearing up, and in the final furlong, he had two lengths still to make up. In that time, he found that stretch kick that Pretty Ferro is known for, and would make his dam, Pretty One, very proud. This would enable him to storm to the front, and get up just in time over Candlestick to earn the victory! Chaos Itself eventually found an opening in the stretch and was able to draw level with Candlestick for a second place dead heat. Figured Out was close by, but settles for fourth. Gunpowder Choice gained ground in the stretch, but it started too late, and he finishes fifth. The System gets sixth, and Majestical somehow fails to beat a single horse. At least I can’t say I was alone in picking the last place horse this time!

About The Winner- Not A Pretty One, trained by Estero Farms, and ridden to victory by R M Hernandez, is a two year old gelding by Better Tip Toe and is out of Pretty One. He was bred in Ontario by Estero Farms as a second quarter two year old, the only trainer for which he has ever known! Congratulations to the connections! The win is his second in five starts, and is his first stake win. His career earnings are now $166.600.

Track: Fast
Time: :48²  1:12¹  1:36²  1:48⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 3 Paid 43.90, 5 – 4 Paid 19.30
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 3 – 4 Paid 83.90, 5 – 4 – 3 Paid 73.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded