The Whitney (Grade 1) (BC)- $1,000.000 Purse
SAR- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
August 7, 2021

A great day of racing at SAR was highlighted by The Whitney, and it brought out many of the game’s top horses. Nothing less should be expected out of this race with the valuable BC Classic points on the line, and this race would be historic. Historic, in that there would not only be one winner. For the first time in The Whitney’s history, we had a dead heat for the top spot as Space Commander and So Profound could not be separated at the wire. Space Commander, trained by Nakamura Stables, was our pick to win and stepped up to run a great race. So Profound, trained by Asgar, was not among our picks, but did much better in his second Whitney start than he did last year. Each of their trainers are first time winners. The jockeys, V R Carrasco (Space Commander) and D Van Dyke (So Profound) are also first time winners. The race was won in a time of 1:47.48, making it the fastest Whitney since 2012. Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.18)- In an interesting quirk to this race, and we all hope that it is something that does not completely become a trend, the top five horses at the start of this race all end up finishing in the top five positions. Space Commander, one of our eventual winners, is out in front for Nakamura Stables, and keeping pace with him is Tactical, trained by Mb Stables. It’s about a length and a half to our other winner, Asgar’s So Profound, who is ahead of the group of four stalkers by half a length. Nearby on his inside are Stolen, from D J C Racing Stables, and Broken Tap, out of Arindel. For the moment, Charleys Latte runs with this group, for John Henry. Then, we have a quite a gap to everyone else who may have been left behind already. Four lengths further back, you have Starship El Gran (TwinTowersRacing), then Crack Dab (Gdp Inc) and Black And Red (Australia Wide). Next are Class Edge (Chili King Stables) and Z Command (Smokey Stover). The deepest trailers are Champion In Action and Scarlet Glare.

(¾ Mile- 1:10.70)- Space Commander and Tactical continue to lead the way by a length, holding that advantage down the backstretch and into the turn. Nothing much is happening right behind them that is different, as So Profound is still half a length ahead of his partners in the stalking group. Stolen, Broken Tap, and Charleys Latte continue to run nearby. The four length gap to Starship El Gran still exists, and he is a length ahead of the rest of the pack, none of which are getting involved as of yet.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Completing the turn and moving into the homestretch, both Space Commander and Tactical remain in good stride and run side by side. The group of stalkers are much the same as well, with So Profound continuing to be half a length ahead of those he has been running with the entire race. There’s really not much to talk about right now, as there is little in the of passing for positions, or any interesting moves to talk about. The gap to rest of the field closed up slightly, probably by about half a length to a length, and no one was looking as though they were going to make a great late run.

(Finish- 1:47.48)- Things are exciting at the front now, as Space Commander and Tactical are matching strides and it is a thrill to see them go at it. So Profound was gradually advancing on them, doing so in the outside line, and looked to be in a good position to take the victory away from both of them. Broken Tap and Stolen were able to hang with them, but were not able to make an advance. Charleys Latte lost a little more ground, as he had an outside trip throughout. The rest of the was cutting into the deficit, but that’s all that could be said. Getting closer to the wire, Space Commander gets the better of Tactical, but can’t completely hold off So Profound, as the two of them end up in a dead heat. Once So Profound got even with Space Commander, he simply could not put a head in front, even when it seemed like he was going to do so. The two of them settle for the dead heat, with Tactical finishing third, ahead of Broken Tap and Stolen. Everyone else was also ran today. The final order will read: Starship El Gran, Charleys Latte, Black And Red, Z Command, Crack Dab, Class Edge, Champion In Action, and Scarlet Glare.

About the Winners:
Space Commander, trained by Nakamura Stables, and ridden to victory by V R Carrasco, is a five year old gelding by Strategic Command and is out of Queen Of Queens. He was bred in Ontario by John Henry as a first quarter two year old, and acquired by Nakamura Stables, via Joshua Stables, in August 2019, for $110.000 in private sales. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his ninth in 29 starts, his seventh stake win, and sixth graded win. His career earnings are now $2,805.200.

So Profound, trained by Asgar, and ridden to victory by D Van Dyke, is a five year old horse by Profound Connection, and is out of Preparations. He was also bred in Ontario, and as a third quarter two year old by Mb Stables, and was acquired by Asgar in the December 2018 auction, unraced, for just $5.080. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth stake win, and fourth graded win. His career earnings are now $2,330.540.

Track: Fast
Time: :47   1:10³  1:34⁴  1:47²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 9 Paid 32.00, 9 – 7 Paid 37.00
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 9 – 3 Paid 779.90, 9 – 7 – 3 Paid 779.90

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES