Pattison Canadian Invitational- Grade 1 ($800.000 Purse)
WO- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
October 12, 2019

It was a soggy day at WO for the Grade 1 Pattison, as persistent rainfall led to the turf course being classified as yielding for the race. This led to two scratches, the first being Taniwha, robbing us of our chance to see him go for two in a row. Taniwha has shown in the past to be a horse to scratch if there is even a drop of rain anywhere in the proximity of the race track, so that was definitely for the best. Sunlander also scratched, because you can’t expect a horse named Sunlander to run well in the rain. The one time that was tried, it looked just as bad as Taniwha in the rain, so that too, made sense. The top three in this race would all come from the outside, leading to the rare, especially on HRP, 14-12-13 trifecta, so indeed the outside did “rain” supreme today. If you had it, you’re very happy right now, for sure. Our winner was Sumi Gaeshi, meaning that at least we picked the right trainer to win this race, that being Maxmillion Farm, always a good turf bet. It’s his second win in the race, the last being from the late Exactly As Planned, in 2016. Not sure this win was exactly how he planned it, but it certainly works. Jockey D Saenz is a first time winner. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 2:28.92. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :49.70)- From the middle of the starting gate, People Doubted went out to the lead early as Aml Racing still had one rooting interest here after the scratch of Taniwha. He would have company on the front end from the Team 7 Illusions trained Coco, and the two of them ran side by side around the opening turn, and into the top of the backstretch. Oh Awesome One ran with them for TwinTowersRacing, but backed off into a stalking position, and ran with Chayse, from Crocker Ggs, two lengths back. Following them, there was a large four length gap to the rest of the field, which was led by a length by Momentus (Mb Stables), with his two stablemates, Crafty Shenanigans and Confined the closest to him. Running in a four wide group behind them, and a total for nine and a half lengths from the lead is where we would find our eventual winner, Sumi Gaeshi, from Maxmillion Farm. Actually, it looked like he might be further back out of the starting gate, and he actually passed a couple horses around the first turn to move into this four wide group. Also a part of it were First Class Male (Team 7 Illusions), Call Me Spanish (Maxmillion Farm), and the eventual third place runner, Tourniquet (Mo Mentum Farm). It looked like Tourniquet was going to be more of a midpack runner around the turn, but he dropped back more as they got near the beginning of the backstretch. It was another length to the one who’d ultimately run second, Trouville (Royalty Stables). I did predict that the top horses would come from well off the pace, there just weren’t the ones I picked to do it!

(3/4 Mile- 1:14.20)- There isn’t much to report for this section of the race, which should not be a surprise in a twelve furlong event. People Doubted and Coco are still on the front end, and there is still a four length gap between the fourth and fifth place horses. The only horse that made somewhat of a move here was First Class Male, who pulled even with the Mb Stables threesome and was a neck in front for fifth.

(Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Completing the backstretch run, People Doubted and Coco were still in front, and for the moment, still looking fairly good. Those that had been pursuing them had backed off, with Chayse now three lengths back, and Oh Awesome One calling it a day. First Class Male had not made a further advance, and Sumi Gaeshi had just under eight lengths to make up at the top of the turn. With two furlongs to go at the top of the stretch, that second pack had all made an advance on the two front runners who were beginning to get leg weary at this point. First Class Male seemed to be in a great lane and was running well, but the clear challenger here was Sumi Gaeshi, who moved into a six wide position, and was preparing for the pass of First Class Male, who was the main horse he needed to get by at this point, knowing the frontrunners were not going to hang on. There were concerns from behind for him, though, as both Trouville and Tourniquet were following him and needing clear lanes. Crafty Shenanigans was the one Mb horse who looked like he still posed a threat, as the others were not as impressive here. Our pick, Call Me Spanish, was lacking stretch response. At this point, Sumi Gaeshi exploded, which was critical in keeping him ahead of those who had to make up ground on him as well. Trouville showed a lot of heart, and made a valiant push, and gained some on him, but more would be needed. In the end, Sumi Gaeshi hangs on over Trouville, with longshot Tourniquet getting third over Crafty Shenangians. First Class Male finishes fifth, ahead of Confined, Chayse, Call Me Spanish, Momentus, then the two pace setters, People Doubted and Coco. Those who hung around a little while longer reportedly saw Oh Awesome One finish as well.

About The Winner- Sumi Gaeshi, trained by Maxmillion Farm, and ridden to victory by D Saenz, is a three year old gelding by Lettucerocku and is out of the late Joan Of Arc. He was bred in California by Team 7 Illusions as a yearling and was acquired by Maxmillion via a $12.500 claim in November 2018. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in nine starts, and his first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $610.400.

Track: Yielding
Time: :49³  1:14¹  2:03⁴  2:28⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 14 – 12 Paid 194.00
$1 Trifecta: 14 – 12 – 13 Paid 1,502.90

Scratched: Sunlander, Taniwha

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES