By the slightest lip roll at the wire, Axeman’s Eye Test would come away with the victory over Nakamura Stables Scarlet And Gray in this years Gr. III Comely. The late push by the three year old gray would just get the filly up in time for her new trainer in first asking style.

• The Comely ( Gr. III ) Purse $200.000
• Aqueduct Racetrack. For Three year old Fillies
• Mile and one eighth in distance. Main track

Just a slight $40.000 claim over at SA in mid October going a mile and a sixteenth, Eye Test definitely lived up to her name giving the stewards eye strain looking at the photo and determining her the eventual winner. After a modest juvenile career in which she had a record of 4 ( 1-1-1 ) and slightly better then $47.000 in earnings, she has definitely started to gain respect with her fellow runners when it comes to route events. This would be her third stakes title to her credit and her second Graded victory after capturing the Gr. II Summertime Oaks in late May. The win also tripled her new trainers investment in just one outing, and has brought home his 47th graded title as well. She sits fifth on his most active list presently.

Hoping to turn the corner with a much needed victory here, sophomore Scarlet And Gray was hoping that this event would be her first Graded win of her career. Using the same tactics she had used earlier this month in the Gr. III Turn Back The Alarm going the exact same distance, it seemed as if it was all wrapped up just feet from the wire until Eye Test squeezed it out from the middle of the track. She may have used up just a enough earlier keeping Test Of Time ( Aer Stables ) from gaining the rail through the clubhouse turn to allow for the late charge. She still has a respectable record this season of 9 ( 3-3-1 ) with just under $230.000 in earnings.

The show purse went to Really Healthy ( La Canada Racehorses ) who tried stalking the pace throughout this affair sitting two lengths shy from start to finish. It was the fillies fourth try at a Graded title, and while she was made the 4-5 post time favorite, she may now regroup for the remainder of the season and return in the new year.

The final runners of Distorted Express ( D J C Racing Stables ) and Test Of Time both finished above the 1:49 mark in time for this event. Distorted Express has won two races this season against modest allowance company and since this event, was sent to the breeding sheds with this trainer’s stallion Que Niagra in hopes of finding a brand new star. For Test Of Time, her efforts going to the front in past events has seemed to leave her gasping slightly down the lane. While this was only her second start for this trainer since making the switch, she too has been sent to the breeding barns, and has a new yearling filly out of sire Lil King Devil. Hopefully she will be a future star as well.

Track: Fast
Time: :48  1:11⁴  1:35⁴  1:48²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 3 Paid 9.20
$1 Trifecta: 4 – 3 – 1 Paid 10.10

Scratched: None

Duffer

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES