PEN Mile (Grade 2)- $300.000 Purse
PEN- For Three Year Olds
One Mile on the Turf
May 28, 2021
Friday was a wet day throughout the northeast, and PEN would be no exception. A steady rain that began in the early afternoon and lasted throughout the night took its toll on the track, leaving the turf course as yielding. This would lead to one scratch, but it would be the horse that we predicted would be the one to beat, in High Planker. Now, we would see which of the remaining ten horses would handle the off track the best. Only one horse in the field had more than two starts on a wet track, and the horse had won two out of three. That horse would go off as the longest shot on the board, at 47/1. That horse? Promised Prince, trained by John Henry, a horse that we did document was much better on the grass than he was on the main track, so putting all that together, I am surprised that he went off as such a longshot. Promised Prince would take care of business, and do it while coming from off the pace to get the win for John Henry! It’s his second win in the race, as he also won in 2019 with the late City Of Bones. Jockey S R Bahen is a first time winner. Congratulations to them! The time of the win on the yielding surface was 1:36.09. Let’s take a look!
(¼ Mile- :23.55)- The start of the race sees two horses out of Mb Stables going out and taking the early lead. Found Peace will be the leader, with a head in front of his stablemate, Dream State. They have some company to their inside as Uncle Buck holds the rail for South Beach Racing. Behind them, there is a group of four which are lined up pretty well in a stalking position. From inside to outside, this group consists of Call Me King (Mb Stables), Nevada Silver (Nakamura Stables), Determined Commando (Estero Farms), and Religion (D J C Racing Stables). It’s about two more lengths to Andes (Arindel) and Day Of The Dragon (John Henry). At the back of the pack, about five lengths from the front, it’s our eventual winner, Promised Prince, also from John Henry. This is the method that won him his last race a month ago, so the trainer probably was not worried about things in regards to his start.
(½ Mile- :47.26)- Around the turn and into the backstretch we go, and the two frontrunners from Mb Stables, Found Peace and Dream State are now running by themselves, leaving their Uncle Buck behind. That one has now fallen into the clutches of the stalkers, and both Nevada Silver and Call Me King seem to be having a good trip for the moment as they are in great striking range. That also is true for Determined Commando, who is a half length behind them while in the outside lane. Religion dropped out of that group, and is passed by Day Of The Dragon. Andes holds his line on the rail, and then at the back, we still have Promised Prince. He’s by himself at the back, and now needing to make up seven lengths. He did that before, but this is a much stronger group to do it against.
(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- Dream State leads the field down the backstretch and into the turn, and he seemed to be in pretty good shape entering the stretch. He had put away his stablemate, and entered with a length and a half lead. Moving into the second spot would be Call Me King, passing Found Peace, and Nevada Silver was also about to do so early on. They seemed like the biggest challengers to the front runner right now. Day Of The Dragon was looking to move forward, and further back, Promised Prince looked to find his lane. It looked like one was setting up well for him exiting the turn, but then Andes took that lane before he was able. Promised Prince was showing that he had plenty of run coming, but did he have a path to the front?
(Finish- 1:36.09)- As the spectators focused in on Call Me King completing the pass for the lead, Promised Prince was looking to find that lane. At first, S R Bahen moved him over one lane, but then that clear path opened up, at last. On exiting the turn, Promised Prince did well to cut down on the gap to the leaders, and now there was an opening between Day Of The Dragon and Nevada Silver. Now, it was time to excite those who put money on him, and he doubled down and showed what is making him a great turf horse, and definitely at this point in his career, a great horse on wet tracks. He passed Day Of The Dragon and Nevada Silver like they weren’t even there, and before you could blink, was even with Call Me King. From there, with just a little more track to cover before the wire, Promised Prince pulled away to win by nearly a length. Call Me King is second, over Nevada Silver. Dream State gets the fourth place check barely over Day Of The Dragon. Andes, Uncle Buck, Found Peace, Determined Commando, and Religion round it out.
About The Winner- Promised Prince, trained by John Henry and ridden to victory by S R Bahen, is a three year old gelding by Black Mach One, and is out of Thats Jolly Daunting. He was bred in Ontario by Patterson Stables as a yearling, and acquired by John Henry in private sales on the first day of November 2020 for $107.000. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fourth in 12 starts, and fourth in six turf starts. It is his first stake win of any sort, and his career earnings are now $284.880.
Track: Yielding
Time: :232 :471 1:111 1:36
$2 Mutuel Prices:
$1 Exacta: 10 – 2 Paid 1,573.40
$1 Trifecta: 10 – 2 – 4 Paid 573.00
Scratched: High Planker
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
