Red Bank Stakes (Grade 3)- $100.000 Purse
MTH- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
May 27, 2017

It was a good day for the three year olds at the Red Bank Stakes, as the top two were able to enjoy their seven pound weight advantage to run away with the race and have a thrilling stretch battle between them.  Mameluke would win the battle of the elders, but could only settle for the third place finish.  Mb Stables celebrates the victory with his up and coming colt named Recruitment, who figures to be strong in races like this over the next couple months.  The trainer can officially cross this stake off of the ever shrinking list of graded stakes that he has not won yet. A A Gallardo is the winning jockey, and it was his first win in the race as well.   It’s the second year in a row the race has been won by a three year old, and the winning time of 1:33.08, is a new record for the stake.  Congratulations to the winners! Let’s look at the results!

1/4 Mile (:23.45)- Recruitment breaks out of the gate well for Mb Stables, and appears poised to battle with Jojo Jove (Night Rider Stables) for the early advantage.  However, once completely with the chute into the main track, Recruitment backs off of that challenge, allowing Jojo Jove to take the lead, and battle with Mameluke (Luz International) in the early moments.   Recruitment stalks in the third position, with Cool Touch (Smokey Stover) running to his outside.  Behind them, they are four wide, three in a half lengths out, as they round the first turn.  From inside to outside, they are Pervoked (Blushing Meadows), Bombastic Mobility (Oval Express Farms), Poetry In Motion (Heavens Own), and Trotsky (Asgar).  Viking Tollbooth (Delta Farms) watches it all unfold in front of him early.

½ Mile (:46. 73)– We do see a fair amount of position shuffling over the second quarter of the race.  On the lead, Jojo Jove and Mameluke still battle it out on the front end, but Mameluke starts to pull away from his rival as the backstretch run goes on.  They have opened up a bit on the field as well, with the gap to third now about four lengths.  Cool Touch runs third, but now he has Trotsky running along side him as Recruitment backed off a little more, and Trotsky was wise to get himself out of the four wide situation that he had been in.  Recruitment is fifth on the rail now, and Poetry In Motion is four wide, but running level with Recruitment.  Neither Pervoked or Bombastic Nobility are getting involved yet, and Viking Tollbooth now joins the pack.

Top Of Stretch- (1.4F To Go)- Mameluke continues to lead, and ran six furlongs in 1:09.69, but that gap he had on the pack has completely evaporated.  Recruitment and Poetry In Motion easily cut into the lead while rounding the turn.  A A Gallardo made a nice move midway into the turn as well to sense that Jojo Jove was out of gas and move him down a lane so that he would never be impacted by that.  In a race where the eventual finish was so close, little things like that make all the difference.   At the top of the stretch, it was obvious that Recruitment and Poetry In Motion were going to battle for the win, but would they have company? That was the only question.   Cool Touch had been left behind by Poetry In Motion by a length, so while he still seemed competitive, it didn’t seem like he would be resurgent.  Trotsky was running level with the pack, and still Pervoked, Bombastic Nobility, and Viking Toolbooth were at the back.

Finish (1:33.08)- Maybe it’s just my computer and viewer, but I could have sworn Poetry In Motion hit the wire first.  It was a tight finish, that you almost expect to become the vintage HRP dead heat, but after examining the photo, it was Recruitment, and not Poetry In Motion scoring the win.  Surely this was the case of the head bob, and one being all the way up while the other was fully down and extended.   In third, Mameluke hung tougher then I thought he would given how quick they closed on him in the turn.  He showed some heart, and the trainer should be proud of that, and this third place finish given his seven pound weight disadvantage.  Pervoked and Bombastic Nobility run fourth and fifth after spending the entire race seemingly attached to one another.   Viking Toolbooth is close by in sixth, with Cool Touch and Trotsky battling tough for seventh.  The worn out Jojo Jove rounds out the finish.

About the winner: Recruitment, trained by Mb Stables and ridden by A A Gallardo, is a three year old colt by Arian and out of Box On.  He was bred in Califonia by Team 7 Illusions and acquired by Mb Stables, unraced, in private sales for $10.770.  He now has four wins in six career starts, and his career earnings now sit at $140.400.  Congratulations to the connections!

Track: Firm
Time: :23²  :46³  1:09³  1:33

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 3 – 4 Paid 29.80
$1 Trifecta: 3 – 4 – 7 Paid 63.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES