The Palos Verdes Stakes – GII
SA Race 4 6F – Dirt
Purse $200.000
Four Year Olds and Up

1st Residue, trained by Smokey Stover

It was very nice to see this horse regain his summer and fall form from last year after a bad finish in the Breeders Cup Sprint with this win here in the Palos Verdes. He ran a very big race and actually won kind of easily by a length defeating some very nice horses. He ran the six furlongs in 1:08.62 and earned $120.000 for the win.

2nd Z One Chance, trained by John Henry

Well the defending champion in the race and sprinter of the year award finalist fell just short in his repeat win bid. He ran a very good race and closed very nicely late but just could not get to the impressive winner. He ran a very good race and should have a nice campaign this year.

3rd Creepy Palace, trained by D J C Racing Stables

The fact that he pushed the pace setter the whole way and hung on for this third place finish is pretty impressive to me because those fractions were pretty damn quick for sure. He pushed the leader for a while until he hit the lead but he just couldn’t fend off the top two runners in here.

4th Lucky Star, trained by Estero Farms

Quite the opposite of the horse that finished just ahead of him because this horse tried to come from dead last and win this race. He was helped out a little bit by the quick pace but he eventually just couldn’t make up enough ground to get into the top three but he still ran a very good race.

Summary

Well I think that this was a pretty good race all around. Residue ran a pretty big race to get the win and beat the defending champion in the race and he did regain the form that he had before the Breeders Cup. He ran a huge race in here for sure. Congratulations to Residue and trainer Smokey Stover.

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES