The Westchester (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
BEL- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
May 2, 2020

Prior to The Westchester, you have to go back to October 2018 to find that last time that Saturday Khartoum won a race. He had still been running decently, and continued to be entered into graded stakes. This would also be the first time he had a run a mile since the race that began the winless streak, the Cigar Handicap in December of that year. It seemed like this would be a great chance for him to win again, and he was made our second choice in the preview. The Westchester would be a great race for him, and he would look particularly strong in the stretch as he takes home the win for the first time in a year and a half. Congratulations to Rousee, the proud winning trainer of this gelding! The race marks the first time that both he and jockey J Rosario have won The Westchester. It was run in a time of 1:35.06, which is in line with other recent times. Let’s take a look!

(1/4 Mile- :22.70)- The start of this race would be more normal then the much more prestigious race that was run later in the evening at CD. Breaking the quickest out of the gate would be Charleys Glance, trained by Maxmillion Farm, and Eastern General, from Chili King Stables. The battled for the early lead initially before Charleys Glance pushes forward to the length lead. The eventual winner, Rousee’s Saturday Khartoum is in a good stalking position behind them, and seems content to be to the inside of Eastern General. Deceptive Speed, out of D J C Racing Stables is another length back, and on the rail, Nolespan Racing’s Juice Mixer is another half length back. Ferocious Gaze runs by himself for Tiratzo, and it’s one more length to Ice Wall (RNP Stables), another to Devilish Details (Mb Stables), and the trailer is Storming, from Fractious. Just 8 ½ lengths separate front and back at this point.

(½ Mile- :45.52)- Charleys Glance and Eastern General continue to look good as they make their way down the backstretch, and into the turn. The lead for Charleys Glance is half a length on his fellow pace setter, but the cushion to third place has increased to be about two and a half lengths. Saturday Khartoum appeared to be slightly restrained in the backstretch as to not get too close to the front runners, and was now running as the outside horse of three wide along with both Deceptive Speed and Juice Mixer. Ice Wall moved up to join Ferocious Gaze in the middle of the field as they ran about as close here as they would at the end of the race. Devilish Details and Storming were still at the back.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.5F To Go)- We lose one of our frontrunners as the field moves around the turn as Eastern General can no longer keep up. There is no such problem for Charleys Glance, who continues to maintain his graceful stride while running on the rail. However, the field was getting closer, and the biggest threat was clearly Saturday Khartoum, who could see that elusive win being potentially there for the taking. He still had a length and a half to make up, but was in very good stride. A five wide group had formed between them, with the fading Eastern General being a part of it. Neither of Deceptive Speed or Juice Mixer would push forward with Saturday Khartoum, whom they had been running with previously. Each of Ferocious Gaze and Ice Wall had caught them and seemed as though they were about to quickly leave them behind. Devilish Details was a length behind this group with not much room to advance towards the inside. Storming would have more of an opening that he could take.

(Finish- 1:35.06)- In the stretch, Satuday Khartoum looked great, charging to the front, ahead of Charleys Glance who ran decently still on the rail. The biggest challenge for him was going to be both Ferocious Gaze and Ice Wall. These two were in great stride, but Saturday Khartoum would not back down. He had been waiting for this next win for too long, and there wasn’t anyone who was going to keep him from it. In the end, he wins, by half a length over both of Ferocious Gaze and Ice Wall, who dead heat for second. Charleys Glance holds on for fourth over Devilish Details, who had some room to run late. Juice Mixer, Storming, Deceptive speed, and Eastern General round it out.

About The Winner- Saturday Khartoum, trained by Rousee and ridden to victory by J Rosario is a six year old gelding by Hong Kong Phooey, and is out of Utica Girl. He was bred in Florida as a third quarter two year old by Rousee, the only trainer for which he has ever known. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his seventh in 24 starts, his fifth stake win, and third graded win. His career earnings are now $845.690.

Track: Fast
Time: :22³  :45²  1:09²  1:35

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 2 Paid 63.20, 5 – 9 Paid 30.80
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 2 – 9 Paid 631.90, 5 – 9 – 2 Paid 316.40

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES