Shadwell Turf Mile Was Far Too Cool’s

By Nynl Stables on October 8, 2017

Shadwell Turf Mile (Grade 1)- $1,000.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
October 7, 2017

Far Too Cool has had a strong season, but that did not correlate to a lot of people having confidence in him for the 13th running of the Shadwell Turf Mile. There were longer shots on the board, but most people were leaning towards Compress, Lunar Blaze, or Desolation Island. Other then those three, the rest of the field had double digit odds. At the beginning of the year, every trainer in the game had the opportunity to claim him for $12.500, but no one made the move. As the season went on, Far Too Cool began to accomplish better things and in doing so he showed a liking for this distance, running a mile on the grass. Today, against some of the strongest competition in his division, Far Too Cool punched his ticket to the BC Mile with his third graded win of the year. The proud winning trainer is Night Rider Stables, who wins this race for the first time. Aboard the winner was the trainer’s favorite jockey, R Maragh, who wins the race for the second time. He was aboard Without Kera back in 2011. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:32.76, the fourth quickest in the history of the stake. Let’s look at how it was won!

(1/4 Mile- :22.85)- Several from the outer half of the starting gate are the quickest of them all at the beginning. Particularly eager to run is Thats The Truth, from TwinTowersRacing, and would be joined by Compress, from Cherrytree Hill Farm in these early moments. Genetics (Team 7 Illusions) and Hold The Mach (Night Rider Stables) were in the mix as well, and longshot Comes The Dream was able to get to the rail and be less then a length out for M.b.o. Racing Stables. Following these frontrunners, there was about a two length gap to John Henry’s Lunar Blaze, who led a five-wide group by a half length. That group consisted of, from inside to outside: Desolation Island (Mb Stables), Ingrained (Mb Stables), our eventual winner Far Too Cool (Night Rider Stables), Great Destiny (Mwn Racing), and Swamp Fox (Blushing Meadows). They were all still in a good striking position, trailing by four. Behind them, those settled in the back early on were Kenny Wisconsin (D J C Racing Stables), Going Gone (Team 7 Illusions), and then Discover Decima (Threshold).

(½ Mile- :45.69)- Moving into the backstretch, Compress takes the lead away from Thats The Truth and looks to open up by about a length on him. It was another length back to Genetics and Hold The Mach, as these two stalked the pace two lengths back. Comes The Dream, for now, was hanging in there, so there was not a ton of movement on the front end. Further back in the field, though, we began to see things tighten up. Far Too Cool continued to trail by four lengths, and kept himself in a position to stalk the stalker, Genetics, and Lunar Blaze was matching his stride just to his outside. These inched away slightly from those that they had been running with previously. Desolation Island and Ingrained were running together on the rail, trying to keep themselves out of trouble, but were unhurried. Great Destiny and Swamp Fox were still beside one another, and had what seemed to be the better lanes at this time, behind the stronger contenders. Discover Decima was looking to thread a needle in between horses. Kenny Wisconsin was not showing a whole lot, but he may have not been able too in his boxed in position. Going Gone trailed, but had the potential to make an outside move if he wanted.

(Top Of Stretch- 1.7F To Go)- Compress continues to hold the advantage over Thats The Truth, but the pressure is building. As the field moved around the turn, there were two of them that made the biggest move, and that would be Far Too Cool and Lunar Blaze. With Hold The Mach not advancing the way stablemate Far Too Cool wanted, R Maragh had no choice but to prepare for the outside move of that and come down on Lunar Blaze. J R Velazquez didn’t mind that all that much, because Lunar Blaze also had plenty of run coming and for him to move down a little as well would be in his best interest too. As these two exited the turn, they rapidly cut into the lead. Neither Hold The Mach or Genetics were responding with the run that they needed too here. Going back further, there were several looking for their lanes to take, but no big moves coming quite yet. Swamp Fox seemed to be in a good position to go one more lane to the outside of Lunar Blaze to at least have an unobstructed run. Desolation Island and Ingrained each came down off the rail for Mb Stables, but Desolation Island looked like he might be blocked while it was setting up well for Ingrained to take the lane Far Too Cool was using, but he had to beat Discover Decima to it.

(Finish- 1:32.76)- Far Too Cool takes command in the stretch, quickly. It did not take long for him to get by Compress, but surely Lunar Blaze was going to pose a great challenge. Far Too Cool would not allow anyone to spoil his day and his plans to be at DMR next month. Opening up by a length midway through the stretch, it was a powerful performance, which is exemplified by the horse, Lunar Blaze, that he was putting away. He would go on to win by a length and a half over an impressive Ingrained, who followed him through and would catch Lunar Blaze for the exacta. This effort from another underrated talented three year old should not be overlooked. Lunar Blaze is again top three, but no win. Following them, it was another length and a half back to a dead heat for fourth between Compress and Eastern Fox, with Discover Decima getting up for sixth. Going Gone was way out wide for his seventh place run. Then its Hold The Mach holding off Desolation Island; Kenny Wisconsin getting ahead of Genetics, followed by Thats The Truth and Great Destiny. Also eventually finishing, would be Comes The Dream.

About The Winner: Far Too Cool, trained by Night Rider Stables, and ridden by R Maragh, is a three year old gelding by Cool Current and out of Phar Lady. He was bred in California by Barcelona Farms as a yearling, and acquired by Night Rider Stables, via Mb Stables, in the December 2016 auction for just $5.670. Congratulations to the connections! For Far Too Cool, the win is his sixth in nine starts this year, and seventh in 12 overall starts. It was his third graded victory, and his first Grade 1 win. His career earnings now sit at $893.030.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Far Too Cool

Night Rider Stables

Maragh R

12.80

1¹