South China Sea Stays Hot and Wins Mineshaft Stakes

By Nynl Stables on February 17, 2024

Mineshaft Stakes (Grade 3)- $250.000 Purse
FG- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
February 17, 2024

With the rain that fell at FG on Saturday, we would end up having our original field of eleven be cut to nine but that would not be something that would get in the way of South China Sea. This gelding by Sun Tzu was riding a three-race winning streak heading into the race and handled the mud well to make that four. Overall, for his career now, South China Sea has won seven out of eleven, making him an interesting one to watch this year to see how far he can advance his career. His trainer, Fractious, certainly has the ability to maximize his potential, and wins the Mineshaft Stakes for the second time. Fractious’ prior win was in 2020 with the late Reach For A Latte. Aboard the winner was R L Moore, and he wins this race for the first time. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:44.52, which is essentially the same time as in 2015, when it was also run in the mud. Let’s take a look at it now!

(1/4 Mile- :23.51)- Two horses break better than the rest of them, and lead the way around the opening turn. Getting credit with the lead here is Prevent, owned by Mb Stables, and he is narrowly ahead of TwinTowersRacing’s Living In The Matrix. Running third, in the stalking position, is Arindel’s Ey Mon, then running fourth, also by himself, is our eventual race winner from Fractious, South China Sea. He’s a length behind Ey Mon, and a length and a half ahead of a group of four that are running alongside one another. That consists of Quality Road (D J C Racing Stables), Demon (Wood Duck Stables), Gas Lighting (TwinTowersRacing), and Jolly Rook (Angelos Stable). At the back, by himself, is Senor Vinagre Y Agua (YME Stable).

(½ Mile- :47.61)- Not much changes after the second quarter mile as Prevent and Living In The Matrix continue to battle it out on the front end, and they have put a little more distance on the third place Ey Mon. South China Sea is still by himself in the fourth position, officially scored as four lengths off the pace. The rest of the field runs in the same alignment as they had previously.

(Top of Stretch, 2F To Go)- This continues to be a two-horse race at the front of the field and Prevent is starting to look a little better than Living In The Matrix on the exit of the turn. Inheriting the third position is South China Sea, but not because he’s made a charge but rather due to the fact that Ey Mon has called it a day. Demon is emerging as the best of the foursome that had been running together and looks to make his push forward from the outside. Jolly Rook and Gas Lighting were holding steady while Quality Road was packing it in. Senor Vinagre Y Agua had merely caught the rest of the pack.

(Finish- 1:44.52)- It was only in the final furlong that it looked like the rest of the field was going to get to Prevent for the win. South China Sea was making progress but Prevent was holding his own for a while. Approaching the wire, that progress by South China Sea, and the inability of Prevent to maintain his stride allowed for South China Sea to get on by for his fourth straight victory! Prevent completes the exacta, with Demon coming on late for third. Thought that one would have more of a stretch push than he actually did, however. Living In The Matrix and Senor Vinagre Y Agua will share the fourth-place check, as they are narrowly ahead of Jolly Rook. Rounding it out, it’s Gas Lighting, Quality Road, and Ey Mon.

About The Winner- South China Sea, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by R L Moore, is a six-year-old gelding Sun Tzu and is out of Moon Rising. He was bred by Barcelona Farms in California as a third quarter two-year-old and was acquired by Fractious with a $20.000 claim in May 2023. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his seven in 11 starts, and his fifth stake win, all of which are graded. His career earnings are now $472.040.

##	Horse Name	Owner Name	Jockey	Odds	Fin	Time	SRF
6	South China Sea	Fractious	Moore R L	6.90	1¹	1:44.52
8	Prevent	Mb Stables	Murphy O	20.35	2¹	1:44.72
9	Demon	Wood Duck Stables	Velazquez J R	2.90	3^1/2	1:44.94
7	Living In The Matrix	TwinTowersRacing	Geroux F	5.95	4^no	1:45.07
10	Senor Vinagre Y Agua	YME Stable	Van Dyke D	7.95	4^no	1:45.07
3	Jolly Rook	Angelos Stable	Gaffalione T	5.70	6¹	1:45.09
2	Gas Lighting	TwinTowersRacing	Davis D	17.40	7¹	1:45.35
11	Quality Road	D J C Racing Stables	Franco M	10.10	8¹	1:45.65
1	Ey Mon	Arindel	Lopez P	3.95	9	1:45.99