NY Stallion Series- Great White Way ($500.000 Purse)
AQU- For Two Year Olds Foaled in NY
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
December 18, 2021

We would see rain on Saturday at the Big A, but the track did not see as much of it as we thought there may be, and the track would only be downgraded to a good status. That would prove to not be any sort of problem for Mr Pancake, a horse that had an impressive debut and was making his second career start here in the Great White Way. This is a name that has not been talked about as of yet, but after beating the caliber of opposition that ran here, including two BC Juvenile runners, Mr Pancake will certainly be one to watch as a three year old. It is the second win in a row for his trainer, Arindel, who won last year with an interesting horse, too. Oleg has been successful, but the trainer now will be hoping that Mr Pancake does a lot more. J R Velazquez was in the saddle, and won for the second time as well, also tasting victory in 2011. The time of the race was 1:23.10. Let’s take a look!

(¼ MIle- :23.05)- Three horses break quickly, and are side by side in the early half of the backstretch. Running in the middle of the group is Knockout, and the Mb Stables- trained horse has a head in front of those beside him. Starship Shadow gets credit for second as he runs on the rail for TwinTowersRacing, giving third to Storm Cat, as the D J C Racing Stables entry runs on the outside. Arindel’s Evgenii stalks this group all to himself in the fourth position, but it is very tight immediately behind him. Wrestler (D J C Racing Stables) is next, and running sixth, we have our eventual winner, Mr Pancake, for Arindel. He was interesting to watch because he initially started near the back, but after the first furlong he made a big push to get up to his midpack position, about two and a half lengths from the lead. Fionas Miracle (La Canada Racehorses) was right beside him and The Greek (Arindel) was nearby. It was one more length to the trailer, Hilarity (Mb Stables).

(½ Mile- :46.35)- The front three held their positions for the rest of the backstetch, but as soon as we moved in to the turn, Knockout began looking a lot better than the Starship Shadow and Storm Cat, and pulled a length out in front of them. Mr Pancake did not stop his advance in the backstretch, and just prior to entering the turn, he would pull level with his stablemate, Evgenii, for the fourth spot. Once in the turn, he made that pass, and now was pulling to within a length on Starship Shadow and Storm Cat with his sights obviously set on Knockout. He would leave both Fionas Miracle and Wrestler behind as neither of those two looked to make a move forward at this point of the race. The Greek was with them still, and Hilarity was still all by himself at the back.

(Top Of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Knockout looked good in the turn, and he needed to be in order to keep the lead moving into the stretch. Mr Pancake was still running very well, and was now into the second position, and within a length of the leader. Both Starship Shadow and Storm Cat were unable to keep up, and looked like they were going to be passed by others shortly. Evgenii was holding his position, but not making any sort of push. Meanwhile, further back, The Greek swung out five wide in order to make a bid but still had about three lengths to make up. Fionas Miracle was still not showing much, and both Wrestler and Hilarity were looking like beaten horses.

(Finish- 1:23.10)- Mr Pancake continued to look real good, and did not have much difficulty completing the pass of Knockout as that one had nothing for his rival. Once he was by, Arindel could start to smile and begin his celebration for winning the race for the second year in a row. However, he could also root for a 1-2 finish to make this an even better result, and the bid of The Greek from the outside would see him take the second spot, though he never concerned Mr Pancake. Fionas Miracle ran his best late, but started the run too late to have this result in anything better than third. Knockout struggled in the stretch, but still ended up fourth, over Hilarity, Evgenii, Starship Shadow, Wrestler, and Storm Cat.

About The Winner- Mr Pancake, trained by Arindel and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a two year old by Commanding The Storm and is out of Atomic Tangerine. He was bred in New York as a third quarter two year old by Arindel, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! He is now 2-for-2 in his career, with this being his first stake win. His career earnings are now $342.000.

Track: Good
Time: :23   :46¹  1:10²  1:23

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 8 Paid 24.10
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 8 – 3 Paid 324.70

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded