The Singspiel Stakes (Grade 3)- $150.000 Purse

On paper, it seemed like everything was lined up perfectly for Yummy Opus to end up in the winner’s circle today.  The end result is a lesson that we already know all too well is that these races are not run in the past performances.   Though surprisingly, he was not made the post time favorite for the race, and the one that was, Discernment, proved to be a bigger disappointment.  The big winner in the Singspiel today was T S Crystal, a four year old make his stake debut (of any type), and trainer Triple K, who earned their 40th career Graded win in this race (a day after winning their 39th down at GP!)  T S Crystal came into the race on great form, but it seemed as though a few in here would be too tough for him.  That would not be the case as the Laffin Warrior colt stepped it up and may now be destined for much bigger and better.  Aboard the winner was L Contreras and both trainer and jockey win the Singspiel for the first time in their careers.  Congratulations!  The time of the win was 2:24.99, making it the second quickest edition of the race in its history.  Here’s a deeper look!

1st- 1- T S Crystal (7/2)-  Our eventual race winner from Triple K started well out of the gate initially, however L Contreras was quick to restrain him so that T S Crystal would be a bit towards the back of the field as they moved around the opening portion of the track.  At the beginning of the backstretch, he was in the fifth position, and five lengths from the lead.  As the field prepared to move into the final turn, Contreras moved T S Crystal off the rail, and into a three wide position.  This would prove to be a critical decision, because Discernment was backing up into his lane, and Valar Morghulis was preparing his own move to the front.  Towards the exit of the turn, he would have an explosion of run, and cut his deficit to the leaders in half.   Now just two and a half back, he and Valor Marghulis went around Breiterate on both sides, and set sights on Yummy Opus.  T S Crystal showed a little more speed in the stretch then did Valor Morghulis, allowing him get by Yummy Opus first and ultimately score the victory!  The time of the win was 2:24.99.  T S Crystal is a four year old colt by Laffin Warrior and out of Seductivity.  He was bred in California by Triple K as a fourth quarter two year old, the only owner for which he has ever known.  Congrats again!

2nd- 3- Valar Morghulis (38/1)-  The longest shot on the board from Gdp Inc would prove to make a lot of people pretty happy today.  He would get off to average start and be content to remain in a midpack position around the opening turn and as they moved into the backstretch, keeping a gap of about three lengths to the leader at this time.  Throughout the backstretch and while running around the final turn, he didn’t make an emphatic move forward, but kept a steady and consistent stride going that allowed him to gradually push closer.  Looked like he might get hung up behind Breiterate at the top of the stretch, but I Ortiz Jr did well to move him out of harms way there, and when he asked Valar Morghulis to pick it up a notch, his colt would deliver.  Passed Breiterate and Yummy Opus in a nearly synchronized stride with T S Crystal, and soon enough it was clear that it would be them deciding the outcome.   In the end, T S Crystal was a little better, but this longshot rounds out a nice exacta for many.

3rd- 5- Yummy Opus (3/1)-  Right from the start, the Drabfantasy colt surprised us when he jumped out to the early lead, as he has historically been one to come from well off the pace.  Though there he was, leading the field early! Led everyone around the opening turn, running half a mile in :48.75, six furlongs in 1:12.68, and ten furlongs in 2:00.68.  He appeared comfortable and graceful in his stride as Breiterate shadowed him, though not necessarily challenging him for the lead.  At the top of the stretch, the challengers began to position themselves with Breiterate looking to get by on the outside and T S Crystal and Valar Morghulis lurking closer and closer.  His effort to hang in there was valiant, and for a while looking like he may do it, but the top two would be too strong in the final strides.

4th- 6- Breiterate (11/1)-  Got off to a good start, for his trainer, Asgar, stalking the pacesetting Yummy Opus in the opening segment and into the backstretch.  S X Bridgmohan was happy to keep him in this shadowing position throughout the backstretch and as they field moved into the long final turn.  He even seemed to be lining up his winning move as they hit the top of the stretch.  Battled for a while to try and take the lead from Yummy Opus, but would be unable too, and in the final furlong both T S Crystal and Valar Morghulis made their way by.

5th- 7- Make Change (12/1)-  The Night Rider Stables entry assumed a position near the back, keeping Gila Bend company over the first half of the race.  As they moved into the final turn, Make Change looked to advance his position by going three wide around the fading Discernment.  He seemed to be running steady with the field early in the stretch, but he would really turn it on nicely in the last furlong.  Barely missed fourth.  Too bad we don’t have a two-mile race for him.

6th- 4- Gila Bend (9/2)-  The gelding from Barcelona Farms had no interest in the early pace, going directly to the back of the field.  He would remain  in this position for over half the race.  Remained at the back of the pack without showing an interest to move forward even when Make Change, who had been running with him, made his move.  Remained on the rail in the stretch, and ran rather decently, but gave up too much ground early on for this to amount to much,

7th- 2- Discernment (9/5)-  The post time favorite (surprisingly) disappointed many as he failed to beat a single horse in the race.  Early on, he seemed to be in a good position sitting just off the lead by three lengths as they moved into the backstretch.  Steady for most of the backstretch trip, but struggled in the turn, and would gradually fall out of contention.

##		Horse Name	Owner Name	Jockey	Odds		Fin	Time	SRF
1		T S Crystal	Triple K	Contreras L	3.45		11/2	2:24.99
3		Valar Morghulis	Gdp Inc	Ortiz I Jr	37.65		2no	2:25.11
5		Yummy Opus	Drabfantasy	Albarado R J	3.30		33/4	2:25.13
6		Breiterate	Asgar	Bridgmohan S X	10.75		4hd	2:25.32
7		Make Change	Night Rider Stables	Boulanger G	11.85		51	2:25.35
4		Gila Bend	Barcelona Farms	Wilson E J	4.60		61	2:25.70
2		Discernment	Mb Stables	Talamo J	1.80		7	2:26.09

Track: Firm
Time: :48³  1:12³  2:00²  2:24⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

1 – T S Crystal	8.90	5.20	3.50
3 – Valar Morghulis		48.50	24.80
5 – Yummy Opus			3.70

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 176.60
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 5 Paid 420.70

Scratched: None

— NS