King Edward BC Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
WO- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile on the Turf
June 21, 2015

The rain came down just enough to downgrade the turf to good and for La Canada Racehorses to decide he will take Bridal General elsewhere.  This left us with just four runners for this year’s King Edward BC Stakes.  Heading into the race, Tiberius Claudius had been a winner in five of 19 career starts, but only one of them had been on the turf, and that was as a two year old.   A strong work in late April likely convinced Sanny Village as to his potential on the grass, as well as going long.  The trainer did well to put BC Turf winning jockey G Olguin aboard, and the end result was an almost perfectly run race.   Uncle Charlie put forth a good effort in the stretch, but the third place runner in the BC Sprint had plenty left to hold off this challenge.  Let’s take a look at how this all unfolded.

1st- 4- Tiberius Claudius (3/1)- Sharp out of the gate for Sanny Village, and initially jumped out to a length and a half advantage.  Twisted Flyer then made a charge from the outside and passed him without a fight.  I thought this was a pretty important part of the race, because if G Olguin opted to battle on the lead, then perhaps he can’t hold off Uncle Charlie in the end.  Instead, Olguin restrained the horse a bit to put him in more of a stalking position.  Did this for the run around the turn, and on exit he moved to the outside of Twisted Flyer, and got by rather easily.  At the top of the stretch, it looked as though any of these four could have a shot, so leave it to a fantastic sprinter to know just how to handle the long WO stretch.  The time of the race was 1:34.24.  Tiberius Claudius is a four year old gelding by Zeus and out of Messilina (who is by Iconoclaste).  He was bred in CA by The Freakshow, and has been in Sanny Village’s possession for his last twelve races.  Congratulations to all of the connections!

2nd- 1- Uncle Charlie (5/2)- Saved ground early for Nakamura Stables, trailing the field but never letting them get away, keeping himself about three lengths from the lead.  Made it known in the turn that he intended to be a factor in this race, took a four wide trip by necessity, and was soon up to challenge for the lead at the top of the stretch.  Put together a fantastic run in the stretch, and made sure that Tiberius Claudius would need to be in a full drive all the way until the wire.

3rd- 5- Twisted Flyer (7/2)- Started well for Mb Stables, and would eventually make an aggressive move on the back stretch to take an early lead.   This led to quick opening quarter, given the track condition, in :23.51.   Kept the lead at the half in 47-flat, but in the turn the challengers began to make their bids.  Twisted Flyer hung tough, he just did not have what it would take today to defeat the top two.

4th- 3- All Together (6/5)- Our favorite as well as the betting favorite from Mb Stables would end up disappointing, although he seemed as if he had it all together early, running about a length off his stablemate and seemingly in a good lane.  Maintained this position for the run around the turn, and at the top of the stretch it appeared as though he was in a good position to make a strong run.  However, there would simply be no response.  On this day, he would beat no one which was quite a surprise.

Track: Good
Time: :23²  :47   1:10³  1:34¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 4 – 1 Paid 9.40

Scratched: Bridal General

— NS

Categories: Grade II