The Zagora- $125.000 Purse
BEL- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Half on the Turf
October 28, 2018

Sunday saw the first ever running of the Zagora, a long turf race designed for older females, although this year we saw a field comprised entirely of three year olds. The field was small, and what looked like a competitive race going in turned in to only three of them having a shot in the stretch. At the wire, it would be Agenda, an Mb Stables-trained filly that enjoyed this distance the most. J R Velazquez is your winning rider, in a time of 2:26.59. Congratulations to them! Here is a look at it.

(½ Mile- :50.11)- Right out of the gate, Carrie Bushyhead looks sharp for Team 7 Illusions and appears to be about to pull away from the field down the front stretch. However, she would soon have company as Dulwich Hamlet, out of D J C Racing Stables, goes up to the front with her, and actually takes a slight lead as they move into the turn. At a half mile, Carrie Bushyhead recaptures the slight advantage. The rest of the field was content to let them go. Free Kingdom, from Hambletonian Stable, was initially at the back, though made a mild advance in the turn to take the third spot, trailing the frontrunners by two and a half. The eventual winner, Mb Stables’ Agenda and Tip Of A Pedal, out of Night Rider Stables ran together in the early moments, about four lengths back.

(3/4 Mile- 1:14.52)- This portion of the race sees Carrie Bushyhead start to inch away again from Dulwich Hamlet, but that may have also been a products of Dulwich Hamlet backing off more. In the back stretch, the field seems to just cruise right along. Free Kingdom gets a bit closer to the frontrunners, and midway through, she is preparing to take second. Agenda is just three lengths back, with Tip Of A Pedal in her shadow.

(Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- As we approach the top of the stretch, things have changed quite a bit. At first, we saw Free Kingdom complete the pass for second on the backstretch, and look to move to the outside of Carrie Bushyhead to take the lead. This left Dulwich Hamlet about a length behind them, and jockey E Cancel appeared very confused about which lane to be taking. That indecisiveness was capitalized on by Agenda and J R Velazquez, who took that third lane just prior to the turn. She would certainly make it work, passing the leaders rather easily. Midway through the turn, she was clearly in front, as they get to the top of the stretch, she leads by half a length. Free Kingdom does show some resiliency once Agenda got by and now puts up a better fight. Carrie Bushyhead begans to drop out of it, and Dulwich Hamlet seemed to lose motivation in the turn. Tip Of A Pedal, who had been running in the back, continued to maintain a steady stride, and this allowed her to pass the two who had dropped out of it, and pulled to within two lengths of the lead, so if she had a close coming, it was certainly within reach.

(Finish- 2:26.59)- With every stride in the stretch, Agenda was just a little bit better then her rivals. She didn’t pull away from the field in a dominant manner, it was more in a graceful fashion. There was no one going to be able to get past her, here. Free Kingdom moved up to the rail and ran well to the wire, just not to the level of Agenda, but it was good enough to hold off Tip Of A Pedal who tried to make up ground in the stretch. Dulwich Hamlet and Carrie Bushyhead labored home.

About The Winner- Agenda, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by J R Velazquez, is a three year old filly by Engine Failure, and it out Joba Mya. She was bred in Florida by Mb Stables as a yearling, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her sixth in 13 starts, and her second graded victory. Her career earnings are now $253.270.

Track: Firm
Time: :50   1:14²  2:02²  2:26¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 3 Paid 7.20
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 3 – 1 Paid 303.00

Scratched: None

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded