The Orchid (Grade 3)- $200.000 Purse
GP- For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile and Three Eighths on the Inner Turf
April 2, 2016

A mile and three eighths is not the most common distance on race schedules, but fortunately for Axeman, it shows up once in a while on the turf.  Though, surely he wouldn’t mind seeing the premier turf races go for this exact distance.  What’s so special about it?  Well, with this win in The Orchid, Volare is now a perfect six-for-six while running at exactly eleven furlongs.  At this distance or more, he is eight-for-eight.  Not all of those wins are in graded stakes, and some are in open allowances, but that is a pretty impressive statistic.  It will be interesting to see just how long she can keep this streak going.  Volare, overall, has now 14 of her 32 overall career starts.  The time of the come-from-behind win was 2:12.70, and since this was the first edition of The Orchid run at this distance, we can’t compare the time to past editions.  It is the first win in the stake for both trainer, and jockey, J J Castellano.  Congrats to the winners!  Here’s a deeper look at it!

1st- 2- Volare (5/1)- Our eventual race winner from Axeman is known for being a closer, and unlike a few other winners who made tactical adjustments in big stakes today, Volare would stick to her reputation here.  She would trail the field early, and be seven lengths out of it the first time they hit the start finish line.  This is where she would remain about midway into the backstretch trip, when J J Castellano seemed to begin exploring his options.  It appeared as though he would have to move to the outside to make the move, but it would Maistro Power that would make up his mind for him.   With three furlongs to go, we had our key moment of the race when Maistro Power decided to aggressively move to the outside of Spirit Woman and take Sonoma and Vertigineux with her regardless of whether or not they wanted too.  The rail was open at this time, which made the move seem a little odd.   Seeing this happen in front of him and a bunch of daylight now created on the rail, Castellano wasted no time moving Volare close to the rail.  She ran well in the turn, but because others seemed to be slowed up, she gained ground very quickly, and quite easily.  At the top of the stretch, she was second, and seemed destined for victory.  Moonlight Cloud had a length on the wall, was running well, and made Volare earn it.  However, Volare would not be denied here today, having about of a good a trip as a closer can ever have.  Congrats to the winner!  Volare is a six year old mare by the late Blandford Fly and out of Sherri (Timepiece bloodline).  She was bred in Louisiana by Running Bear as a yearling, and has passed through a few barns over her 32 race career.  Most recently, she was picked up in a private sale in March 2015 by Axeman from Blushing Meadows for $125.000.  Congratulations to all of the connections!

2nd- 7- Moonlight Cloud (38/1)- Started strongly for Alydar Stables, and seemed as though she would run side by side around the first day before J R Leparoux instead opted for a stalking trip into the front stretch.  Made a move to get by the top two a little bit before Maistro Power started causing some chaos in the final turn, and because of that, she found herself a length clear of it and three wide battling for the lead as they moved around the final turn. It was actually a pretty interesting image on the viewer at the top of the stretch with her ahead of a wall of seven horses all tightly bunched together.   She ran well in the stretch to keep them behind her.

3rd- 3- Sonoma (29/1)- As anticipated, Sonoma got the jockey change, and it would be K J Desormeaux aboard.    The jockey would elect to have the Alabarda Stable entry towards the back early on, and was five lengths out the first time they hit the wire.  She would maintain her position over the backstretch run, but when Maistro Power wanted to make a move to the outside of Spirit Woman, she would nudge Sonoma down into a five-wide position along the turn.  In the stretch, she was in one of the outer lanes as seven of them formed a wall behind Moonlight Cloud. Sonoma did good to get up for third, but probably would have been better had she not been forced wide.

4th- 1- Maistro Power (8/1)- Our pre-race selection from Nakamura Stables got off to an average and rather uneventful start, content to ride the rail around the opening turn and into the front stretch.  After a calm backstretch run, she came down hard off the rail as they made their way into the final turn, and likewise forced both Sonoma and Vertigineux into very wide positions around that turn.  Ran well in the stretch, and started to create some separation between herself and the back half of the field.  You have the feeling if we had inquiries in our virtual world, that she would have been, at least, placed behind Vertigineux.

5th- 4- Vertigineux (6/1)- Rode midpack in the early going, running three wide around the opening turn and into the frontstretch for D J C Racing Stables.  R J Albarado kept her in touch with the leaders over the backstretch, but things started to get a little messy as they moved around the turn due a move by Maistro Power.  Because of that one’s decision to go outside of Spirit Women instead of staying on the rail (because Volare might want to use it later, after all), Sonoma was nudged down, which in turn, knocked Vertigineux six-wide around the final turn. Being so wide ultimately sealed her fate in the stretch.

6th- 5- Spirit Woman (14/1)- Got off to a pretty good start out of the gate for Hunterman Stable, and R Bejarano would keep him involved in the early pace, riding the rail while running beside Moonlight Cloud, and stalking the leaders.  She seemed to just want to mind her business and wait for her time to strike, but as they began to advance behind her, Spirit Women did not respond with kick of her own, and instead just seemed to keep pace.  She would show some fight, but could not hold off most of her rivals.

7th- 8- Trance The River (5/1)- The Our Athletes entry was not interested in the early pace, and kept eventual winner Volare company at the back in the early stages.  She would do this over the course of the backstretch run, but as Volare began to make her move, Trance The River would not go with her, and found herself about two lengths behind the pack at the top of the stretch and could only pick off positions of those tiring late.

8th- 9- Wire Z Wire (2/1)-   The post time favorite looked good early, and seemed as though she would lead them around the opening turn before eventually conceding the advantage to Sweet Red down the front stretch.  Tried to hang in there for a little while, but at the top of the stretch, she came up empty and simply tired less then Sweet Red did.

9th- 6- Sweet Red (5/1)- Got off to a good start for Mb Stables, and as they made their way around the opening turn, she would not be content to stalk the pace, and instead went up and grabbed the lead, and crossed the finish line first, the first time; setting the half in :48.33, and 3/4 in 1:12.30.  Once they moved around the turn, she had nothing left in the tank, and would get passed by them all.

Track: Firm
Time: :48¹  1:12¹  1:36¹  2:12³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 2 – 7 Paid 352.10
$1 Trifecta: 2 – 7 – 3 Paid 1,403.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES