Chandelier Stakes (Grade 1) (BC)- $300.000 Purse
For Filles Two Years Old
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
September 26, 2015

On many prior occasions, we have been left admiring the winner of the Chandelier Stakes.   The list of past winners is impressive, with recent winners including Karloff and Miss Phooey Beach.  They used their Chandelier victory to go the BC Juvenile Fillies, and would finish 14th and 10th, respectively.   Today, Wicked Heat overcame the 11 post and shattered the stake record by almost half a second as she wired the field to get the win in 1:41.76.  She impressed many people, and may go on to duplicate or even better when Karloff and Miss Phooey Beach have done in their careers.   Despite that, there’s been a hex over the Chandelier winner at the BC.  The winner of this stake has never finished in the top three in the BC.  Wicked Heat looked like she could break that trend, and what better day then Halloween then to exorcize some old demons.  For now, trainer EasyMoney Stables will soak in the victory of today’s race, the first time in which the trainer has every one, something that also holds true for jockey C Nakatani.  Congratulations to all of the connections! Here is how it unfolded!

1st- 11- Wicked Heat (5/1)- The eventual race winner was beautifully out of the gate for EasyMoney Stables.  C Nakatani has no choice but to aggressively move her forward in the run up to the first turn, and then had to nudge her a little more to clear Livin on the Edge.  Once she was able to do to that, she was on the rail about midway into the first turn.  She would maintain this advantage into the backstretch, setting the opening fractions in :23.19 and :46.82.  In the process, she ended up opening up two lengths on Livin on the Edge, but about four or so on the next closer pursuers.   Held a nine length cushion on Sneaky Fanatastique when that one decided to make her closing bid.  In the stretch, she was amazing as she pulled away from the rest of the field, still running in great stride.  Sneaky Fantastique made a very impressive closing bid, but even with that, Wicked Heat still won by two lengths.  There’s plenty to be excited about with this filly and hopefully she can do in the BC what other Chandelier winners could not.  Wicked Heat is a two year old filly by Commanding and out of Soul Gem, part of the Ghost Walker line. She was bred in Ontario by EasyMoney Stables, making that $50.000 Commanding stud fee seem like a steal!  Congratulations to all of the connections!

2nd- 6- Sneaky Fantastique (5/2)- Our selection and the race favorite put herself behind the eight ball early, being last of them all and nearly off the viewer as the run down the backstretch began.  Stayed in this position for about half the backstretch run but as they got closer to the turn, J Rosario was getting his Yahudi Stables filly ready to roll!  Once there, it was impressive.  She gained seven lengths on Wicked Heat in the stretch, and that is saying something because Wicked Heat was pulling away from others as this was going on.  She had plenty of room to make her closing bid and runs a pretty strong race.  We will likely see her in the Juvenile Fillies as well and we should be excited about her, too.

3rd- 7- Livin on the Edge (16/1)- The TwinTowersRacing filly got off to a great start and put a little bit of pressure on Wicked Heat initially as that one wanted to get to the rail.  Once Wicked Heat got there, Livin on the Edge backed off by about a length, in the second position.  Maintained this gap to the leader for the entire backstretch run and never really made a bid to get closer. In the stretch, she had nothing for Wicked Heat, and could not hold off Sneaky Fantastique, but she did catch herself from falling behind the wall of horses that were behind her to hold on to third.

4th- 3- Roller Coaster (8/1)- The Blushing Meadows got off to an average start, riding along the rail in the fourth position.   Maintained a steady though unhurried stride down the backstretch. This would be the theme of her race, as you would never see any kind of push forward from her, but she was good enough to hold off most of those who had behind her.  She stays out of trouble, has a pretty clean trip, and gets her trainer a slight check.

5th- 1- Angry Curator (90/1)- The longest shot on the board from Sarah Stables found herself running at the back of the pack with Sneak Fantastique early. However when that one made her advance, Angry Curator seemed more interested in seeing how many she could pick off along the rail.  This proved to be a very good decision given the amount of battling for position that was going on to her outside, and as many of them seemed to hit the wire together, being the inside-most runner would help her cause.

6th- 9- Saw the 1st Work Wow (4/1)- Got a good lesson in learning that an eleven horse field would be tougher then her first work, spending the early portion of the race near the back for Australia Wide. Tried to push out about four wide into the turn but was hindered by traffic a bit.  She would advance somewhat in the stretch, and while you can make some trip excuses, don’t get carried away as to their effects.  Sneaky Fantastique was a lane wider and put three lengths between them.

7th- 2- Pink Stars (12/1)- Did not start all that well for trainer Team 7 Illusions, starting 8th overall, though in a good position along the rail.  Her trip was mostly uneventful throughout. There was never any kind of push out of her though, and she did seem as though she had room to make such a move.  Instead, she settled for being one of many in a very tight pack.

8th- 5- Freedom Flying (20/1)- Started better then she finished for trainer Mb Stables, being third in the early going, about three lengths off the lead down the backstretch in an unhurried position.  She would be in third for much of the race, and still seemed like she was heading toward a good finish even into the final furlong.  Late in the race, while she wasn’t bad, she couldn’t keep many behind her.

9th- 8- Gostly Graveyard (21/1)- Started midpack for Downwind Stables, but she always did seem to have a good, three wide lane going if she were to have been able to make an advance.  There would never be an advance as she would stand her ground in this position more then anything else and watch as the others went by.

10th- 4- Quite Elusive (7/1)- It was an average start overall for the second Mb Stables entry, being sixth early, about five lengths off the lead.  Maintained this position most of the way, but as others began to make runs that had been behind her, Quite Elusive probably needed to be what her name says, but could not stay out of traffic.  Didn’t show a lot, but might have some excuses.

11th- 10- Technology Sweep (32/1)- The filly from The Sidley Stud did not get off to the greatest of starts, but like Gostly Graveyard, she seemed to have a good lane early if she was going to look to advance.   Looked to make this bid coming out of the turn and seemed good for a while.  Then, she just completely stalled out.

Track: Fast
Time: :23   :46⁴  1:10²  1:41³

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 11 – 6 Paid 20.20
$1 Trifecta: 11 – 6 – 7 Paid 92.70

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I