Bradley Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
January 22, 2022

He may be eight years old and a veteran of 54 races, but Banshee Star is still getting the job done! Since arriving with Calia Stable, via a $16.000 claim in July, the gelding has won four of eight starts, and the Bradley Stakes makes their first stake win together. It’s always remarkable to see a horse like this continue to win races, and for his career he now had fifteen such wins during his career. It’s the first win in the race for Calia Stable, and the second for G Saez, who also won in 2020 with Cherokee Reward. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:39.36, equalling the second fastest winning time of the race in its history. Let’s take a look at it!

(¼ Mile- :23.45)- Ancient Aliens jumps out to the early lead as he looks to pick up his fourth straight win for Angelos Stable. To his inside, we have Involved, a horse trying to extend a different type of streak: trainer Nakamura Stables’ winning streak in the stake. After them, we have a group of three stalkers, and with a head in front of the group, it’s Gdp Inc.’s Quarter Plan, who runs between horses. To his outside, is our eventual winner, the ageless wonder, Banshee Star, for Calia Stable. Master Of Hounds, out of The Sidley Stud, is the horse on the rail of the group. Next comes Rhythm Of Thought, by himself for Oval Express Farms, and at the back of the pack, we have Chai Danger (Wolf Ridge Stables) and Hurry Hard (Hrg Stables).

(½ Mile- :46.80)- Around the opening turn and into the backstretch, Ancient Aliens and Involved are still the leaders, and they are matching strides after the opening mile. Behind them, Banshee Star pulls ahead of Quarter Plan and Master Of Hounds, who he had been running alongside previously, and now holds third by nearly a full length. Master Of Hounds bides his time in fourth and Quarter Plan hopes to stay with them. Rhythm Of Thought, if he wants it, has a lane he can use to the inside of Quarter Plan. It’s two more to Chai Danger and Hurry Hard.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Towards the end of the backstretch, Banshee Star was gradually cutting into the deficit he had to the frontrunners, and as they began to move into the turn, he moved into the second position as Ancient Aliens began to bow out of it. Involved was not going anywhere, however, and had the lead by half a length. The other horse that was moving especially well in the turn was Rhythm Of Thought, as he took the lane to the outside of Master Of Hounds, and pulled into fourth with an imminent pass likely of Ancient Aliens. Quarter Plan and Master Of Hounds still were in the mix in the middle of the field, but neither were showing a push to the front. Chai Danger had a lot of work to do, and Hurry Hard really began to struggle.

(Finish- 1:39.36)- It wasn’t long in the stretch until Banshee Star took over the lead, but Involved tried to show a lot of fight. He wasn’t going to make it easy for Banshee Star, but the veteran has seen these valiant challenges before and was able to hold off Involved by half a length for the win! Rhythm Of Thought also showed a lot of heart in the stretch, and made a great bid of his own, narrowly missing the second spot. It was two lengths back to fourth place Quarter Plan, then Chai Danger, Ancient Aliens, Master Of Hounds, and Hurry Hard.

About The Winner- Banshee Star, trained by Calia Stable, and ridden to victory by G Saez, is an eight year old gelding by Star Admiral, and is out of Bella Banshee. He was bred in New York as a yearling by Grimley, and acquired by Calia Stable, via Arindel, for a $16.000 claim in July. The win is his 15th in 54 starts, and his fourth stake win. Congratulations to the connections! His career earnings are now $1,761.360.

Track: Firm
Time: :23²  :46⁴  1:09⁴  1:39¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 2 Paid 17.50
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 2 – 6 Paid 127.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded