The Forego (Grade 1)- $600.000 Purse
SAR- For Four Year Olds and Upward
Seven Furlongs on the Dirt
August 28, 2021

Fractious picked up Winchester in private sales in April for $250.000, but the horse had not given him much to be excited about. There was a fourth place run in the MTH Cup, but other than that, Winchester had not stepped up. That would all change in the Forego, as he would run under a mile for the first time since November 2019, and that proved to be the answer to getting him back in the winners circle. It gets Fractious his second straight win in the race, as well, since he also won last year with the late Reach For A Latte. For jockey E Jaramillo, it was his second straight win on the card, and first in this race. Congratulations to them! The time of the race was 1:21.32, a middle of the road such time for the stake. Let’s take a look!

(¼ Mile- :22.94)- No one is hurried out of the starting gate, and we end up with a group of four at the front end early on. Taking the top spot after a quarter mile is Mb Stables-trained In Captivity, who has a half length lead on Geronimo, from Nakamura Stables, and General Obvious, also from Mb Stables. Nearby to them is Court Jester Racing’s Marx On The Moon. They have three stalkers right behind them, and one of them is our eventual winner, Winchester, for Fractious. He is in the third lane, with post time favorite Tallamadge Star in between horses for Our Athletes, and Night Creature on the rail for D J C Racing Stables. There’s a pretty big gap behind them, of at least three lengths, to the rest of the field. There we find On The Turning Away (Gdp Inc) and Korean Boyband (Night Rider Stables) running side by side. The trailers are Starship Sweeper (TwinTowersRacing), Dangerfield (Mo Mentum Farm), Mr Charming (Fractious), and That Funky Monkey (Maxmillion Farm).

(½ Mile- :45.61)- Down the backstretch, we don’t see much change in how the field runs, but as we enter the turn, In Captivity starts to show that he is going to try and pull away from the three that had been running with him. He was about a length ahead of second place General Obvious with Marx On The Moon hanging with that one. Geronimo, however, was not able to keep up, and lost some ground. None of the stalkers were making an advance yet, but the fading of Geronimo would moderately hinder Tallmadge Star. Winchester was still looking good on the outside and Night Creature equally so on the rail but each had three lengths or so to make up. The gap to the rest of the field remained large as none of them made a move forward to this point.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- In Captivity continues to show the way, holding a length lead. General Obvious is still a length back, but had not been able to make any kind of move on his stablemate. Marx On The Moon was also looking as though he could not keep up. Meanwhile, two horses were very interesting to watch as we exited the turn. One being Night Creature, who continued to hold his line very well on the rail and making gains on the leader. Then, there was Winchester, who had to swing out wide for the stretch. Once about five wide, he did not have to worry about anyone blocking his lane and could make his charge to the front. Geronimo was still in this lead group, but would need an unexpected second wind at this point. Tallmadge Star had backed out. Further back, you had to feel like someone would make a charge, but for now, we would not know who.

(Finish- 1:21.32)- In Captivity tried to hold on in the stretch, but with Night Creature bearing down on him to the inside, he would ultimately concede the lead. However, it was the one further away from him that would be the quickest, as Winchester did not have anyone near to him and ran very well on the outside. A good finish was shaping up in between Winchester and Night Creature, and people in the stands hoped that we would not have a second straight dead heat. In this photo, there could be some separation of the top two as Winchester had a head in front of Night Creature for the win. In Captivity was within half a length in third. General Obvious held off the late running That Funky Monkey for the final piece of the purse. Rounding it out, it’s On The Turning Away, Geronimo, Marx On The Moon, Korean Boyband, Mr Charming, Tallmadge Star, Dangerfield, and Starship Sweeper.

About The Winner- Winchester, trained by Fractioius and ridden to victory by E Jaramillo, is a four year old gelding by Sydney Harbour and is out of Empress Of Olympus. He was bred in California by Orion Farms as a third quarter two year old, and acquired by Fractious, via Maxmillion Farm, for $250.000 in an April 2021 private sale. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his fifth in 17 starts, his fourth stake win and third graded win. His career earnings are now $860.710.

Track: Fast
Time: :22⁴  :45³  1:08⁴  1:21¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 9 – 2 Paid 851.20
$1 Trifecta: 9 – 2 – 4 Paid 1,557.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES