Fayette (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
KEE- For Three Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
October 28, 2017

It’s good to see that people read the previews, even the time-condensed ones. Somehow, the morning line for the top two picks, Withdrawn (10/1) and Swept Twice (20/1) was rather ridiculous. However, perhaps it was the loyal SRF readers out there putting some faith in these two, as they were both wisely bet down to odds of 9/2 and 5/1. Although most of that was in the form of win bets only, as evidenced by some of the high overall payouts. In the end though, it was our top two rising to the occasion in the 13th running of the Grade 2 Fayette. The winning trainer in John Henry, and he wins this race for the first time. J R Leparoux was in the saddle for his first Fayette win as well. Congratulations to them!The time of the win was 1:47.91, placing it as the 4th quickest in stake history.  Let’s take a look at it!

(½ Mile- :47.35)- Royal Prodigy, the post time favorite from Mb Stables, breaks sharply out of the starting gate and goes right to the lead moving into the first turn, and for the duration around it. Moving into the backstretch, he opens up by nearly two lengths. Our eventual winner, Withdrawn (John Henry) is also one of the quickest starters, challenging Royal Prodigy momentarily before settling into a stalking position. Swept Twice, from Gdp Inc, stays at the front as well, and is along side Withdrawn. Eventually, they get joined by Get Benched (Mb Stables) for the backstretch trip. Cube Zero (Aml Racing) was good from the gate, then was put into a hard restrain while moving around the turn. Blue Guy (Canadian Racing) and Summertime Blues (TwinTowersRacing) ran together in the middle of the field. At the back, it would be Socal Man (Aer Stables), Workingmanshero (Jerry Garcia Racing), and Ghost Star (Aandc Stable).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.93)- This portion of the race does not see much in the way of activity, but as soon as this marker was hit, we saw several begin to turn on the switch. Royal Prodigy is still looking good at the front with a length and half lead, and not killing himself with these fractions. However, he does have Withdrawn stalking his every move, and that one prepares to make a move midway through the turn. Swept Twice is still there as well, with Get Benched remaining fourth. Let’s see what happens next as several are looking ready to strike.

(Top Of Stretch- 1.7F To Go)- On the front end, Royal Prodigy now has some company in the form of Withdrawn. The John Henry colt is now less then a half a length from the lead, and poised to take over, although Royal Prodigy does seem as though he’ll have some fight. Swept Twice is moving closer as well, but is now about five wide as he drifted just a bit on exit of the turn. Blue Guy is looking good moving into the stretch, as he hopes to follow Withdrawn through. Get Benched is still hanging in there, as well. Summertime Blues, on exit of the turn, seemed to full of run and seemed poised to be one of the top contenders. Cube Zero, Workingmanshero, and Socal Man needed to get moving now if they wanted to have a chance. Ghost Star was outclassed.

(Finish- 1:47.91)- A good battle sets up between Withdrawn and Royal Prodigy, but it is Withdrawn prevailing between the two of them. Once he made the pass for the win, there was no room for letup as Royal Prodigy hung tough, and Swept Twice was inching a little closer as well. Swept Twice showed good heart to get second in this three way photo that would also feature Blue Guy. That one was strong in the latter moments, and just needed a little more race track. There was a gap of two lengths between our check earners and those who did not. Summertime Blues and Cube Zero are credited with dead heating for 5th, barely ahead of Get Benched. Workingmanshero and Socal Man showed little as they round it out. Oh wait, Ghost Star does finish as well.

About The Winner: Withdrawn, trained by John Henry and ridden by J R Leparoux, is a three year old colt by President Ebola and out of Queen Wynne. He was bred in California by Team 7 Illusions asa first quarter two year old, and acquired by John Henry via Pan Farms in private sales for $150.000 in August 2016. Congratulations to the connections! The win is just his third in 17 starts, but is his second graded win. His career earnings are now $712.880.

Track: Fast
Time: :47¹  1:10⁴  1:35²  1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 7 – 9 Paid 248.00
$1 Trifecta: 7 – 9 – 10 Paid 237.90

Scratched: In Captivity

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES