The second qualifying leg of the Champions Starter Series was split into a pair of races and the first was won by Wine Stock ($4.30) who covered a sloppy 6 ½ furlongs in the day’s best time of 1:17.04. That was good three-and-a-quarter-length win over Ganbei who closed a ton of ground in the last quarter to be second. Wise Boss set the early fractions and held on to be third after going off at almost 19-1.
Wise Boss broke well, along with Proxyman who eyed him from along the rail first time by the grandstand and then seemed to realize that there was no future in trying to keep up and eased back to second.
Wine Stock broke poorly and he found himself outside the first two around the clubhouse turn early in the run down the backstretch. However, he was past Proxyman before Wise Boss had hit the half-mile in 45.01 and he caught that one mid-way around the final turn. From there it was a question of margin rather than outcome.
The winner widened all the way home for jockey Richard Hamel. Ganbei saved ground the entire trip and closed strongly from the inside to take second without ever producing a scintilla of doubt in the mind of either Hamel or Wine Stock. Wise Boss ran hard over a tough track and acquitted himself well by gaming out a tired third.
Wine Stock, a Kentucky bred by Johannesberg, is owned by Derby Quest Farms Ltd. And Shot In The Dark Racing Corp. Greg Tracy trains.
Brother Chuncky Gets Promoted
The second of the Champions Starter Series qualifiers had an eventful stretch run that resulted in the disqualification of Game Seven who was moved behind Brother Chuncky ($17.80) for making that one uncomfortable in deep stretch while running what was for the most part a winning race. The part that was not was the part that got two horses too close together, although a reasonable person could surmise that the disqualification was as much about future rider and horse safety as it was about the occurrence having something to do with the outcome of the race. Having said that, Brother Chuncky, ridden by Keishan Balgobin, was slowly cutting into Game Seven’s lead and no one can say with absolute certainty that he would not have gotten there. Teddy the Bear closed well from far back to be third in a race run over a drying-out 6 ½ furlongs that went in 1:17.29.
Lornefivehundred and Cowboy Commander hooked up in a speed duel that became irrelevant when Game Seven ran past them on the inside with velocity on the second turn. Brother Chuncky cut the corner even better and put himself in a position to challenge coming home. After that, things went awry.
Brother Chuncky is a full brother to Jack Diamond winner Silly Fella and a half to another Jack Diamond winner in Sartorialist. He is by Mass Market out of the Grade 3 winner Grey Tobe Free. He sold for $60,000 in the CTHS sale in 2012, and while has not proven to be as good as his brothers, he has won 2 of his last 3 races and is proving useful. Reno Comazzetto owns and Jim Brown trains.
Habida On The Lead
The second leg of the Champions Distaff Series went as the fourth on the card with seven contestants. At the conclusion of the 6 ½ furlong qualifier, Habida ($16.60) had taken the shortest way home all the way around and finished a diminishing head in front of C.A. Miss in a time of 1:17.87 over a sloppy track that dried to good two races later. Closing Intentions exhibited just that while also taking the short way home and running third.
Alexander Marti sent Habida from the start and got the lead and the rail. She was soon joined by C.A. Miss and it was essentially a two-horse race from there on. The others may not have been that far away, but they were not beating the first two.
Habida saved every foot of ground possible and C.A. Miss did not help her chances by running outside the winner and drifting out a little on the final turn while Habida cut the corner like she was on railroad tracks, slop or no slop. That was the difference as C.A. Miss ran determinedly at the winner who showed some determination of her own to last. There was nothing wrong with the efforts of Closing Intentions, she just was not able to catch either of those in front of her.
Habida was bred in British Columbia by her owners, Bryan and Carol Anderson and Jim Eccott. She is a stakes winning (Freedom of the City Stakes at Northland in 2013) daughter of Cause to Believe out of the Katahaula County mare Comic Opera, a stakes winner also bred by the Anderson’s and Eccott. Comic Opera is out of Rock Creek Redhead who was bred by Bryan Anderson. That’s three generations worth of stakes winners from the same family bred by the same family. Pat Jarvis is the trainer.
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