Chiropractor, off at 14-1, completed a 518-1 double for owner Glen Hill Farm, swooping late and holding off a determined late bid from New York invader March in the GI Hollywood Derby. The victory made it a clean sweep of the day's turf stakes following on the success of 37-1 Family Calling (Sky Mesa) in the GIII Jimmy Durante S. (ex Miesque S.).
A maiden winner at second asking at Delaware Park June 17, Chiropractor made a pair of allowance starts against his peers during this track's traditional summer meeting, finishing a half-length second over a mile Aug. 8 before rattling home to score by a similar margin Aug. 30. He'd faced olders in his last two trips to the post–an even fifth going a mile at Santa Anita Oct. 12 before improving to be a big-figure runner-up, beaten just a half-length in his first attempt over this distance Nov. 6.
One of the first to break the gates, Chiropractor was eased back into a position slightly worse than centerfield as Acceptance (Vronsky), in off the also-eligible list with the scratch of Vigilante (Tiznow), burned some fuel to get across from the 14 hole and set the pace from favored Om as those two pulled well clear of the remainder. Gary Stevens tried to win the race on the turn and set Om a fairly difficult task, sending him to the front fully three furlongs from the wire. The chestnut turned them in, but had a host of pursuers, including March, who was fairly deep throughout, but loomed a solid chance at the eighth pole. Chiropractor, who began picking off rivals on the bend, made a run just to the inside of March, poked his head in front of that one and prevailed in a hard drive. Om held on for third.
“What a great outfit to ride for,” commented winning jockey Corey Nakatani. “[Trainer] Tom [Proctor] always has them ready. I asked him if he wanted me to do anything special [it was Nakatani's first time on the horse], but he said, 'No, just ride your race. Get him to settle and you'll be fine.' With these kind of races, the pace is the key. And that worked well for us today. The colt was full of himself today and when it came time he fired.”
Saturday, Del Mar
HOLLYWOOD DERBY-GI, $302,250, DMR, 11-28, 3yo, 1 1/8mT, 1:48.87, fm.
1–#@&CHIROPRACTOR, 122, g, 3, by Kitten's Joy
1st Dam: Eversmile, by Theatrical (Ire)
2nd Dam: Avasand, by Avatar
3rd Dam: Sandy Blue, by Windy Sands
O/B-Glen Hill Farm (FL); T-Thomas F. Proctor; J-Corey S.
Nakatani. $180,000. Lifetime Record: 7-3-2-0, $273,100. *1/2
to Coil (Point Given), MGISW, $1,154,360. Werk Nick Rating:
A. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–March, 122, c, 3, Blame–Lifeinthefastlane, by Unbridled's
Song. ($320,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV). O-Robert V. LaPenta;
B-Lakland Farm (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $60,000.[bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-graduate”]
3–Om, 122, c, 3, Munnings–Rare Cat, by Tabasco Cat. ($60,000
Ylg '13 KEESEP; $125,000 2yo '14 BARMAR). O-Sareen Family
Trust; B-Lavin Bloodstock, Bernie Sams & William S. Farish, Jr.
(KY); T-Dan L. Hendricks. $36,000.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”][bullet ad=”niall-brennan-nbs-sales-graduate”][bullet ad=”indiancreek-longfield”]
Margins: HD, HF, HF. Odds: 14.40, 12.20, 0.90.
Also Ran: Fundamental, Offering Plan, Soul Driver, Closing Bell, Money Multiplier, Mister Brightside (Ire), Sharla Rae, Acceptance, Crittenden, Royal Albert Hall (GB), Win the Space. Scratched: Vigilante.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.