Sticksstatelydude, runner-up in the GIII Oklahoma Derby for trainer Greg Burchell most recently Sept. 25, earned his first graded stakes win with a wire-to-wire success here. The bay showed his proficiency on an uncontested lead in a Belmont allowance test in July for this barn–good for a career-high 103 Beyer Speed Figure–and was subsequently shipped back to Burchell to finish a disappointing fourth as the 2-1 favorite in the GIII Smarty Jones S. at Parx Sept. 5 and came up a half-length short of Texas Chrome (Grasshopper) at Remington last time. Resurfacing in this spot back with McLaughlin, the bay was sent straight to the front and relaxed through easy splits of :24.29 and :49.21. Confronted by Neolithic to his outside turning for home, Sticksstatelydude dug in and found more in the stretch, edging clear late to notch a decisive victory.
“It was a great race,” McLaughlin said. “Greg [Burchell] has trained him most of the time and sends him up here and we switch back and forth, but he's done a great job. We talked and thought there wasn't much pace after the horse from Parx [Hot Seat] scratched, so we told [jockey] Joel [Rosario], 'If they let you go to the lead, do your thing' and he said he'd be first or second. So when he broke well and went on with him, it was a great effort. The fractions weren't too fast and everything went well, and this was a nice group of horses. We're proud of him. Where we go from here, we don't know yet. He'll stay here [in New York] for a while, but we'll wait and see.”
The winning mare Placerita is also the dam of unplaced juvenile Swing and Sway (Maclean's Music) and a weanling filly by Majesticperfection. She was bred back to Fed Biz. This is also the extended female family of GI King's Bishop S. hero The Big Beast (Yes It's True).
Saturday, Aqueduct
DISCOVERY S.-GIII, $150,000, AQU, 11-12, 3yo, 1 1/8m, 1:50.58, ft.
1–#@STICKSSTATELYDUDE, 118, c, 3, by First Dude
1st Dam: Placerita, by Gilded Time
2nd Dam: Amazing Love, by Advocator
3rd Dam: Bold But Baffled, by Bold and Brave
($40,000 Wlg '13 FTKNOV; $30,000 RNA Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-
Haynes, Ferris, Pack Pride Racing, Haynes & Ward; B-Canyon
Lake Thoroughbreds (VA); T-Kiaran P. McLaughlin; J-Joel
Rosario. $90,000. Lifetime Record: 8-3-3-0, $326,400. *1/2 to
Saturday Nite Ride (Flower Alley), MSW, $220,471. Werk Nick
Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Neolithic, 116, c, 3, Harlan's Holiday–Swingit, by Victory
Gallop. ($460,000 Ylg '14 KEESEP). O-Starlight Racing; B-Edwin
Anthony (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $30,000.
3–My Man Sam, 116, c, 3, Trappe Shot–Lauren Byrd, by Arch.
'TDN Rising Star' O-Sheep Pond Partners, Newport Stables LLC
& Jay W. Bligh; B-Jay W. Bligh (KY); T-Chad C. Brown. $15,000.[bullet ad=”stonestreet-trainingalum”]Margins: 1 1/4, 2 1/4, HD. Odds: 6.20, 22.60, 6.30.
Also Ran: Adulator, Gift Box, Sunny Ridge, Governor Malibu, Wild About Deb, Vulcan's Forge. Scratched: Hot Seat, Hunter O'Riley. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
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