Starts around 48:00 mark.
https://stevebyk.com/broadcast/part-1-alan-forman-kip-elser/
Category: Media
Pegasus Winner Mucho Gusto ‘The Gift Who Keeps On Giving’
Courtesy of the Paulick Report
by Ray Paulick | 01.29.2020 | 6:41pm
Mucho Gusto, under Irad Ortiz Jr., in the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle after the Pegasus World Cup
Everyone whose hands have touched Mucho Gusto, 4 ½-length winner of Saturday’s Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, were smiling in the wake of the Mucho Macho Man colt’s performance in the $3-million race at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
And a lot of people have had a hand in the success of Mucho Gusto, who was bred in Kentucky by a Peruvian family, offered at public auction on four different occasions and finally sold privately to a Saudi prince months before his biggest career victory.
The Pegasus winner’s story begins at Ted Kuster and Matt Koch’s Shawhan Place in Paris, Ky., where Mucho Gusto was born and raised. His breeders are Teneri Farm Inc., and Bernardo Alvarez-Calderon. The latter is a horseman from Peru who has been breeding Thoroughbreds in his native land for nearly 50 years and was formerly an accomplished show-jump rider who represented Peru in international competition. Father of six children, some of whom followed Alvarez-Calderon into the equestrian world, he named his farm Teneri because of his appreciation for the legendary Italian breeder Federico Tesio and two of the most significant horses he bred, Nearco and Ribot. (Teneri consists of the first two letters of the three names.)
Mucho Gusto, produced from the Giant’s Causeway mare Itsagiantcauseway (bred by Zayat Stables), brought $14,000 when Shawhan Place consigned him to the 2017 Keeneland January Sale of Horses of All Ages.
The colt’s buyer was Kelly Lively of Ocala, Fla., daughter-in-law of retired jockey John Lively. He was the only horse purchased that year by Lively, who prepped Mucho Gusto for the fall yearling sales on her five-acre farm near Ocala.
“Me and a couple of friends try to buy one or two horses each year to re-sell,” said Lively, who works for consignors Select Sales and de Meric Stables and Sales when she isn’t selling real estate in Central Florida.
“The only problem I ever had with him, a week or so before the sale (Keeneland September Yearling Sale), a hurricane was coming through Florida and the barn flooded. He cut open his shoulder.”
That didn’t seem to hurt the colt’s sale price when offered by Select Sales at Keeneland, where California attorney Steve Schwartz bought him as agent for $95,000 – the eighth highest price of 35 yearlings sold from the first crop by Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Mucho Macho Man, a son of the Holy Bull stallion Macho Uno. Lively turned a nice profit with the pinhook.
Schwartz turned Mucho Gusto over to Kip Elser, whose Kirkwood Stables are based in Camden, S.C., to prepare for a juvenile sale. “He’s a good judge of a yearling,” Elser said of Schwartz, who trained horses for a few years in Southern California. “He does two or three a year.”
Elser entered Mucho Gusto in the 2018 OBS March Sale and there were no takers. Bidding stopped at $55,000 and a mystified Elser bought him back.
“He breezed in 10 flat (for one furlong) and went well, but was completely ignored,” Elser remembered. “He got no attention.”
When Elser entered Mucho Gusto in Fasig-Tipton‘s Midlantic Sale of 2-year-olds in training in Maryland two months later, it was a completely different story. After zipping a quarter mile in :21 1/5 on a sloppy Timonium racetrack, he brought a final bid of $625,000 from Donato Lanni on behalf of a relatively new owner, Michael Lund Petersen, the Pandora Jewelry magnate who resides on a farm nearby in suburban Baltimore.
That’s some serious inflation from March to May. What happened?
Bob Baffert, Mucho Gusto’s trainer, said he remembers seeing the colt’s OBS workout and was not impressed.
“He never switched leads,” Baffert recalled of the work over the OBS synthetic track. “A lot of times when they never switch, you can get turned off.”
Lively, who watched her pinhooked colt breeze at OBS, agreed.
“They don’t really separate on the synthetic,” Lively said. “There were a bunch of 9 4/5 works and he went in 10 flat. I thought he looked great, but he didn’t switch leads.”
“When he worked at Timonium it was a wet track and he blitzed around there,” Baffert said. “He went unbelievably well. That’s why when I entered him at Gulfstream (for the Pegasus), I was hoping it would rain.”
The Midlantic Sale takes place the week after the Preakness and Baffert recalls looking at the colt in Elser’s consignment the day after Justify won the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. “He was one of the standouts,” Baffert recalled, “but I didn’t think he’d bring that much.”
So Schwartz, like Lively before him, scored a pinhooking home run when the horse he bought for $95,000 sold for $625,000.
Mucho Gusto went straight into stakes company after breaking his maiden for Baffert at Los Alamitos on Sept. 20 of his 2-year-old season. He won the G3 Bob Hope Stakes going seven furlongs at Del Mar Nov. 17, then finished second behind Improbable in the G1 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 8.
Mucho Gusto continued on the Kentucky Derby trail after winning his 3-year-old debut at Santa Anita, the G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes, contested over a sloppy track Feb. 2. But Petersen’s hopes of getting to Churchill Downs with his second Kentucky Derby starter (Mor Spirit carried his silks to a 10th-place finish in 2016) were dashed when Mucho Gusto finished third after setting fast fractions in the G3 Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico.
After a summer campaign that saw victories in a pair of G3 stakes at Santa Anita, Mucho Gusto finished second behind eventual 3-year-old champion Maximum Security in the G1 Haskell, then was third behind Code of Honor and Tacitus in the G1 Travers.
His final start of 2019 was something of a puzzler, finishing fourth as the 9-10 favorite in the G3 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.
In between the Travers and the Oklahoma Derby, an individual acting on behalf of Saudi Prince Faisal Bin Khaled contacted Baffert in an effort to buy Mucho Gusto from Petersen. The offer was turned down.
“They kept upping the price,” Baffert said. “I said, ‘It’s got to be a good offer because Michael Lund really likes this horse.’”
A deal was struck after the Oklahoma Derby in October to sell Mucho Gusto for an undisclosed sum. Petersen’s colt had won $779,800 on the track, and the price of the private transaction clearly put him in the black.
Victory in the Pegasus gave Prince Faisal Bin Khaled the winner’s share of $1,662,000, which probably gave him a healthy share of the price he paid to acquire Mucho Gusto. More importantly, the triumph gave him a runner in his country’s inaugural $20-million Saudi Cup, where Baffert will also be saddling G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up McKinzie.
“I love a horse who does well for everybody,” said Lively, who went to Gulfstream for the Pegasus, calling it “probably the most exciting day of racing in my life. He’s such a sound horse. He may not be the best horse, but he always tries.”
You might think the breeders of Mucho Gusto are the only ones who didn’t make out okay in the various transactions, since he sold for just $14,000 as a January yearling.
But Gus Koch of Shawhan Place was quick to remind that the Alvarez-Calderon family still owns the mare who produced the Pegasus winner. “The plan is go to Medaglia d’Oro with her,” said Koch. “They are longtime clients, fantastic people, and we are over the moon for them and their success. Mr. Alvarez-Calderon has been breeding horses his entire life, and to win a race like the Pegasus in a thrilling moment for all involved.”
As Kelly Lively put it, “Much Gusto is the gift who keeps on giving.”
Mucho Gusto Returns to California in Good Order
Courtesy of the BloodHorse
The Gulfstream Park back side was crowded with vans during the early morning hours Jan. 26 as horses shipped out of the South Florida base following the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes Presented by Runhappy (G1).
Mucho Gusto, who won the Jan. 25 race by 4 1/2 lengths for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and Prince Faisal Bin Khaled, looked well loading into the trailer bound for California.
“He was training well, and I was trying not to get too excited about him because he always came up a little short in the big races this last year,” Baffert said. “The freshening really helped him. He needed to run the best race of his life, and he basically ran the same race as he did in the Haskell (Invitational Stakes, G1). He ran his heart out.”
Baffert, who did not make the cross-country trip to Florida, said all reports regarding Mucho Gusto were positive Sunday morning and that the Mucho Macho Man colt would likely ship to Saudi Arabia along with Whitney Stakes (G1) winner McKinzie for the $20 million Saudi Cup Feb. 29. The ban on medication, part of the new structure of the fourth annual Pegasus World Cup, had little effect on Mucho Gusto, Baffert said.
“We scoped him to make sure he didn’t bleed, so that was a positive,” Baffert said. “He’s never shown any signs of bleeding. The Saudi Cup will be next. They bought him to run in the Saudi Cup, and we got word today he was invited. Both he and McKinzie will run.
“Ever since they announced the Saudi Cup, people from the Middle East have been trying to buy horses for the race. They kept pestering me, and I told them if they came back with a big, ridiculous offer, they’d sell him, and that’s what they did. They’re looking good now. Who would know the race would fall apart like it did?”
Hronis Racing’s last-place finisher, Higher Power, who is also based in California with trainer John Sadler, shipped out early Sunday morning with Mr Freeze. Sadler’s foreman, who accompanied the son of Medaglia d’Oro onto the trailer, said the horse looked good despite Saturday’s finish.
The next start for Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister’s Mr Freeze—the Pegasus World Cup runner-up—is still up in the a
“He came out great, and he looks really good this morning,” said trainer Dale Romans, who has no target in mind for the son of To Honor and Serve.
“I’ve no idea yet,” Romans said. “I’ll have to think it over.”
Fourth-place runner Diamond Oops, campaigned by Diamond 100 Racing Club, Amy Dunne, D P Racing, and Patrick Biancone Racing, also returned from his Pegasus effort to the delight of his connections.
“He came back awesome and was sound and happy this morning,” said Andie Biancone, daughter of trainer Patrick Biancone. “We’re super proud of his effort, and he’ll probably return to sprinting in the future, but he did his best and we’re super proud of him.”
Biancone said a next race has not been selected for the Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) winner.
“We’re going to just let him tell us when he’s ready,” Biancone said. “He was fresh walking around the shed row this morning, so it’s a good sign. I think when the horses from Palm Meadows shipped in 72 hours ahead of time, they weren’t used to that. They normally come in 24 hours before, so it was really different for them. He’s not tired, but I’m definitely tir
The 2-year-old Thoroughbred had been bred to race, but Kip Elser of Kirkwood Stables in Camden, South Carolina, believed a sport horse career was ..
Danta And Robertshaw Still Believe In The Thoroughbred Hunter
Jan 23, 2020 – 2:58 PM
It didn’t take Ron Danta more than a few minutes to decide he wanted Lucca in his barn. The 2-year-old Thoroughbred had been bred to race, but Kip Elser of Kirkwood Stables in Camden, South Carolina, believed a sport horse career was more his speed.
Danta and his partner Danny Robertshaw also base out of Camden at their Beaver River Farm, so Danta went to Kirkwood to take a look. Danta watched Lucca (Fit To Fight—Fraulino, Alwasmi) pop over his first couple of logs and liked what he saw.
“It’s kind of sad nowadays—you look back, and so many of the great, great hunters we had over the years were Thoroughbreds,” said Danta. “Danny had Protocol, who was undefeated in the 4’ regular working hunter and champion at [the Pennsylvania National], Washington, Madison Square Garden [New York] and the Royal Winter Fair [Toronto] in the same year. So many of those horses were such great show horses, and now the trend is people won’t even look at a Thoroughbred. They all want to go to Europe to look at warmbloods.”
Natural jumping form is important to Danta when looking at an off-track Thoroughbred, as are the usual conformation basics—a nicely-angled shoulder, a hindquarter that isn’t too upright.
Danta and Robertshaw don’t get too hung up on a Thoroughbred’s pedigree. There are some families that carry the same genetic stamp, but Danta has seen people become crazed over a racing pedigree, only to realize that sire’s success rate is as variable in the show ring as it was on the racetrack.
These days, Danta leans toward a horse with a natural lead change. Lucca checked all the boxes, and longtime client Pauline Lampshire agreed to purchase him.
“As we’re getting older, we’re finding with the young horses we buy, if they don’t have a natural lead change in them we don’t really want to look at them because, unfortunately, lead changes affect the jump,” Danta explained. “They land, and then they want to get nervous about the lead change at the end.”
From the beginning, it seemed Lucca had found his calling. He had the “fun,” laidback attitude that made the horse show environment a breeze.
Now 16, the chestnut has shown in the open divisions as well as the Take2 Thoroughbred hunter classes with Hunter Kay, bringing home championships from venues like the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida) and the Tryon International Equestrian Center (North Carolina). Last September Lucca won the hunter final at the inaugural $20,000 Take2 Hunter and Jumper Finals held during the Kentucky National.
Danta said he wishes there were even more opportunities for horses to compete in Take2. He also expects he’ll make the Take2 Finals in Kentucky a part of the stable’s schedule again in 2020. While in Florida for the winter season, Danta expects he and Robertshaw will make the rounds to local training centers to look at Thoroughbreds that may be ready for a career change.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to go home with a few more than we came with,” he said.
KIRKWOOD BUSY BUYING YEARLINGS for its GULLFSTREAM GALLOP GROUP
Kirkwood signed for 2 yearlings at the Fasig Tipton October Sale.
Hip 662 is a son of Tapit out of a multiple stakes producing Giant’s Causeway mare. He is a full brother to a graded stakes placed earner of over $223,000. Family of SUMMERLY.
Also purchased was hip 69 a Street Sense filly out of a young Smart Strike mare and from a family packed with black-type.
MUCHO GUSTO TO BEAT IN OK DERBY
Michael Lund Petersen’s Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) may have passed on the Triple Crown races, but he proved this summer he can hang with the top 3-year-olds. Sunday night, he’ll be the class of the field and a substantial favorite in the GIII Oklahoma Derby at Remington.
Capturing the GIII Bob Hope S. and GIII Robert B. Lewis S. sandwiched around a runner-up try in the GI Los Alamitos Futurity, the chestnut was navigated off the Triple Crown trail after running a well-beaten third in the GIII Sunland Derby Mar. 24. Two convincing scores in the May 18 GIII Laz Barrera S. and GIII Affirmed S. June 16 later, the ‘TDN Rising Star’ was back in with the big boys, and ran a brave second to Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) in the GI TVG.com Haskell Invitational while finishing eight lengths clear of third. He was similarly game when holding on for third after dueling on a fast pace in the GI Runhappy Travers S. last out Aug. 24 at Saratoga.
Mucho Gusto’s two principal challengers come out of the Travers in fifth-running Owendale (Into Mischief) and seventh finisher Tax (Arch). The former, who annexed the Apr. 13 GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. and was third in the GI Preakness S., took the June 22 GIII Ohio Derby over last week’s GI Pennsylvania Derby hero Math Wizard (Algorithms) before his even Travers effort. Tax, who sports trophies for the GIII Withers S. and GII Jim Dandy S., was also fourth in the GI Belmont S.
Mucho Gusto Favored in Competitive Oklahoma Derby
Benoit Photo
Eight stakes will highlight Remington Park‘s Sunday card, including the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks (G3) for 3-year-old fillies three races before the featured Oklahoma Derby.
Trainer Bob Baffert brings in West Coast invader Mucho Gusto, the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the 1 1/8-mile Derby.
Third last time out in the Aug. 24 Travers, the Mucho Macho Man colt has not finished off the board in nine starts. After a win in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park in his season debut, he returned March 24 to finish third in the Sunland Park Derby (G3).
Not having enough points to get into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), Mucho Gusto stayed in California and scored back-to-back wins in the May 18 Lazaro Barrera Stakes (G3) and June 16 Affirmed Stakes (G3).
Traveling east for the first time, he then finished second to the disqualified Kentucky Derby winner, Maximum Security, in the TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) one start before the Travers.
The Michael Lund Peterson-owned colt will be ridden by Joe Talamo from post 10 in the 11-horse field.
Tax, who competed in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), enters the Oklahoma Derby off a seventh-place finish in the Travers. One start prior, the son of Arch won the July 27 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) over Tacitus, Global Campaign, and Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of Will.
Trained by Danny Gargan, the gelding has a string of quick breezes, with his latest Sept. 21 when he completed four furlongs in :47 3/5 on Belmont Park‘s dirt training track to be the fourth-fastest of 64 that day.
Tax, who arrived in Oklahoma City Wednesday, will be ridden by Kendrick Carmouche from post 5.
Owendale, a closing third in the Preakness, beaten only 1 1/4 lengths by War of Will, is the 3-1 morning-line second choice. The Into Mischief colt went on to win the June 22 Ohio Derby (G3) over recent Pennsylvania Derby (G1) winner Math Wizard and fellow Oklahoma Derby entrant Long Range Toddy.
Fifth in the Travers, Owendale also worked Sept. 21, posting a bullet five furlongs for trainer Brad Cox in :58 4/5 to be the fastest of 42 at Churchill Downs that day. Florent Geroux will be aboard from the outside post.
Trainer Steve Asmussen enters Long Range Toddy, who was last seen finishing fifth in the July 13 Indiana Derby (G3). The Take Charge Indy colt finished third in the Southwest Stakes (G3) and won a division of the Rebel Stakes (G2) to earn a start in the Kentucky Derby.
Mucho Gusto 8-5 Favorite In 11-Horse Oklahoma Derby Field
Courtesy of the Paulick Report
Michael L. Petersen’s Mucho Gusto and jockey Joseph Talamo, right, pull away from the field and go on to win the Grade III, $100,000 Affirmed Stakes, Sunday, June 16, 2019 at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia CA.© BENOIT PHOTO
A stakes-laden 13-race program has been put together for Sunday, Sept. 29 at Remington Park, led by the Grade 3, $400,000 Oklahoma Derby. The derby will be the 12th race on the card that starts at 3pm-Central.
Mucho Gusto, expected to arrive via Tex Sutton Equine Charter on Thursday morning at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, has been made the 8-5 morning-line favorite by odds-maker Rick Lee. Mucho Gusto comes into the Oklahoma Derby off a third-place finish, 3-1/2 lengths behind victorious Code Of Honor, in the Grade 1, $1,250,000 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.
Trained by National Racing Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Mucho Gusto won both the Grade 3, $100,000 Laz Barrera Stakes and the Grade 3, $100,000 Affirmed Stakes at Santa Anita in California this spring. He then ran second to Maximum Security in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park in New Jersey prior to his Travers effort. Owned by Michael Petersen, Mucho Gusto will be ridden by Joe Talamo.
Owendale, a closing third in the Grade 1, $1,500,000 Preakness Stakes in May at Pimlico, beaten only 1-1/4 lengths by War Of Will, is at 3-1 odds and is the second-choice in the morning line. Tax arrived in Oklahoma City earlier today via a Sutton charter. Owendale drew the outside post in the field of 11 and will be ridden by Florent Geroux for the fifth consecutive race. Trained by Brad Cox, Owendale won the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby in June at Thistledown outside of Cleveland.
Tax, a multiple stakes winner this year after taking the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at Aqueduct in February and then visiting the winner’s circle in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 27, is the third-choice in the morning line at 4-1 odds. Trained by Danny Gargan, Tax arrived in Oklahoma City earlier today via a Sutton charter. Tax has won $786,300 with three wins from nine attempts. Kendrick Carmouche will have the mount.
Remington Park’s current leading trainer, Steve Asmussen, will have a pair of horses entered as he attempts to win his second Oklahoma Derby. Long Range Toddy, winner of the 2018 Springboard Mile at Remington Park and the runner-up in that race, Bankit, will represent the barn of the National Hall of Fame conditioner. Asmussen saddled the 2017 Oklahoma Derby winner, Untrapped.
Owned and bred by Willis Horton Racing of Marshall, Ark., Long Range Toddy is at 15-1 odds in the morning-line. He won Remington Park’s top 2-year-old races last year in the Springboard Mile and also the $100,000 Clever Trevor Stakes. This spring at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., Long Range Toddy was second in the $150,000 Smarty Jones; third in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes; and won a division of the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel Stakes before finishing sixth in the Grade 1, $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby.
Long Range Toddy was awarded a 16th place finish in the Kentucky Derby. He was then third in the Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby at Thistledown followed by a fifth-place run in the Indiana Derby.
Jockey Jon Court, who has ridden Long Range Toddy in his last five attempts, keeps the mount. Long Range Toddy is just the second horse to have started his career at Remington Park, to compete in the Kentucky Derby, joining Suddenbreakingnews in that small club.
Bankit, at 8-1 odds in the morning line, closed from the back of the pack in the 11-horse Springboard Mile here in December. The New York-bred colt by Central Banker launched a furious rally coming off the final turn under Ricardo Santana, Jr. Bankit nearly caught Long Range Toddy in the Springboard, finishing second beaten only a head. Santana has the call on Bankit, owned in partnership by Winchell Thoroughbreds and Willis Horton.
The complete field for the Oklahoma Derby, by post position and program order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:
1. Drifting West: Joe Offolter, Luis Quinonez, 50-1
2. View Magic: Bret Calhoun, Iram Diego, 30-1
3. Bankit: Steve Asmussen, Ricardo Santana, 8-1
4. Sleepy Eyes Todd: Miguel Silva, David Cabrera, 20-1
5. Tax: Danny Gargan, Kendrick Carmouche, 4-1
6. Funny Guy: John Terranova, Rajiv Maragh, 10-1
7. Chess Chief: Dallas Stewart, Miguel Mena, 15-1
8. Cairo Cat: Kenneth McPeek, Richard Eramia, 20-1
9. Long Range Toddy: Steve Asmussen, Jon Court, 15-1
10. Mucho Gusto: Bob Baffert, Joe Talamo, 8-5 (morning-line favorite)
11. Owendale: Brad Cox, Florent Geroux, 3-1
There are seven other stakes races on Sunday at Remington Park, including:
Race 3 – $75,000 Kip Deville Stakes, 2-year-olds, 6 furlongs
Race 6 – $150,000 David Vance Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs
Race 7 – $75,000 Ran Ricks Memorial, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1-1/16 miles (Turf)
Race 9 – Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, 3-year-old fillies, 1-1/16 miles
Race 10 – $50,000 Flashy Lady Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs
Race 11 – $100,000 Remington Green Stakes, 3-year-olds and up, 1-1/8 miles (Turf)
Race 13 – $50,000 E.L. Gaylord Memorial, fillies, 2-year-olds, 6-1/2 furlongs
The Remington Park Thoroughbred Season continues Wednesday through Sunday, Sept. 25-29. The first race nightly is at 7 pm. The Oklahoma Derby program on Sunday begins at 3pm. All times are Central.
Coal Front Back In Winning Groove in Parx Dirt Mile
Courtesy of the BloodHorse
Coal Front Back In Winning Groove in Parx Dirt Mile
Rebounding from a third-place finish in the Monmouth Cup Stakes (G3), Coal Front turned back a second-turn bid from Diamond King and inched clear from that rival for a three-quarter-length victory in the $153,500 Parx Dirt Mile Stakes Sept. 21 on the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) undercard.
Under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, Coal Front sped to the early lead, setting relatively easy opening splits of :23.90 and :47.34. Then as the six-horse field advanced down the backstretch, Diamond King, who was perched on the outside, dialed up the pressure. He cut into Coal Front’s lead before poking a neck in front with a six-furlong split in 1:11.63.
Smith had something saved aboard his mount, and under urging down the lane, Coal Front asserted his superiority over the final furlong. He hit the wire with his ears pricked, finishing in 1:37.53 for a mile on a fast track at Parx Racing.
Diamond King, winner of last year’s Federico Tesio Stakes and the 2017 Heft Stakes at Laurel Park, finished second, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Forewarned, who rallied belatedly to grab the show.
The Parx Dirt Mile was the third stakes victory of Coal Front’s 5-year-old campaign. He won the Godolphin Mile Sponsored by Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum City-District One (G2) at Meydan in Dubai Mar. 30 and the Razorback Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park Feb. 18. A year before, he won the Mr. Prospector Stakes (G3) at Gulfstream Park, and in 2017 he won both the Gallant Bob Stakes (G3) at Parx and the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.
Owned by Robert LaPenta and Head of Plains Partners, Coal Front raced in the Parx Dirt Mile in part as a test of his aptitude for a race such the Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) at Santa Anita Park Nov. 2, trainer Todd Pletcher said before the race.
Bred in Kentucky by Michael Edward Connelly, Coal Front, by Stay Thirsty , is the first graded stakes winner out of the Mineshaft dam Miner’s Secret. A half brother to stakes winner Conquest Titan, he was a $575,000 purchase by LaPenta from the 2016 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.
The heavy favorite, Coal Front paid $3.40 to win and elevated his bankroll to over $1.81 million. He has an 8-0-1 record from 12 starts
GULFSTREAM GALLOP = BIG RESULTS!
