Competitive Edge leaves no doubt in Hopeful romp
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Sent off as the 3-5 favorite in a field of 7, Competitive Edge lived up to the heavy favoritism laid upon him by bettors in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga. Breaking from post 6 under John Velazquez, the Todd Pletcher trained lad was always within striking distance before taking over and drawing clear in the stretch.
Signature Cat was quickest out of the gate and immediately established himself on the lead, shadowed closely by second choice I Spent It and Competitive Edge. Those three raced on nearly even terms down the backstretch and into the far turn. Posting splits of :22.84 and :44.81, they had little trouble in shaking away from the rest of the field early.
Spinning for home, Signature Cat backed out of it, leaving I Spent It and Competitive Edge, both sons of Super Saver, to battle it out for the win. That battle never came to fruition, however, as Competitive Edge pulled away from his rival under a strong hand ride and a few taps of the whip. He cruised under the wire clear by 5 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:24.11 for the seven furlongs.
I Spent It, who won the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in his previous outing, finished 9 lengths clear of late running Sharm. The order of finish was completed by Requite, Dekabrist, Signature Cat and Maratik, who was eased in the stretch.
Competitive Edge's Hopeful victory gave trainer Todd Pletcher his 999th career stakes win and was his third win in this event. He had previously saddled and sent off Circular Quay (2006) and Shanghai Bobby (2012) to Hopeful victory.
The two sons of Super Saver comprised a very chalky exacta. Off 3-5 favoritism, Competitive Edge paid $3.30/$2.10/$2.10, while I Spent It returned $2.40/$2.30 off 8-5 odds. Long shot Sharm paid $4.10 for the show off 29-1 odds. The $2 exacta returned a meager $5.70, and the $2 trifecta paid $32.60.
By Super Saver, and out of the Cape Town mare Magdalena's Chase, Competitive Edge was purchased for $750,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Florida 2014 Selected Two-Year Olds in Training Sale. Bred by WinStar Farm, the colt is owned by Nancy Favreau, Kathy Psoinos and the Coolmore connections of Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith and Susan Magnier. Today's victory kept Competitive Edge perfect in his career, improving his record to 2 for 2, with both wins coming at the Spa. He won his debut by an impressive 10 1/4 lengths back in July.
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