Mr Speaker rallies up rail to win Dania Beach
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Carrying the familiar black and cherry silks of Phipps
Stable, Mr Speaker utilized a new
running style to upset the G3 Dania Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park. In his last start, the 2-year old son of
Pulpit wired a field of maidens at Belmont Park. Today, under jockey Jose
Lezcano, the dark bay colt settled at the back of the field in second last and
patiently bided his time before making his move.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf fourth place finisher Bon Accord grabbed the lead straight
out of the gate. Post time favorite Request
took up a nice stalking position in 5th, and his stablemate, French
invader Pleuven, was the early
trailer. Bon Accord led the field through moderate fractions of 23:64 for the
opening quarter and 47:57 for the half and looked strong until the field hit
the stretch.
While Bon Accord was racing easily on the lead early, Mr
Speaker made an initial move on the backstretch to advance from second last to
a close up fifth by the time the field entered the far turn. Exiting the turn,
the dark bay colt took advantage of a small opening on the rail as Bon Accord
drifted out slightly. Despite the close quarters, Mr Speaker powered through on
the hedge and pulled away to win by 2 ¾ length. Cabo Cat, the longest shot on
the board at 37-1, rallied from 7th at the half to finish second.
French-bred Pleuven closed from last to capture third. The order of finish was
completed by Yes I’m Lucky, for the same connections as Itsmyluckyday, Imaginethatmom, Here’s Johnny, Hesinfront, Bon
Accord, and Request.
Mr Speaker completed the mile in 1.36:60 and returned
$23.40/$12.40/$9.20 as a 10-1 shot. Cabo Cat paid happy backers $28.00/$11.00
for a $2 wager, and Pleuven returned $4.40. Mr Speaker improved his record to
4: 2-0-1 and pushed his career earnings to $119,880.
Thus far Mr Speaker has made all 4 of his career starts on
turf, but trainer Shug McGaughey
said that trying dirt was not out of the question and that he would certainly
take a look at the Holy Bull, newly minted as a Grade 2 for its 2014 rendition. McGaughey is known for taking his time with his
charges and not pushing them, but as good as Mr Speaker has been on the lawn,
he has the breeding to be even better on the dirt. He is by Pulpit, and his second
dam is the late, great Personal Ensign,
who produced multiple Grade 1 dirt winners. Salute, Mr Speaker’s dam, has not
yet had the success of her dam, but
she had already produced one winner on dirt. He is an intriguing prospect for
the Kentucky Derby trail, but if he will run to his breeding remains to be
seen.
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