Suntracer undeniable in Kentucky Turf Cup
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Photo:
Four Footed Fotos
Launching a bid from the back of the field, Suntracer inhaled his competition in
the stretch of the Grade 3 Kentucky Turf Cup and prevailed by a scant nose to capture the $600,000 added Saturday
feature at Kentucky Downs.
Billed at a mile and a half for older turf routers, the 2014
rendition of the Kentucky Turf Cup attracted a field of 11. The scratch of
Holiday Star, who trainer Graham Motion instead opted to run in the PTHA
President’s Cup Stakes at Parx, left a group of 10 to face the starter. When it
became clear that no one was in any hurry to establish the lead at the start,
Rafael Bejarano took his mount Saffron Hall to the front. They were then joined
by fellow Ramsey owned Cozy Kitten, Olympic Thunder and War Dancer.
With the running order changing only slightly from one call
to the next, Saffron Hall did all the leg work for the first 1 ¼ miles. The
early leader faded badly in the final two furlongs and was engulfed by most of
his rivals, ultimately finishing 9th of ten.
In stark contrast to the pace setter, Suntracer was
unhurried early and trailed the field through the first couple calls. With
about half a mile left to run, jockey Florent Geroux called on his mount to
pick it up, and the result was simply stunning. Caught wide and having to make
up ground, Suntracer showed a turn of foot that carried him right past race
favorite War Dancer in the stretch like that one was standing still. Drifting
in toward the rail after clearing the field, the flashy chestnut then had just
enough to hold off the late bid of fellow closer Pyrite Mountain, who finished 2nd after racing just
ahead of the winner in 9th in the beginning stages of the race.
Though fractional times were not immediately available, it
is clear that the pace ended up being somewhat lively. Suntracer stopped the
clock for the 12 furlong affair over firm turf in 2:27.12, just off the track
record of 2:26.98 set by General Jumbo on September 22, 2007 in this very
event. The margin of victory was a nose, and Pyrite Mountain crossed the wire 2
¾ lengths ahead of War Dancer. O’Prado Ole rounded out the superfecta. The
order of finish was completed by Tricky Hat, Layton Register, Fear the Kitten,
Cozy Kitten, Saffron Hall and Olympic Thunder. An objection by Alan Garcia, War
Dancer’s jockey, for alleged interference at the top of the stretch was
disallowed after a fairly lengthy review of the tape.
Off at 7-1 odds, Suntracer returned $17.40/$8.00/$3.80 for his win. Pyrite Mountain paid $7.80/$5.20 and post time favorite War Dancer paid $2.60. The $2 exacta returned $121.80, the $1 trifecta paid $185.80 and the $2 superfecta was worth $1,763.40.
Bred and owned by the family partnership of Team Block which includes trainer Chris Block, Suntracer is by Kitten’s Joy
and out of the stakes winning Prized mare Taxable Deduction. Team Block previously won the Kentucky Turf Cup in 2012 with Ioya Bigtime. A stakes winner
himself, Suntracer earned just his first graded stakes win despite having knocked
on the door of that milestone with seconds and thirds in graded company.
As an Illinois-bred, Suntracer was only eligible
for about half of what he could have earned for the victory had he been a
Kentucky bred. Like with the other 3 stakes on the card, half of the Turf Cup
purse was restricted to runners eligible to the Kentucky Thoroughbred
Development Fund. The end result was that Suntracer took home $176,700 of the
$347,400 he was eligible for. That amount bumped his career earnings to
$795,006 with 7 wins from 35 career starts.
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