Glorious Empire, Channel Maker finish Bowling Green in dead heat
After 1 3/8 miles over soft Saratoga turf, nothing separated the late charging Channel Maker from longshot Glorious Empire in a dead heat finish to Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes.
Under jockey Julien Leparoux, Glorious Empire took advantage to a lack of speed on paper, setting early fractions of a quarter mile in 26.07 seconds before hastening to a half in 51.69. But coming off the turn, the gap grew, creating some doubt the loose 22-1 leader would be caught.
Off at 5-1, Channel Maker, with Joel Rosario in the irons, closed quickly in the final furlong as his rival tired. They hit the wire in a final time of 2:19.41.
"There was no speed in the race, so he got to the lead pretty easily, and he tries hard," Leparoux said of Glorious Empire. "First time at the distance, and on that ground, too, he had to try really hard."
Sadler’s Joy was third with Bigger Picture fourth. The favorite, Hi Happy, stalked the early lead but dropped out through the turn on an afternoon when the sun was shining but the turf plenty soggy after a week of showers at Saratoga.
A 7-year-old bred in Ireland, Glorious Empire is trained by James Lawrence for owner Matthew Schera. It was the gelding's first graded stakes win after a year ago he dropped to run in and won in the claiming ranks at Saratoga.
Channel Maker, a 4-year-old conditioned by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, has run in many of the continent's top turf races but rarely comes away with a win. Saturday's victory was the Ontario-bred's first since Woodbine's Breeders' Stakes, the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, run last August.
"We had him in some very tough races, and he is a sort of a come-from-behind horse," Mott said. "Sometimes, he's had to deal with a lot of traffic and he has had some trips where he has been stopped and shuffled around a bit. He got a clear run today and it paid off today. We got there, I just wish we go one inch further, but it was still a good race and I'm proud of the horse and proud of everyone who has done a good job with the horse and thankful to the owners letting us run him in these good races."