Woodbine: 15-1 Conglomerate rallies, wins Valedictory
Conglomerate, a 15-1 long shot ridden by Luis Contreras, rallied impressively to best 13 rivals in the Grade 3, US$111,127 Valedictory Stakes for 3-year-olds and up Sunday on the Tapeta course at Woodbine.
The stablemate Win for the Money, in rein to Patrick Husbands, set the early tone, gliding over from post 8 to take the lead. He was followed by the trio of Meyer, So High and War Court. Conglomerate sat seventh through an opening quarter-mile reached in 24.98 seconds.
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Win for the Money continued to run along unencumbered on the front end through a half-mile in 49.71 seconds. He held a 2 1/2-length advantage over Meyer, who was shadowed to his inside by So High. Conglomerate had moved into fifth.
Reaching three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.61, Win for the Money was still in control and asked for his best run as the field straightened for home. Conglomerate, chasing his first stakes victory for owner Gary Barber, continued to pick off his foes and improve his position, moving into second at the stretch call.
The son of Lemon Drop Kid trained by Canada and U.S. hall of famer Mark Casse, wrested the lead away and went on to notch a 1 1/2-length score at a time of 2:31.49.
Collective Force came on to finish second. Win for the Money and Palazzi, both trained by Casse, finished third and fourth, respectively.
“I know the first turn is going to be trouble, because everyone wants to get in position, but this horse helped me the whole way,” Contreras said. “After the first turn, when everyone was in trouble, I got a perfect trip and had lots of horse the whole way.
“The horse gave me a great feeling, and I was OK the whole race. The only thing was when I saw Patrick, I thought he had more horse. I was a bit worried, but my horse kicked hard at the end.”
The victorious 6-year-old gelding, now 26: 8-7-4, who was bred in Kentucky by Liberty Road Stables. The bay was sixth in this year’s Eclipse Stakes (G2) and ninth in the King Edward Stakes (G2).
Conglomerate arrived at the Valedictory off a sharp effort in an allowance race Oct. 29, when he posted a 1 3/4-length win at 1 1/16 miles over the Woodbine Tapeta. He paid $32.90 for Sunday’s win.