In his place in the Keeneland The Clubhaus Todd Plletcher got up and trained its eye apples among the three stubborn female thoroughbreds who drove to the finish line in the behind schedule afternoon of November 5th towards Breakneck Speed.
If the three – – –Malathes the one he trained on the outside, Blue stripes In the middle and Clairiere On the rail – flew under the wire, let go of a man who usually keeps his feelings at bay. A little bit.
He thought he first saw Malathaat's nose only one centimeter over the line and the blue and white colors on the stable silk of the Shadwell jockeys John Velazquez were right in front of the other.
Malathaat wins the Breeders' Cup Distaffy in Keeland
He pumped his fist. Maybe twice. There could have been a whoop.
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But then a break. This race was tight. Really close. Thisclose.
“I could see that it would be nearby,” said Pletcher. “Then I was a little worried that I might have celebrated a little too much when they repeatedly showed the repetition, and I thought it would be embarrassing if she didn't win this photo. I thought she had won, but I wasn't a million percent sure.”
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A tribe fell over the amount of humanity that had plugged into the iconic route. If Pletcher didn't know who won, they certainly didn't. The agony passed when the officials at the end of the expected 2 million dollars -Longines Breeder's' Cup Distaffe (G1) poured over the photo.
“Who won it?” Hall of fame coach D. Wayne Lukas, who is on the way to the route on the horse path, asked.
Finally a decision. Yes, the winner of the 1 1/8 miles and heavyweight race for the women was Malathaat, who will surely win an Eclipse price for the second time in a row.
Malathaat goes to the circle of the winner in Keeland
Malathaat was declared the winner of the race with a nose about Pozo de Lunas Blue Stripe, who was the second longest prize in the eight-horse field with 24: 1. Blue Stripe was another nose in front of Stonestreet Stables' Clairiere.
And so it came to the end of the Distaff Airline 'S on the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1).
Malathaat, the Eclipse award winner as a top 3-year-old Stutfalen in 2021, ended the year with four wins in six starts. She has 10 wins in 14 starts for her career.
It remains to be seen whether she continues to sparkle on the race track.
Gregory Clarke, who represented Shadwell in Keeland, said Malathaat would enter the farm in Lexington for a few R&R rescues before a decision is made.
Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum, the head of Shadwell, died in March 2021. The stable is now run by his daughter Sheikha Hissa and she decided that Malathaat would run this year at the age of 4.
“Why stop now?” Said Clarke. “She is incredible. Make on. She is at the top of her game. We will see what the family wants to do.”
Malathaat has never been a horse that blown away fields during her career. Six of their ten wins were less than one length.
Winning connections in the circle of the winner in Keeland
The daughter of Curlin Your nose victory to a neck (last year longines kentucky oaks, g1) added Churchill Downs And a head (last year Central Bank Ashland Stakes, G1) in Keeland.
Her Hall of Fame trainer previously said that Malathaat does often enough to do the work. In any case, she did that in the Distaffe.
Pletcher and Clarke assumed that the Distaffy would be a fight because seven of the eight runners had the 1 -victory 1 on their résumés.
Malathaat was the 5-2 election behind her stare data, the brilliant 3-year-old nest in the possession of repole stable, Eclipse full blood partners, and Michael House, the 7-5 favorite. It was made by Irad Ortiz Jr.
When the field turned into the Keeland route, it was Briland Farm's Secret oath Trained by Lukas, who had taken the lead. The winner of this year's Kentucky Oaks made the offer to upset this field with 14: 1, but she would fade.
It put the stage for the last three. Malathaat, who flew down the route, joined Blue Stripe and Clairiere and they made a memorable last Furlong.
The difficulty was to separate it on the wire.
“I thought I had the bob and then I wasn't sure,” said Velazquez.
John Velazquez and Todd Plletcher in the circle of the winner in Keeland
The Blue Stripe, bred in Argentina, came out of nowhere to be in the Distafaff mix. From trained by Marcelo Polanco he had pulled up a few eyebrows when he won two graded stakes races in California this year sea On August 6th.
Nevertheless, the blue strip was ignored with the well -known star power in the Distafaff line -up.
“I thought she had the last jump,” said Polanco when she was on the track after he had exceeded Jockey Hector Berrios. “Nobody believed in us, but we did it. It's always disappointing, but I'm cheerful. She did what she should do. She derived her ass to the finish line. We ran against the best.”
Clairiere, who had defeated Malathaat twice this year, did not want to give in to Joel Rosario under jockey.
“She ran a fabulous race,” said Steve Asmussen, Hall of Fame trainer from Clairiere. “It was only inch.”
As jubilant as Pletcher was with Malatha's efforts, he was disappointed with Nest's fourth place. She had won after three in a row Belmont in the aqueduct Meeting on October 9th. Her last three victories came with 26 1/4 lengths.
“This is the situation in which you are in when you run more than one horse in a race,” said Pletcher about his reaction to Nest with 3 1/4 lengths. “Nothing went well for Nest today. She turned her bikes in the first round and was very far.
The last time of the Distafe was 1: 49.07. Malathaat returned 7.76 US dollars. After the nest, the order of the departure of secret oath was Search results Present Company And Wake up in Midyte .
