Class 3 $ 200,000 Peter Pan Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on May 10th in Belmont at The Gigantic A, which is advertised as a jumping board for the Belmont Stakes on June 7, provided a preview of what could actually happen in the last stage of the triple crown.
The Hill Road gathered from eighth place in the field of nine and closed in the last Furlong, the dueling Rick Dutrow Jr., the duo of McAfee and Captain Cook trained and wins the Peter Pan with three quarters with one length.
“This horse wants one and a half miles,” said coach Chad Brown.
The Hill Road started his career on lawn in Ireland last year and was then sent to the USA, where he ended a promising youth of Fanduel Breeder in the Fanduel Breeders' Cup Juvenile for the then coach Adrian Murray. After the Breeders' Cup, he stayed here and was sent to Brown. He started his 3-year-old campaign with a third place in Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby of the 3rd grade.
Brown viewed the Wood Memorial Stakes presented by the World Casino as a ticket for the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve for Hill Road, but the Colt developed fever and missed the race that left it without the necessary qualification points to contest the opening stones of the triple crown.
Faith, Hill Road wants a 1 1/4 miles route, Brown aimed at the Belmont inserts, with the Peter Pan serving as a springboard.
“I would like to thank the owner (Kia Joorabchian). It would have been simple for him to say: 'Preakness is simple. I want to go, but he starts building an impressive stable in America, and it is a pleasure to work with him,” said Brown. “He revolves around his horse and listens to his coach. He laid me out a plan to get to Belmont and didn't appreciate myself.”
As much as a great effort in Belmont would relieve the pain to miss the Kentucky derby, it was complex at the time to accept the turn of the fate in front of the Wood monument that the Colt came out of the Kentucky Derby picture.
“It is a tough call when you have a horse that has a quarter to do a quarter and a quarter in its 3-year season,” said Brown. “This was a horse that was a horse in the derby, but the owner took it as much as possible and we started to formulate plan B..”
Captain Cook grabbed the lead before the first round in the 1 1/8 mile inserts for 3-year-olds and turned home when he fought McAfee with stables. McAfee, a half -brother with the cloud computing that rules the ruling horse of the year Thorpedo Anna, was the third place in the early breaks of his stare office of: 47: 26 and 1: 11.57. Later the two were next to each other over the route and on the eighth pole they had 3 1/2 lengths on the Hill Road and Jockey Flavien Prat, but it wasn't enough.
“I was very satisfied with McAfee's race, and that could be a little too far than (Captain Cook) to run against the top. But he didn't show himself,” said Dutrow. Both horses ran large. “
While Captain Cook may try shorter races or lighter two-gymnastics races, Dutrow did not completely beat the door when McAfee run into the 1 1/4 miles of stakes.
“He surprised me today and it was a very good surprise,” said Dutrow about McAfee, who was finished in his last start to the Wood Memorial. “I liked to see him racing and (Jockey John Velazquez), he galloped incredibly. He said that our other horse had made him through his trail and he somehow lost his balance and his swing and when he got it back, it was just a bit slow. So maybe we have something to do.”
McAfee is not nominated for the triple crown and would have to be supplemented to Belmont at a price of $ 50,000.
The Hill Road ($ 6.10), the 2-1 second choice, covered the 1 1/8 miles in a last time of 1: 49.22.
