Y65-W14 All Weather Router Grade 1 Round-up

Original article written by Evelyne Cergerac posted 5 months 3 weeks ago

In this article, we’re going back to the 3 Grade 1 stakes races for the All-Weather Router division.

The first 2 races took place at the Artificial Arena (IL) over a distance of 1 ⅛ mile (1800m), both restricted to 3 year olds and both with a purse of $200,000.
The first race was for fillies, the All-Weather 1000 Guineas. Only 5 fillies took part in the race that was won by Lavendula, a filly by Avacas bred and owned by Maria Schreuder. She already won the Synthetic Oaks back in W11 and is already entered in the Steward’s Cup Synthetic Matron for the end of the year. The filly left nothing to chance, taking the lead right from the start and widening the gap between her and the rest of the field. By second call, she was 3 lengths ahead, enough distance to keep her safe from any attempt to take the victory away from her in the last furlongs.
Second in this race is Time Trickles By, a Takeshi Kovacs filly owned by Darcy McBride. After a third place in a Grade 1 stakes race back in W6, the filly was raced in lower grade races where she took 2 wins in 2 entries. It was a fully-confident filly who then took part in the All-Weather 1000 Guineas. Time Trickles By was outdistanced early in the race, dropping over 10 lengths behind Lavendula. That didn’t stop her from being best of the rest after she quickly gained ground in the second half of the race, finishing just 1 ½ lengths behind the winner.
In third position is Parkout, a Franzia filly bred and owned by Kelly Haggerty. The filly had been entered in a stakes race for the first time back in W11 of this year, straight at the Grade 1 level. Her latest race result is an improvement from her 4th place finish in the Synthetic Oaks. Parkout was also outdistanced in the first half of the race, though it was by nearly 6 lengths. She was able to recover some ground, finishing 1 ½ lengths behind Time Trickles By. Parkout is set to race in the Steward’s Cup Synthetic Marathon.

Second race was the All-Weather 2000 Guineas for colts and geldings. Six horses were entered in this race. At this point, I’m not sure I even need to present the winner of this race: Agnilius, Katie Stepanian’s son of Avacas. With 6 wins in 7 entries, 4 of them in Grade 1 stakes races, he’s an obvious favorite in any race he enters. In this race, his jockey had him waiting nearly 5 lengths from the race leader until it was simply time to let him do what he does best: charge to the front of the field and take away any chance of victory. Agnilius crossed the line 1 ¼ length ahead of Trois Fois. Agnilius has been entered in the Steward’s Cup Synthetic Classic.
Trois Fois is another son of Avacas, this one bred and owned by Christophe Desjardin. He didn’t have the best start but took the lead of the race early on and slowly increased the distance between himself and the rest of the field. Sadly, Trois Fois wasn’t able to hold off Agnilius but was able to keep his second place despite a speedy Dai Doro catching up.
Dai Doro is this race’s third-finisher, a colt by Red Lantern, bred and owned by Madelene Gilbert. It was his second entry in a Grade 1 stakes race, a major step up from listed and Grade 3 stakes races he had run in so far. In this race, Dai Doro had a good start but was held up at the back of the field, over 10 lengths behind then-leader Trois Fois. In the last stage of the race, he pushed through the field to cross the line just 1 ½ lengths behind this race’s runner-up. Maybe he could have taken second place had the race been longer.

The last race took place at Piedmont Park (CN) on a rainy day. Raced over a distance of 1 ½ miles (2400m), the Queen City Stakes had a purse of $200,000. Five 3 year olds and up mares and fillies took part in this race.
Winner is Cynthia’s Foal, a 5 year-old Jacques mare, bred and owned by Lucas Davenport. She was the oldest contestant in this race and had never raced at the Grade 1 level before. The mare took the lead right at the start while 3 of her rivals dropped far back behind her. By second call, she was over 15 lengths in front of the filly in 3rd place; only the runner-up at the time was able to stick just a couple of lengths behind Cynthia’s Foal. It was more than enough distance to cross the finish line with a 2 ¼ lengths margin.
Second place went to Ecole, an Avacas filly bred and owned by Christophe Desjardin, who was the youngest contestant at 3 years old. The filly also wasn’t raced as a 2 year-old. Early in the race, she fought against Battle of Antietam for third place, far at the back of the field. Yet, despite a gap of 15 lengths between her and Cynthia’s Foal, Ecole was able to defeat Battle of Antietam and recover most of the ground she had lost to take this well-earned second place.
Battle of Antietam, an Avacas filly bred and owned by Nick Shredder, placed third. As mentioned just a moment before, she fought against Ecole in the early stages of the race. Even though she couldn’t defeat Ecole, she still shadowed her rival in the final furlongs, closing the immense gap with the leader to take third for her first (and only?) Grade 1 stakes race of the year.

This is it for the Grade 1 stakes round-up for the AWR division and I’ll see you for the next round-up!

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