Midsummer Classic Lives Up to Its Name

Original article written by Andrea Bouwkamp posted 9 years 1 week ago

Coming into this past Friday’s Midsummer Classic, it would have seemed like a flashback to the Louisville Derby. It looked like the perfect race for Castle Keep to get back to his winning ways since his loss in the Long Island Classic while attempting to conquer the Triple Crown. That race probably proved that 1 ½ miles was not his best distance and the Midsummer Classic was back to the 1 ¼ he seems to prefer. While the field was not a large one, two prior foes, Mint and Dobra, were back to make another challenge.

It’s a good thing that Eric Nalbone had faith in his improving colt Dobra. He peaked with a fantastic effort edging Castle Keep and earning an impressive 89 speed figure for the effort. Another neck behind was Mint who ran an incredible race again for a 3rd place effort.

“Based on his efforts in the Triple Crown I was pretty confident that with a decent setup and proper rest he'd get the job done, but it's easier to say that after the fact than before the race when you've got Castle Keep and Mint out there in the race," Nalbone said after the race. "Obviously all three ran huge, so congrats to Karl and Susie as well on a great race.”

Dobra is a product of a great breeding operation. Both Dobra’s sire (Doc Halladay) and dam (Corona) are Nalbone homebreds.

“It's also good to see Dobra's dam, Corona, with a second big horse from as many tries (the two year old is a monster too, debuting with a 92). She's a Whitney daughter, so this line is pretty much the cornerstone of my stable. Having this one be by Doc Halladay is even sweeter, since he really seems to be coming into his own as a sire with a couple real nice horses in his first crop," Nalbone finished.

Based on what I have seen from this trio of horses, I am sure that we will be seeing more of these fantastic races in the near future as they are bound to face each other again.

Congratulations Eric, Karl, and Susie. Job well done.


Final order of finish:
1) Dobra(Doc Halladay x Corona by Awake As I Am) Eric Nalbone Nck
2) Castle Keep(Paramount x Castles Stand by Stay Awake) Karl Smythe Nck
3) Mint (War Daddy x Chocolate by East) Susie Rydell 3 ¾
4) Some Honesty (Father Ralph x Desert Scorcher by Flames) Stephen Saratoga 2
5) Stree Crude (Theives x Back Up Boys by Looking For Light) Vincent Barratt 1
6) First Rising (Rising Stars x First Glow by Grindelwald) Dave Henson --

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