|
|
Midnight Lute dominates in Forego Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman and Karl Watson's MIDNIGHT LUTE (Real Quiet) effortlessly took the lead approaching the final turn and strode home a convincing 2 1/4-length winner of the $250,000 Forego S. (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday. Under the guidance of Shaun Bridgmohan, the talented four-year-old stalked the leaders on the outside for the opening half-mile, took over under little urging and opened up on the turn. Leaving the field for dead in the stretch, he opened up by as much as five lengths before securing the final margin. The final time was a sparkling 1:21 for seven furlongs on the fast dirt, and the Bob Baffert trainee gave back $7.20, $4.60 and $3.70 as the 5-2 second choice. "That was great!" Baffert said. "When you win a Grade 1 at Saratoga, that's huge for a horse like him. I've been bragging about this horse. The gate crew did a great job with him. I told Shaun, 'If you get him away from the gate OK, you're going to have a fun ride.'" Bridgmohan was replacing Edgar Prado, who apparently injured his ankle when thrown from his horse during the gallop out after the 7TH race. "The Clerk of Scales told me that if Edgar didn't ride, Bob wanted me to ride," Bridgmohan said of picking up the mount. "You don't have as much time to study the race. I just went out there and did what Bob asked me to do. The main thing was to get him away from the gate. He is such a big horse that he breaks a little sloppy." Benny the Bull (Lucky Lionel) was last after the opening quarter-mile but closed with excellent energy to gain the place spot, 9 1/4 lengths clear of his nearest foe. Sent off at nearly 9-1, the runner-up paid $8.80 and $5.80 while completing the $59 exacta. Attila's Storm (Forest Wildcat) dueled on the front early and stayed well to hold the show spot, good for $4.90 at 8-1. The trifecta was worth $341.50. How's Your Halo (Halo's Image) flattened out late in fourth, capping the $6,880 superfecta at odds of 68-1. Awesome Twist (Awesome Again) was next and followed by Simon Pure (Silver Deputy), Executive Search (Regal Classic), 2-1 choice High Finance (Talk is Money), Praying for Cash (Songandaprayer) and Like Now (Jules). Chatain (Forest Wildcat) was withdrawn. Midnight Lute upped his career mark to 9-4-2-1, $470,600. The colt earned the second stakes win of career in this one, following a tally in the Perryville S. (G3) last October. The dark bay competed quite admirably in the Strub Series earlier this year in Southern California, finishing third in the Malibu S. (G1), a close second in the San Fernando Breeders' Cup S. (G2) and a solid fourth in the Strub S. (G2). Prior to this one, he was last seen running fourth in the Commonwealth Breeders' Cup S. (G2) over Keeneland's Polytrack in April. The winner was bred in the Bluegrass State by Tom Evans, Macon Wilmil Equines and Marjac Farms, and fetched a bid of $70,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Produced from the unraced Candytuft (Dehere), Midnight Lute is a half-brother to the stakes-placed Tusculum Rd (Gilded Time), as well as an unnamed yearling colt by Sir Cherokee.
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
