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Nehro dazzles in return to competition
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| Nehro posted a stylish win
in his return
(Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography) |
Zayat Stables' Nehro entered last year's Kentucky Derby without a
stakes win but owning a pair of neck runner-up efforts in the Grade 1
Arkansas Derby and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. The Steven Asmussen pupil
parlayed those experiences into yet another second, this time in the Run
for the Roses behind Animal Kingdom.
The Mineshaft colt garnered a lot of attention when he showed back up
for the Belmont Stakes, but suffered an ankle chip when running fourth
in that 1 1/2-mile affair that knocked him out for the rest of 2011. On
Saturday, the bay colt made a
triumphant return to the races when romping by 7 1/4 lengths in the
5TH race on Fair Grounds' Louisiana Derby Preview Day.
Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan guided the four-year-old in his first start
back, settling his mount between rivals on the backstretch as Majestic
Harbor set the pace while pressed by Stinking Creek through splits of
:23 1/5 and :47. Nehro drew closer as the leader entered the turn and
easily took over in the stretch to pull away under a hand ride. He
completed the mile-and-70-yard allowance/optional claiming test
in 1:41.88, just missing the track record of 1:41 set in 1936.
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"He rewarded them for all the time that they gave him. They did the right
thing," Asmussen spoke of Nehro's time on the sideline recovering from surgery
to remove the chip. "I was extremely tempted to bring him back last year, with
the (Breeders' Cup) Classic being run at Churchill and as good as he had ran at
a mile-and-a-quarter and it looking to be such a wide-open year. But we had him
in training up at Saratoga and he just needed a little more time.
"They sent him up to WinStar and they did a wonderful job with him. He acted
a great and looked super ever since he came here. I think the timing of this
race -- I was a little concerned, he doesn't have a lot of work in him -- but I
think it puts us right on schedule for the (Grade 2) New Orleans Handicap (on
April 1)."
Nehro was sent off the 2-5 heavy favorite against his five rivals and paid
$2.80, $2.10 and $2.10 for his return score. Despite not yet owning a black-type
victory, the colt has accumulated nearly $1 million earnings. Saturday's win
boosted his career tally to $909,692, and his scorecard currently reads 8-2-3-0.
Bred in Kentucky by Mt. Brilliant Farm LLC, Nehro has more than earned
back his purchase price of $170,000 as a Keeneland September yearling. He is out
of the stakes-winning Afleet mare The Administrator and counts as half-siblings
Grade 3 winner Saint Marden and Grade 2-placed stakes victress Sweet Lips.
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| Country Day just held off a trio of late runners to take the Col. Power
(Chris Bennett/Hodges Photography) |
Later on Fair Grounds' card, Country Day angled four wide into the stretch of
the $75,000
Colonel Power Stakes and outgamed Chamberlain Bridge by a length on the wire
in his six-year-old bow. The Speightstown horse vindicated his 6-5 favoritism
under jockey James Graham to give back $5.20, $3 and $2.60.
Country Day kept in close attendance as he chased the pace set by Zeb
in third before going wide rounding the turn. The Steve Margolis trainee
grabbed the advantage in the stretch and gutted out the victory as
Chamberlain Bridge, Cactus Son and Heir Joe all put in furious rallies
down the lane to be separated by just a nose and a neck on the wire.
A Kentucky homebred, Country Day ran about 5 1/2 furlongs on the good
turf in 1:04 1/5 for Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein. The win snapped
a five-race losing streak that saw the bay placing in the Bonapaw
Stakes, Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and Grade 3 Woodford Stakes in his
past three. Country Day has now banked $503,829 in career earnings to go
along with his 19-7-4-2 mark.
Out of the Grade 3-winning Mt. Livermore mare Hidden Assets, Country Day is a
half-sibling to fellow Woodford-placed, Bonapaw winner Due Date. Farther back in
his female family one can find 1980 Preakness winner Codex and dual champion
Real Delight.
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"He's been a great horse for us. Always gives us his all," said Margolis, who
saddled Due Date to victory in this race last year. "Like you said, had some
tough beats but always ran good against really tough competition. We are real
thrilled to get him back on the winning track today.
There's the race on Derby Day going five-eighths and there's a race at
Keeneland, the (Grade 3) Shakertown. Don't know if we'll do both. We'll just
have to wait and see. It will be one or the other though."
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| Look at the Time easily captured his stakes debut in the Gentilly
(Lynn Roberts/Hodges Photography) |
The stakes action on Louisiana Derby Preview Day got underway in the
$60,000
Gentilly Stakes in the 4TH race. The about one-mile grass test
restricted to Louisiana-bred sophomores drew a competitive field of 13,
but Look at the Time quickly separated himself from the pack with a 3
1/4-length win.
Trained by Wesley Hawley for Hooties Racing LLC, the bay gelding was
content to stalk the early pace under jockey Corey Lanerie before
putting in a rail rally to take command and draw off. Look at the Time
stopped the clock in 1:39 4/5 on the good going and returned $8.20, $5
and $4.40 as the 3-1 favorite.
The Brahms three-year-old is now two-for-three and has earned $60,974
in career earnings. He opened his career with an easy 4 1/4-length
maiden win in December at the New Orleans, but was disqualified and
placed fourth in that six-furlong contest. Look at the Time returned one
month later and finally earned his first official win when posting a 2
3/4-length score while stretching out to a mile and 70 yards. "The
first time we ran him we were a little disappointed that we were taken
down," Hawley said. "This last time we won. Then, of course, we felt
like we were undefeated so why not take a shot here?" |
When asked what was next for his charge, Hawley replied, "Well, at the
present time it's the Crescent City Derby (on April 1) at the end of the meet,
but there is also the possibility, the way he ran today, that we would nominate
him to the (Grade 1) Blue Grass (on April 14 at Keeneland)."
Out of the Alysheba mare Alashir, Look at the Time is a half-brother to the
dam of Grade 1-placed multiple stakes vixen Antares World.
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