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Skyring springs 24-1 upset in Dixie
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| Hall of Famer Gary Stevens turned in a masterclass aboard Skyring in the Dixie before doing the same aboard Oxbow in the Preakness
(Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos) |
Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000
Dixie
Stakes at Pimlico shaped up as a competitive affair with no real standout on
paper, so perhaps it wasn't too much of a shock that 24-1 shot Skyring led
throughout under a masterful front-running ride by Gary Stevens. Trained by
fellow Hall of Famer Wayne Lukas for Calumet Farm, Skyring held on to earn his
first graded victory, and rewarded his loyalists with $50.40, $19.40 and $9.20.Skyring served as a warm-up act for the Preakness one race later, when
Calumet, Lukas and Stevens combined to wire the middle jewel of the Triple
Crown with Oxbow.
The winning connections very nearly pulled off the exacta in the Dixie.
Optimizer came again between foes late, only to fall a head shy of the
hard-charging runner-up Willcox Inn. Skyring and Optimizer are both by English
Channel, so the promising young sire nearly had the top two himself.
Skyring was returning to the scene of his only previous stakes score, the
James W. Murphy, on Preakness Day a year ago. Winless since, he had come close a
few times. Skyring was runner-up to the well-regarded Unbridled Command in the
Saranac, third in three-way photos in the American Derby and River City, and
finished second by a scant neck in the January 11 Fifth Season on the dirt at
Oaklawn.
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Fourth to Wise Dan last time out in the April 12 Maker's 46 Mile at Keeneland,
he and Optimizer were both flattering the Horse of the Year. Optimizer was
coming off a second to Wise Dan in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on Kentucky
Derby Day.
Skyring hustled from post 8 to secure the early lead and got away with steady
splits of :24 2/5, :48 1/5 and 1:11 4/5 on the firm turf. Humble and Hungry,
Optimizer and Howe Great were all forwardly placed. The 2-1 favorite Imagining,
however, found himself rating further behind than might have been forecast
after being a tad flat-footed at the break.
Given how well speed was playing on the Pimlico turf Saturday, with
front-running scores by Pianist in the Grade 3 Gallorette and Redwood Kitten in
the James W. Murphy, Skyring was sitting pretty as he cornered for home. He was
still full of run in midstretch, spurting two lengths clear when reaching the
mile mark in 1:35 3/5.
The only challenger to arrive on the premises was Willcox Inn, and Skyring
found enough to parry his late thrust by a half-length. The winner completed the
historic nine-furlong affair in 1:47 4/5, improving his scorecard to 20-4-3-2,
$424,148.
"He went to the front easy enough," Stevens said, "and we were able to back
things up and he just sprinted home. A very impressive performance."
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| Skyring holds off Willcox Inn (left), who just thwarted a Calumet/Lukas exacta with Optimizer (center)
(Wendy Wooley/EquiSport Photos) |
"This horse loved this turf course last year," Lukas said. "That's why I told
the owner, 'We need to enter both of them.' There's really not that much
difference between them. The public totally disregarded him even though he was
very good last year.
"Optimizer ran a very good race. I wasn't that disappointed. He had a little
trouble and was in tight. Skyring is just a fighter."
James Graham, who rode Willcox Inn, was wishing he could have kicked for home
sooner.
"I didn't have quite the trip I wanted to," Graham said. "But I'm certainly
not unhappy with the effort he gave me. I thought I had a chance to catch the
winner down the stretch, but I was just moving too late."
Trainer Mike Stidham was happy with Graham's ride.
"It didn't look to me like he got into any trouble," Stidham said. "James
switched him out to get clear and it didn't look like he had to check at all. We
didn't run in the Woodford Reserve at Churchill because Wise Dan was in there
and we are tired of chasing him. He will go back to Arlington."
Howe Great reported home three-quarters of a length behind Optimizer in
fourth, followed by Two Months Rent, See Tobe, the dead-heating Doubles Partner
and Swift Warrior, Forte Dei Marmi, Imagining and Humble and Hungry. Utley and
Thunder Lord were scratched.
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Imagining's rider, Javier Castellano, said that the favorite never recovered
from the start.
"He didn't break that sharp out of the gate," Castellano said. "That changed
all the strategy because my horse is not a come-from-behind horse. He likes to
be in the clear near the leaders. Unfortunately, he broke kind of slow today."
Skyring is a homebred, having been bred in the name of Brad Kelley's
Bluegrass Hall before his acquisition of Calumet. He is out of the Seattle Slew
mare Violet Lady, who is also responsible for Grade 2 winner Greenspring, Grade
3-placed stakes scorer Caballero Negro and the stakes-placed trio of Dyna Penny,
Loow Key and Dressed to Kill.
Skyring's second dam, Grade 1 star Top Corsage, also factors as the
ancestress of Grade 2 winner Doremifasollatido and Grade 3 victress Fortunate
Damsel. He descends from the successful producer Rare Bouquet.
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