|
|
Dynaslew gets up in Ballston Spa Live Oak Plantation's homebred DYNASLEW (Dynaformer), who was beaten a scant neck when fourth in the Diana S. (G1) last time out, came right back to capture Saturday's $200,000 Ballston Spa H. (G2) at Saratoga. Unlike her pacesetting trip in the Diana, the Seth Benzel trainee employed stalk-and-pounce tactics to collar longtime leader Silver Reunion (Harlan's Holiday) by a half-length. Dynaslew, sent off as the sixth choice at 7-1, furnished mutuels of $17.60, $8.90 and $6.60 while keying the lucrative exotics -- $323 (exacta), $1,732 (trifecta) and $17,462 (7-4-1-2 superfecta). Silver Reunion was eager to get going in her first start in more than 10 months, to the point of breaking through the gate prior to the start. Once the race was officially under way, Dynaslew flashed speed for Eibar Coa, but when Silver Reunion looked intent on having the lead, Dynaslew was reserved in second. Silver Reunion strode on to clock splits of :23 2/5, :47 2/5 and 1:11, and still clung tenaciously to the lead in the stretch. As Dynaslew delivered her challenge, Silver Reunion tried to fight back, but she didn't have enough left to stave off the winner. Dynaslew overpowered her game rival late and inched ahead to complete 1 1/16 miles on the firm inner turf in 1:40 2/5. "We didn't know exactly what was going to happen," Coa said. "I didn't know what Rajiv (Maragh) was going to do with his horse (Silver Reunion). My main plan was just go forward and see if he was going to go to the lead, then I was going to decide going into the first turn. I was trying to go to the lead first, so when I saw him going to the lead I decided to get back, and she relaxed for me pretty good, so that was good. In the stretch, she just kept digging and digging and digging. She never stopped running. She ran her race today." "I was real happy with our position," Benzel said. "Eibar has ridden this filly to a 'T.' Dynaslew is a versatile filly that doesn't need to have the lead. On paper, (Silver Reunion) wanted the lead. Eibar felt our filly had that option, but she didn't need it to win. It's a perfect union between the two. Dynaslew isn't easy to ride -- she's temperamental and you see that in the paddock and post parade." "She ran very impressive," Maragh said of Silver Reunion. "She tried very hard all the way to the end. The pace was real steady and she was comfortable. Once she established the lead, she settled into a nice rhythm, and I thought she would have a lot of resistance to anyone that came to her, and she did." "I'm just disappointed that she acted up in the gate," said Graham Motion, the trainer of Silver Reunion. "It cost her the race, I think. For a filly coming off that kind of layoff to act up like that takes so much out of them. She behaved perfectly up until then. That's how she is. She's a live wire. That's how she runs. She ran a huge race. Obviously, I'm thrilled that she ran so well. I'm not surprised because I knew she was that good." Silver Reunion, who outran her 14-1 odds, paid $16.80 and $9.50 for finishing one length clear in second. Miss Keller (Ire) (Montjeu [Ire]) rallied for third by a length, returning $4 as the nearly 7-2 second choice. The 24-1 Danzon (Royal Academy) outdueled Scolara (Quiet American) by a head for fourth. Strike the Bell (Mizzen Mast), Maram (Sahm), nearly 5-2 favorite Phola (Johannesburg), Cherokee Queen (Cherokee Run) and Mekong Melody (Ire) (Cape Cross [Ire]) rounded out the order of finish. Phola's connections commented on her subpar effort. "I had a good trip but she had nothing in the end," jockey Ramon Dominguez said. "I just needed a good kick in the last part. She was comfortable and started to make up ground, but it wasn't enough for what we needed. I could tell at the top of the stretch that there just wasn't enough left." "She's probably a filly that needs a little softer ground," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "We were hoping with the rain earlier in the week that the ground would have more of a cut in it, but the course seems to be playing pretty firm today." Dynaslew was recording her second stakes victory of the season, having wired the May 1 Beaugay S. at Belmont Park by 3 1/4 impressive lengths. The four-year-old filly then closed from off the pace for runner-up honors in the All Along S. (G3) at Colonial. Reverting to front-running tactics in the Diana, she nearly pulled off an 18-1 upset, only to be caught and relegated to fourth in deep stretch. Dynaslew's career record now stands at 13-5-4-0 with $365,852 in earnings. The Florida-bred is the first registered foal out of multiple stakes winner and Grade 2-placed Slews Final Answer (Seattle Slew), whose latest progeny are the dual-winning juvenile colt Slews Big Finale (Ghostzapper) and a 2010 colt by Elusive Quality. Slews Final Answer is herself a half-sister to Grade 3 winner Palmeiro (Pleasant Tap) and, further back, she hails from the family of Grade 1 queen Try Something New (Hail the Pirates), the dam of German champion Somethingdifferent (Green Forest).
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
