|
|
Cloudy's Knight rallies to take Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup S J Stables' CLOUDY'S KNIGHT (Lord Avie) tracked the pace before surging in deep stretch to garner Saturday's $198,500 Fair Grounds Breeders' Cup H. (G3), reeling in the pacesetting Devilment (Peaks and Valleys) by a neck to notch his first graded stakes success. Trained by James McMullen and piloted by Ramsey Zimmerman, the seven-year-old gelding stopped the teletimer in a stakes-record 1:49.48 for nine furlongs on the firm turf. That eclipsed the previous mark of 1:50.13 set by Mystery Giver (Dynaformer) in 2002. Cloudy's Knight paid $15.60, $6.80 and $4.80 as the near 7-1 fifth choice. Devilment dueled for the early lead with Northern Scene (Northern Baby), putting his head in front through splits of :49 1/5 and 1:13 1/5 and spurting clear of the field while reeling off the mile in 1:37 2/5. Although he couldn't hold off the late thrust of the winner, the 5-2 Devilment saved second by a half-length to return $4.40 and $3.60. Storm Treasure (Storm Boot) rallied from far back for third despite lugging in through the lane, giving back $3.20 at odds of 9-2. The exacta was worth $75.20, the trifecta $385.20 and with the 5-1 Transduction Gold (Formal Gold) in fourth, the 3-10-5-2 superfecta totaled $1,646.40. Fort Prado (El Prado [Ire]), the 9-5 favorite and defending champion, crossed the wire another four lengths back in fifth, followed by Northern Scene, Host (Tabasco Cat), The Carbon Unit (Catienus) and Bureaucratic (A.P. Indy). Purim (Dynaformer) was withdrawn, having run fifth in the Mineshaft H. (G3) one race earlier on the card. Cloudy's Knight improved his record to 25-8-5-4 with a bankroll to the tune of $437,635. He captured the 2004 John Henry S. and 2005 Rossi Gold S., both at Arlington Park, and placed in seven other stakes, including the 2004 River City H. (G3) and 2005 Stars and Stripes Breeders' Cup Turf H. (G3). The veteran was most recently third in the Col. E.R. Bradley H. over the course. The winner was bred in Kentucky by Jerrold Schwartz and produced by the winning Solar City mare Cloudy Spot. He is a half-brother to multiple stakes winner Stormy Impact (Major Impact).
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
