River Seven flows past Frac Daddy for Commonwealth Turf win

Tucci Stables' River Seven was making his first start outside of Canada in

Saturday evening's Grade 3, $115,400

Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs, but didn't let the change in scenery

stop him from running down Frac Daddy in the stretch to score a half-length

victory.

Sent off the 5-2 favorite against 11 other runners, River Seven paid $7.40

for completing 1 1/16 miles on the good Matt Win Turf course in 1:44. It was

just the third career win for the Johannesburg three-year-old, who broke his

maiden in last year's Grey over Woodbine's Polytrack and entered the

Commonwealth off a 10-length romp in the Labeeb on that same venue's turf.

Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan allowed River Seven to settle in a stalking position

just behind the pacesetting Ruler of Love, who was flanked on the outside by

Frac Daddy, through splits of :23 4/5, :49 1/5 and 1:14. Ruler of Love faded

entering the lane, but Frac Daddy maintained his momentum to take over in 1:37

4/5 for the mile. It wasn't enough to stop River Seven from cruising on by,

though, as Kaigun just held third by a half-length over the closing Moro Tap on

the line.

Winning Cause followed the top four under the wire while Dorsett, Braveman,

Golden Sabre, Ruler of Love, O'Prado Ole, Layton Register and Formidable Heart

completed the order of finish. Central Banker was scratched.

Trainer Nicholas Gonzalez thought so highly of River Seven that he saddled

the bay to placings in both the Clarendon and Vandal in his initial two career

starts as a juvenile. It was only after failing to reach the winner's circle in

those stakes that River Seven tried maiden company. He finished a half-length

second but finally broke through with a first victory when taking the Grey by

three parts of a length in his two-year-old finale.

River Seven didn't make his three-year-old bow until seven months later, when

he ran fourth in the Queenston. He suffered the only off-the-board efforts of

his career thus far when eighth in the Plate Trial and 10th in the Queen's

Plate, but rebounded to be second in both the Prince of Wales and Breeders' to

complete his run in Canada's Triple Crown.

An allowance second followed the Breeders' in late September, leading up to

River Seven's tour de force in the Labeeb last out. He now boasts $561,926 in

career earnings to go along with his 12-3-5-1 scorecard.

Bred in Ontario by William D. Graham, River Seven is the first registered

foal out of the stakes-winning Chester House mare Sans Souci Island. His third

dam is the unraced Roan Rocket mare Negligence, who produced English champion

Negligent and is the grandam of this year's One Thousand Guineas winner Sky

Lantern.

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