Concord Point romps in Iowa Derby

ALTOONA, Iowa - ALTOONA, Iowa - Concord Point ended the Iowa Festival of Racing undercard with an exclamation when he scored an impressive 8 1/2-length victory over five rivals in the at Prairie Meadows Saturday night.

Concord Point ($6.80) entered the race off a second-place finish to Smiling Tiger in the seven-furlong Laz Barrera at Hollywood Park. The added distance and second turn of the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Derby seemed to work in his favor.

A son of Tapit, Concord Point tracked the speedy Foresty Type through opening fractions of 23.36 and 45.07, which resulted in a very fast 22.50 second quarter. After the half, it was all Concord Point. Jockey Martin Garcia gently roused his mount past the pacesetter and hit the six-furlong mark in 1:09.77.

"He is such a nice horse," said Garcia. "You just put him in position to win. He's a professional."

Garcia gave Concord Point a handy ride through the stretch, getting the mile in 1:34.08 and completing the mile and a sixteenth in 1:40.37. Thiskyhasnolimit rallied from fifth to capture second-place by three-quarters of a length over 3-2 favorite Winslow Homer, who ran evenly for third.

Concord Point races for the Bob Baffert barn and is owned by Kaleem Shah.

Seeking the Title edges past Harissa In Iowa Oaks

Seeking the Title earned her first graded stakes victory when she outfinished Harissa by a half-length in the .

Prior to her victory, her best performance in graded stakes company came when she dead-heated for third in the Fair Grounds Oaks,.

California invader All Due Respect looked strong on the early lead, setting fractions of 23.54, 46.84, and 1:10.84. Harissa engaged the front-runner around the far turn, and battled to a slight advantage just before the quarter pole.

After a good break, Seeking the Titled stalked along the rail, and dropped back to fourth by the half. With five furlongs to left to run, jockey Calvin Borel asked his mount for a little more effort. Coming out of the far turn Borel was denied the rail by a fading All Due Respect, who eventually finished third, and was forced to check sharply and altered course to the middle of track. Seeking the Title closed willingly on Harissa, edging out enough of a margin for Borel to put the whip away in the shadow of the wire.

"I completely didn't ride a good race," commented Borel about the move.

Harissa finished five lengths in front of All due Respect. It was another 1 lengths back to Quiet Temper, the 7-5 favorite who finished fourth.

Seeking The Title went off as the fourth choice and returned $17.40 to her backers.

"She's a quality filly and I think she's gonna be better at 1 1/8," said trainer Dallas Stewart, indicating that her next start would likely be in the Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

Seeking the Title is owned by Charles Fipke.