Boldor delivers as Punch Line Stakes favorite
Boldor rolled home a popular winner in the $100,000 Punch Line, the last of five Virginia stakes on Wednesday’s closing-day card at Colonial Downs.
Boldor looked on paper like he couldn’t lose the Punch Line, and his performance bore that out. Under Feargal Lynch, Boldor raced in sixth place around the far turn before switching to the far outside for the stretch run of this turf sprint, mowing down his overmatched competition. Dropping in class from a series of open stakes and high-level allowance races, Boldor paid $3 as the overwhelming Punch Line favorite, winning by 2 1/2 lengths.
Steve Asmussen trains Boldor for Ed Orr and Susie Orr and the 5-year-old gelding, by Munnings out of Senate Caucus, by Siphon, won for the sixth time in 20 starts. Boldor clocked 1:02.81 for 5 1/2 furlongs over the outer turf course, still rated firm despite rain during the card, and was followed home by Elusive Mischief and Braxton.
Boldor was the fourth winning favorite among Wednesday’s five $100,000 stakes, which were restricted to horses bred or sired in Virginia.
Passion Play won the Edward P. Evans, for older horses over one mile on the inner turf, by 1 1/2 lengths, thanks in part to a heady ride by Horacio Karamanos. Passion Play broke from the rail and raced behind early pacesetter Ismusbemyluckyday into the first turn. But when Great Camanoe, going up two wide, began to clear the early leader, which would have put Passion Play third back from the front, locked on the rail, Karamos came off the fence and knifed between Ismusbemyluckyday and American Dubai. That put Passion Play in a much better position pressing longshot Great Kamanoe down the backstretch, and Passion Play, a forward-running horse, got into a good rhythm with a target in front of him. He took Great Kamanoe’s measure past the three-furlong pole, went clear, and held his advantage to the finish.
Trained by Mary Eppler for Reiley McDonald, Passion Play paid $4.20 and was timed in 1:37.15 as American Dubai ran solidly in his turf debut for second. Five-year-old Passion Play is by Hold Me Back out of Stylish Affair, by Not For Love.
His victory was preceded by short-priced fillies Virginia Beach, who paid $2.60 winning the Camptown Stakes under Julian Pimentel, and Urban Fairytale, a $4 winner of the Brookmeade Stakes.
Urban Fairytale surprisingly was favored over Tasting the Stars in the Brookmeade, and the money was smart. Urban Fairytale, ridden by Chris Landeros, let Tasting the Stars lead before challenging her in upper stretch and pushing past to post a one-length victory. A 4-year-old daughter of Distorted Humor out of Fairytale Ending, by Galileo, Urban Fairytale was timed in 1:44.35 for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf. Ian Wilkes trains the filly for Winchester Place Thoroughbreds.
Virginia Beach proved 1 1/2 lengths best in the 5 1/2-furlong Camptown for older fillies and mares, clocking 1:04.37 over the outer course. Mike Trombetta trains the 4-year-old filly for Country Life Farm, and Virginia Beach is a daughter of Twirling Candy and the El Prado mare Enterprise Beach.
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Iselin bred both Virginia Beach and Passion Play.
Determined Kingdom ($10.40) was the only chalk-buster in the stakes sequence, easily outfinishing odds-on Continentalcongres to win this 2-year-old sprint race by 2 3/4 lengths. Phil Schoenthal trains Determined Kingdom for D Hatman Thoroughbreds and Kingdom Bloodstock, and Determined Kingdom improved mightily in his second start following a distant eighth-place finish in his career debut. Under Victor Rosales, he ran 5 1/2 furlongs over the outer turf in 1:03.27 in a race run early on the card, race 2, before further afternoon rain fell. Determined Kingdom is by Animal Kingdom out of Filia, by Fastnet Rock.