Chowda very game in Gander Stakes

Turning into the stretch of Sunday’s $100,000 Gander Stakes at Aqueduct, the pace-setting Chowda was confronted by Bank On Shea from the inside and Scilly Cay on the outside.

If Chowda has shown anything in his brief career, it’s that he was not going to give way willingly. So even after Bank On Shea put a head in front in mid-stretch, Gary Sciacca, the trainer of Chowda knew the race was not over.

“I said ‘Don’t quit now,’" Sciacca said. “He switched leads and he fought back.”

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Chowda, under Eric Cancel, fought all the way back and passed Bank On Shea inside the 70-yard marker to win the Gander Stakes by three-quarters of a length. It was 3 1/2 lengths back to even-money favorite Bourbon Bay in third. Scilly Cay was fourth, followed by Microscope and Colormepazzi. Wild Banker was scratched.

It was the third win from six starts for Chowda. His prior two wins had each come in similar fashion, taking a midstretch challenge and battling back twice to win by a neck

“I haven’t seen too many horses like him, he gets passed and comes back and win,” Sciacca said. “He’s a game son of a gun.”

Chowda did benefit from being able to get a clear advantage through modest fractions of 24.03 seconds for the quarter, 48.27 for the half, and 1:14.07 for six furlongs before Bank On Shea and Scilly Cay went after him.

Chowda, a son of Emcee, covered the mile in 1:40.36 and returned $32.60 as the third-longest shot in the field.

Cancel said Chowda gets emboldened when he feels another horse alongside of him.

“He's a horse that needs to feel other horses [next to him] to keep on going,” Cancel said. “I've been getting along with him really well and the trainer and staff have done a great job with him. He's a horse that never gives up."

For Cancel, it was his third win on the card and the third straight Aqueduct program that he has won three races. Cancel has moved into second in the jockey standings with 41 wins, seven behind Jose Lezcano, who was aboard Bank On Shea.

For Sciacca, the victory was meaningful from two standpoints. First, it was his first stakes and eighth win of the winter meet, tied for seventh in the standings. Second, Sciacca trained Lovely Nurse, the mother of the race’s namesake, Gander.

Chowda gave his owner, Ed Fazzone of Saratoga, his first stakes victory.