City Boy narrowly upsets Nearctic Stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – City Boy, at 24-1, the second-longest shot on the board, edged out Reconfigure and Richiesinthehouse to take Saturday’s Grade 2 Nearctic on the Canadian International undercard.

Over a course labeled yielding, Yorkton shook loose up front and set honest fractions in the six-furlong sprint. Richiesinthehouse stalked in second, and City Boy raced three wide in third on the turn, before they both overtook Yorkton in the stretch.

Reconfigure rallied wide to join the fray in the final furlong, but City Boy, under Jesse Campbell, prevailed by a head, in a time of 1:08.18. Reconfigure finished another head in front of Richiesinthehouse, while the favored Blind Ambition finished fourth in the nine-horse field.

Trainer Mike Keogh said he was taking a shot with the City Zip gelding, City Boy, who is owned by the Estate of Gustav Schickedanz and Donald Howard. Keogh’s longtime client, Schickedanz, died earlier this year.

“I nominated him before his last start to this,” Keogh recalled. “I just thought if no heavy hitters shipped in, it would be worth taking a shot. That’s what happened. It’s been long, difficult year. I’m going to savor the moment. This one’s for Gus.”

In his first stakes victory, City Boy ($50.70) earned $180,000 of the $280,900 purse, which included a lucrative Ontario-bred bonus.