Gigante bests favored Northern Invader to take Woodchopper

Gigante has never been favored in his 13-race career and as the second choice on Saturday at Fair Grounds he ran down odds-on favorite Northern Invader to win the $100,000 Woodchopper Stakes by a neck.

Win odds tell you nothing about Gigante’s career: The Woodchopper was the colt’s sixth win from 13 starts, and Gigante, a son of Not This Time and the Empire Maker mare, Summertime Green, is about $25,000 from becoming a millionaire.

Trained by Steve Asmussen for Iapetus Racing and Diamond T Racing, Gigante was a confirmed front-runner through his first eight races, winning the Caesar’s Stakes in May to launch his 2023 campaign. But late this summer in Virginia, Gigante changed his style, becoming a stalker with a solid finish, and those were the tactics deployed Saturday by Edgar Morales, Gigante’s 11th different rider in his last 11 starts.

Longshot Deccan Prince led the Woodchopper, a one-mile grass race, through a half-mile clocked in a solid 47.99, Northern Invader, the 4-5 favorite, getting a clean trip racing second just behind him. Gigante raced from midpack, one or two paths off the rail before Morales pulled him outside before the quarter pole to make his run. Northern Invader was working to put away Deccan Prince and Gigante closed on him the final furlong, getting up in the final few strides. He was timed in 1:36.70 over a firm course with temporary turf rail set nine feet out and paid $8.20 to win.

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Point Proven was the Woodchopper’s hard luck story. A distant last around the first turn and onto the backstretch, Point Proven moved up two-wide to take a better position before the far turn, but in so doing got himself into tighter quarters, and when a nearby rival took the turn erratically, Point Proven stumbled and was not far from falling. Nonetheless, he picked up steam past the three-furlong marker and came home fastest to finish third, 2 1/2 lengths behind Northern Invader.

A big run from Point Proven. A bigger one from Gigante.

Tufani rallies to take Pago Hop

Tufani has come a long way since she finished last of 12 in her career debut this past April, and on Saturday at Fair Grounds she came from far back to win the $100,000 Pago Hop Stakes by two lengths.

Tenth in the early going, Tufani still was only ninth at the quarter pole before roaring home to victory. Tufani made her move in upper stretch between horses, briefly followed Watch This Birdie, and wound up on the far outside as she finished with a flourish.

It was the first North American stakes win for the English jockey Ben Curtis, who came to America for the Fair Grounds meet.

“The key to her is to get her to relax early,” Curtis said. “Around the turn she comes to life. It’s easy to finds the gaps when you’re travelling as strong as she is.”

Condensation, who raced close to the pace, held for second with Watch This Birdie third. Tufani ran about one mile on a firm grass course in 1:37.82 and paid $6.80 as the favorite over 10 other 3-year-old fillies.

Michael Stidham, who trains Tufani for Susan Moulton, said connections always thought highly of Tufani, who is by Distorted Humor and out of the Mineshaft mare, Windhoek. After her poor sprint debut, she won a Delaware turf-route maiden race and improved twice more before taking a minor step back finishing sixth in the $253,000 Virginia Oaks. Freshened between Sept. 9 and Nov. 18, Tufani scored a sharp Fair Grounds allowance win over older rivals before notching her first stakes win.

“She’s developed, learned to relax. I think the arrow is pointing up,” said Stidham.

If Tufani keeps thundering down the homestretch like she did in the Pago Hop, Stidham is likely to be proven correct.

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