Hybrid Eclipse repeats in Caesar's Wish with a deep closing move
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Hybrid Eclipse cut it close, but she rallied from last to first to take the Caesar’s Wish for the second consecutive year.
Trained by Brittany Russell for Stuart Grant’s The Elkstone Group, Hybrid Eclipse relaxed in last under jockey Joe Rocco Jr. as favored Intrepid Daydream set the pace from the inside while pressed by Award Wanted.
Intrepid Daydream and Award Wanted contested fractions of 24.30, 47.22, and 1:11.22 seconds, and hooked up in earnest at the five-sixteenths pole.
Intrepid Daydream turned away Award Wanted’s first challenge, but Award Wanted was tenacious, and she eventually struck a nose in front of the chalk.
Just as it seemed like Award Wanted was heading for victory, Hybrid Eclipse emerged on the scene. She flew home under Rocco to prevail by a neck in 1:37.28 over the fast main track.
“It worked out the way I thought,” Rocco said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel. “Two horses went out there on the lead, and kind of killed each other out. My filly got a little lost on the turn, but when I got her running, she had a head full of steam turning for home.”
Award Wanted was a half-length better than Intrepid Daydream for second. Then came Deco Strong, Misty Mauve and Cashing Big Checks. Hybrid Eclipse returned $8.20 as the third choice in the betting.
Hybrid Eclipse was bred in Kentucky by Alex Venneri Racing. The 5-year-old Paynter mare was purchased by Grant at public auction for $107,000 after she won the Caesar’s Wish last summer.
Award Wanted bested Hybrid Eclipse in Delaware’s Obeah on May 27, but the former had all the best of it setting a glacial pace as Hybrid Eclipse attempted to rally from last.
Overall, Hybrid Eclipse has 8 wins from 22 starts for career earnings of $508,324.
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