Implicated gets good trip, bests stablemate in Chelsey Flower Stakes

Implicated benefitted from a beautiful trip under Flavien Prat and a lackluster effort from her heavily favored stablemate Tax Implications to win Friday’s $120,000 Chelsey Flower Stakes by a length at Aqueduct.

Tax Implications, the 3-5 favorite off an impressive debut victory, was lugging in during the stretch run under Manny Franco but got up for second by a length over Smokie Eyes. Lifelovenlaughter, The Classy One, and Grand Oak completed the order of finish in the stakes for juvenile fillies.

Under Prat, Implicated sat a ground-saving third, about 2 1/2 lengths off of Smokie Eyes, who set fractions of 23.16 seconds for the quarter, 48.08 for the half, and 1:12.57 for six furlongs.

Turning for home, Prat got Implicated off the inside and she was able to reel in Smokie Eyes at the sixteenth pole and edge clear for the victory.

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match and FREE Formulator PPs! Join DRF Bets.

“I had a great trip,” Prat said. “She broke well and I was able to get myself right behind the pace. Turning for home, I got a nice gap and she kicked on well.”

Implicated, a daughter of Connect owned by Bradley Thoroughbreds, Belmar Racing and Breeding, and Cambron Equine, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.20 and returned $9.10 to win.

“Implicated got a good trip, Flavien rode her perfect,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She showed promise in her turf debut. Tax Implications, I was a little disappointed. She didn’t show as much interest early. Off one start, I thought she’d be a little closer but she fell back a bit. In the final turn, she started to pick it up, but then started lugging in, which she’s never shown us. For a horse I was trying to get to the Breeders’ Cup, she certainly caught me off guard.”

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.