Inveigled takes Yorktown thriller to end stakes-victory drought
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It may have taken 11 tries, but Inveigled finally picked up his first stakes victory on Saturday at Colonial Downs. With a perfect front-running ride under Paco Lopez, the Indiana-bred gelding came back in the stretch to win a thrilling photo finish over Barbadian Runner.
“[Lopez] did perfect,” trainer Arnaud Delacour said. “It was textbook, in my opinion. Not only were the fractions a little soft, but he was also not pressured, which always means a lot. He was able to deliver, but I give him credit because [Barbadian Runner] is a good horse, and at the eighth pole I think he had a head in front of us, so he had to fight back and did a good job.”
In his first 15 career starts for trainer Jane Cibelli, Inveigled ran in 10 stakes races at five different tracks, finishing second on four occasions. He entered Delacour’s barn ahead of his 5-year-old debut in June, when he shipped to Horseshoe Indianapolis off an 11-month layoff and won a statebred allowance by 6 1/4 lengths. He earned a near-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure that day, encouraging his new trainer to step him back up in Virginia.
“He came back in great shape,” Delacour said. “We had a nice confidence builder at Horseshoe Indianapolis in a statebred race and took a shot here, and he did great.”
Vibe and Xcellent Start scratched from the inaugural Yorktown, leaving Inveigled and Lopez to take an uncontested early lead in a field of five. The jockey coaxed the gelding along and completed the opening quarter-mile in a leisurely 25.04 seconds. Even after quickening through a half-mile in 48.52, he was still firmly in control.
Barbadian Runner, the 4-5 favorite and seven-time stakes winner trained by Henry Walters, chased in second the entire way, slowly advancing into a striking position under Forest Boyce. The slow fractions seemed to hinder him, but when he ranged up on the far turn to challenge the leader, Delacour said he was merely hoping to hold on for second.
Barbadian Runner took a short lead at the top of the stretch and, after winning the $125,000 Deputed Testamony at Laurel in similarly gritty fashion last month, it seemed like the Maryland-bred was well on his way to an eighth stakes victory. Lopez never gave up, however, and Inveigled drew even again in midstretch.
With little separating the top two in the final quarter-mile, Barbadian Runner simply could not make the most of his momentum down the center of the track. Inveigled dug in to retake the lead near the wire and prevailed by a head, completing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:48.05 and paying $8.80 to win.
Barbadian Runner, far from disgraced as the beaten favorite, remains winless in three starts at Colonial, having finished second in the $125,000 Star De Naskra and $100,000 Petramalo Mile last summer.
Stowaway, an 8-1 outsider trained by Whit Beckman, never challenged for a victory but easily cleared Adero and Aristotle to take third.
With a long-awaited stakes victory finally under his belt, Inveigled’s horizons are largely unchanged, though he will now get to compete in stakes without the winless millstone around his neck. Delacour has already taken advantage of Indiana-bred company this year, and the $100,000 Empire at Horseshoe Indianapolis on Sept. 11 could be an ideal next start.
Love Sign
In his second front-running stakes victory on Saturday, Paco Lopez had to fight just as hard to get Anakarina home in the $100,000 Love Sign. The Saffie Joseph Jr.-trained filly nearly caved to a resurgent Conquerthosewecan in the final strides, but Colonial’s leading rider kept her to task in a photo-finish victory.
In her first start for Joseph and Miller Racing, who acquired her through a private sale earlier this summer, Anakarina earned favoritism for the first time in her 19-race career. Coming off back-to-back runner-up finishes at Oaklawn and Churchill Downs for trainer Dallas Stewart, she went off at 4-5 in Virginia and paid $3.60 to win.
In his win on Inveigled in the Yorktown, Lopez managed to secure glacially slow fractions ahead of his stretch duel with Forest Boyce and Barbadian Runner. He had no such luck in the six-furlong sprint aboard Anakarina, as Conquerthosewecan and Sheldon Russell immediately prompted the early leader through an opening quarter-mile in 21.90 seconds.
Anakarina managed to create some space on the backstretch while Lopez slowed the race down some, completing the half-mile in 44.64. The jockey kept his filly off the rail on the far turn and was still clear in the stretch, but he seemed to sense his work was far from done, looking back several times in search of a challenger.
In the end, the only challenge came from a familiar rival, as Conquerthosewecan re-rallied along the rail and began to cut into Anakarina’s margin in midstretch. When Lopez finally spotted the comeback bid, he tipped the front-running favorite in slightly to alert her to pressure on the inside.
Trainer Brittany Russell has always noted Conquerthosewecan’s fondness for Colonial, and though she delivered another nice run on Saturday, she could not make the most of her unorthodox rally. Anakarina, slightly aimless at points but never truly in trouble, prevailed by a neck and completed the six-furlong distance in 1:09.78.
Dare to Fly, a 12-1 shot coming off two tougher stakes defeats at Churchill Downs and Horseshoe Indianapolis, rallied for third for trainer John Ennis, finishing 2 1/2 lengths behind Conquerthosewecan.
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