Turf King overcomes bump to prevail in Marine
?q=100)
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — The favored shipper Turf King was impeded in the stretch before notching his first stakes victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Marine over the improving King’s Plate hopeful Kaukokaipuu.
With Kazushi Kimura riding for trainer Chad Brown, Turf King saved ground some four lengths off the lead in fifth on the backstretch in the 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds.
One Bay Hemingway set honest fractions, while being tracked by Velocitor, Stayhonor Goodside, and a wide Kaukokaipuu. The latter made a wide bid to hit the front entering the stretch, while the rail opened up for Turf King.
Turf King wore down Kaukokaipuu in deep stretch and was bumped off stride by that rival before scoring by a half-length, in a time of 1:43.41.
Midnight Rising rallied belatedly on the far outside for third. He was followed by Stayhonor Goodside, Simcoe, One Bay Hemingway, Twin City, and Velocitor.
Kimura said he was impressed by the determination showed by Turf King, who had shipped in from Monmouth.
“When we were battling each other, that horse bumped into my horse, but my horse showed me some guts and hung in there,” Kimura said. “What a nice horse.”
Turf King ($4.10) earned $90,000 of the $159,000 purse for owner Wise Racing. The son of Kingman was exiting a third-place finish in the Jersey Derby, which followed an allowance score on turf at Keeneland and a maiden victory over Gulfstream’s Tapeta.
Trainer Mark Casse captured Saturday’s other Grade 3 stakes for 3-year-olds, the $155,600 Selene for fillies, for a record ninth time with longshot Solo Album.
Solo Album won off by 6 1/4 lengths after racing four-wide until the far turn in the 1 1/16-mile route. Honor D Lady finished second over Tito’s Calling, while the favored Wonder Wheel beat just one in the nine-horse field.
The final time of 1:42.65 was noticeably faster than the Marine.
“In the paddock, Mr. Casse called and told be not to go to the front, because there’s going to be some speed up there, but lay up close,” Civaci said. “That’s what we did. I was sitting outside Wonder Wheel, waiting for her to move. When I saw she didn’t have much horse, I made that move to save some ground and to not get caught too wide. [She had] the momentum and finished up really strong.”
A daughter of Curlin, Solo Album ($21.10) banked $90,000 in her stakes debut for the partnership of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Gary Barber, and Steven Rocco.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.