Victory Achieved stalks and pounces to win Nearctic
:quality(75))
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The aptly named Victory Achieved dominated a solid group in Saturday’s Grade 2 Nearctic at Woodbine with Rafael Hernandez aboard for the gelding’s first stakes success for Woodbine’s leading trainer Mark Casse.
Victory Achieved raced about three lengths off the lead in fourth on the turn in the six-furlong main turf sprint, as Essex Serpent shook loose up front while setting honest fractions over the good footing.
Victory Achieved made up ground early in the stretch and hit the front near the eighth pole before drawing off to win by three lengths, in a time of 1:09.30.
Nobals, a three-time stakes winner over Woodbine’s Tapeta, finished second in a race in which he was beaten a neck when second last year. Works for Me closed for third and was followed by a fading Essex Serpent, the favored Gas Me Up, Western Whirl, and Isivunguvungu.
Victory Achieved possesses tactical speed and Hernandez was well aware that the son of Street Sense could go to the lead or effectively stalk the pace.
“I just played it by ear to see how everybody broke,” Hernandez said. “There was a lot of speed in the race, too. [Assistant trainer David Adams] told me to just let him break and lay close to the speed and do your thing. That’s what we did.”
Victory Achieved returned $13.20 to win and banked $150,000 of the $254,000 purse for Live Oak Plantation.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.