Walsh sweeps 3-year-olds stakes in dramatic fashion with Lion Lake, Vasy
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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Brendan Walsh swept Saturday’s pair of turf stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park in the same dramatic fashion.
Lion Lake, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, wore down heavily favored Sister Troienne on the wire to win the Grade 3, $175,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes for fillies by a head. That win came about 90 minutes after Vasy came with a late run under Flavien Prat to nail Honey Dutch in the final stride and win the $175,000 Colonel Liam Stakes for males by a neck.
Both winners won stakes coming out of maiden race victories in their most recent starts over this course.
For Lion Lake to win, she had to run down Sister Troienne, a filly who had won five consecutive races including three stakes at this meet, two on turf.
Gaffalione kept Lion Lake within close contention to the leaders down the backstretch. Though Sister Troienne, under Mario Gutierrez, took over from Sapphire Beach at the quarter pole, she wasn’t spurting away from Lion Lake in the lane.
Lion Lake rallied up the inside of Sister Troienne, perhaps catching Gutierrez by surprise.
“When he made his move coming into the stretch I let my filly kind of follow him,” Gaffalione said. “My filly kept finding and [Sister Troienne] wasn’t really getting away from me and we were able to reel her in.”
When Walsh saw Sister Troienne easily make the lead coming into the stretch, he thought Lion Lake was running for second.
“But fair credit to my filly, she did it and she did it well,” Walsh said. “I think she’s been improving. Tyler said to me earlier ‘I think we’ve got a good chance with that filly.’ I said, ‘You’re not wrong.’ Her works have been better since she ran the last time.”
Lion Lake, an Irish-bred daughter of Dark Angel owned by Emcee Stable, covered the mile in 1:32.80 (86 Beyer Speed Figure) and returned $24.20 to win.
Gutierrez said Sister Troienne “got tired a little bit towards the end. “I thought we were home. I rode her like we usually ride her. It wasn’t her day today.”
Vasy gets up in Colonel Liam
Vasy needed every inch of the Gulfstream Park stretch to get there, but get there he did, nailing Honey Dutch on the wire to win the $175,000 Colonel Liam Stakes for 3-year-olds by a neck.
It was two lengths back to Zeppelin in third.
Vasy, coming off a maiden win here on Jan. 25, saved all the ground while racing an up-close third behind pacesetting I C Light and a stalking Honey Dutch. In midstretch, Honey Dutch, under Irad Ortiz Jr., took the lead from I C Light but Vasy, who got off the inside and into the clear, came with a powerful stretch run that got there in time.
“I felt like I was traveling very well and when I was able to get him in the clear he gave me a good run,” said Prat, who was riding Vasy for the first time. “It felt like Irad’s horse was going very well. Turning for home I didn’t know, but it felt like at the eighth pole I had a chance to get there.”
Vasy, an Irish-bred son of Space Blues owned by JDT Racing, covered the mile in 1:33.28 and returned $19.40 as the fourth choice.
Walsh said he came in thinking Vasy had a chance to win and liked what he saw when Prat got the horse into the clear.
“I think once he got out he was always going to get there, but hat’s off to the horse that was a strong field today,” Walsh said. “I thought he had a little chance, he’s improving a little bit. Maybe he likes this track.”
Walsh said Vasy could run back in the $150,000 Cutler Bay Stakes going 7 1/2 furlongs here on March 28.
Though Honey Dutch had shown speed in most of his previous races, Ortiz said the horse came back to him nicely and felt he was getting a good trip behind the speed of I C Light, who ended up finishing last.
“He came so good to me, it was beautiful,” Ortiz said. “I was waiting a little bit, I thought he would give me a run which he did. Just a little unlucky and got caught.”
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