December 22, 2024
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
Ten Hut!
Both Major Dude (2-1) and Fort Washington (11-1) put forth a valiant effort in Saturday’s $215,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2T) at Gulfstream Park, but only one left the 1 1/8-mile battle victorious.
A neck’s distance ended up being the difference for Major Dude, who secured his third win of the campaign and first of the graded stakes variety (5: 3-1-0 in 2024) with a late rally.
Although it wasn’t the commanding score that the board’s second choice might have envisioned, Major Dude still reached the $1 million career earnings milestone in the final start of his third professional campaign.
Overall, the 4-year-old gelding sports a 7-3-2 record with four graded triumphs through 18 starts.
Major Dude paid $6.40.
You do You
Be Your Best (IRE) was exactly that in the $165,000 Suwanee River (G3T) on Saturday at Gulfstream.
Leaving the 1-mile affair from post six, the 4-year-old filly and rider Edgard Zayas adopted a different strategy than the one that bore great rewards in last month’s Long Island (G3T).
Instead of pacing the pack from the get-go, Zayas put Be Your Best in a position to track the top spot and then pounce when the timing was right.
The savvy strategy paid off to the tune of a 1-length clearance over 6-1 rival and fellow Ireland native Papillo.
It also paid off for bettors, as Be Your Best (5-1) paid an even $12.
All Clear for Takeoff
After a delayed launch, Rocket Can turned on the afterburners to soar past his contemporaries and steal the $165,000 Harlan’s Holiday (G3) at 10-1.
Facing a deep cast of seven competitors, including top choices Tuscan Sky (6-5) and Tumbarumba (8-5), it appeared early on that Rocket Can would be left in the dust.
However, five straight winless outings were more than enough for the 4-year-colt, who rallied gamely to outbid Tumbarumba by 1 ¼-lengths.
For getting back on track and sticking the longshot landing, Rocket Can paid an even $22.
Over Before Half
If you happened to miss the recent College Football Playoff matchup between Penn State and SMU, the result can be summed up as utter domination by the higher-seeded Nittany Lions.
If you happened to the miss the $100,000 Gun Runner on Saturday afternoon at Fair Grounds, the result also falls into the utter domination category.
The horse responsible for delivering the drubbing, 2-year-old colt Built, bolted out to an early lead and watched it build to 6 ¾-lengths as he crossed the finish line.
The Jareth Loveberry mount is now 3: 2-0-1with over $124,000 banked to begin his career.
At 7-2, Built paid a cool $9.80.
Yeah, He’s Fine
Not many tune-up starts nearly end in new track records, but anything’s possible with a horse of Saudi Crown’s calibre.
Competing in the $100,000 Tenacious Stakes after a disappointing last place finish in November’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), Saudi Crown covered 1 1/16-miles in 1:42.35, just behind the Fair Grounds track record of 1:42.01 set by Olympiad in 2022.
The two-time graded stakes winner (Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 3 Louisiana) seems to be back in rhythm following the toughest loss of his standout career.
Saudi Crown, who paid $4.20 as the even-money choice, is now 6-2-1 through a dozen starts with more than $3.1 million banked.
