9th-GP, $44,000, Alw (NW1X), Opt. Clm ($75,000), 1-17, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.18, ft.
IMPACT PLAYER (c, 3, City Zip–Candy Apple {Arg} {GSW-Arg}, by Halo Sunshine) was sent off the hot favorite at 2-5 on the heels of a big-figure maiden victory Dec. 13 and was quickest into stride, set a controlled pace and dropped the hammer late, cruising home to a 7 1/4-length success at Gulfstream. Drawn gate two, the bay colt, blinkered for the second time, was fastest away and did not have to work overly hard through an opening quarter-mile in :23.58. The long-striding colt had those immediately behind him hard at it and was traveling smoothly on the turn after four furlongs in a tepid :46.90, and with chief market rival Septimius Severus (Roman Ruler) under the pump from Tyler Gaffalione at the quarter pole, it was just a matter of how far for Impact Player. He was ultimately ridden out to a convincing success. Septimius Severus, a private purchase by West Point Thoroughbreds, Reeves Racing and R.A. Hill Stable off a winning Aqueduct debut Nov. 25, was off slowly and did well to be second. Impact Player was runner-up to future GIII Futurity S. winner Engage (Into Mischief) at Saratoga Sept. 4, but was an odds-on fourth in a Belmont turf sprint Oct. 1 and fifth in a main-track mile Oct. 25. Among those behind him last time was his fourth-placed stablemate Road to Damascus (Pioneerof the Nile), a $475,000 Keeneland September yearling who bounced back to graduate with an 80 Beyer Speed Figure at Tampa Jan. 14. A $350,000 OBS April acquisition last spring, Impact Player is out of a Group 3-winning half-sister to leading sire Candy Ride(Arg) (Ride the Rails) who was most recently bred to Gemologist. Lifetime Record: 5-2-1-0, $74,200. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-NK Racing; B-Colts Neck Stables LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher.[bullet ad=”crupi-trained”][bullet ad=”lambholm-south-training-grad”]
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