Friday, Saratoga
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING HALL OF FAME S.-GII, $200,000, Saratoga, 8-3, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.69, yl.
1–RAGING BULL (FR), 118, c, 3, by Dark Angel (Ire)
1st Dam: Rosa Bonheur (SP-Fr), by Mr. Greeley
2nd Dam: Rolly Polly (Ire), by Mukaddamah
3rd Dam: Rare Sound (Ire), by Rarity (GB)
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. (€90,000 Ylg '16 GOFORB). O-Peter M. Brant; B-Dayton Investments Limited (FR); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Joel Rosario. $110,000. Lifetime Record: 4-3-1-0, $218,500. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”yearling-purchase-by-colombo-bloodstock-agency”][bullet ad=”mersant-international”]2–Maraud, 124, c, 3, Blame–Unbridled Empire, by Empire Maker. ($100,000 Ylg '16 KEESEP; $375,000 2yo '17 EASMAY). O-Treadway Racing Stable; B-John R. & Frank Penn (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $40,000.[bullet ad=”eqb-equine-analysis”][bullet ad=”crupi-trained”]3–Ride a Comet, 122, c, 3, Candy Ride (Arg)&log=">Candy Ride (Arg)–Appealing Zophie, by Successful Appeal. ($45,000 RNA Ylg '16 KEESEP; $375,000 2yo '17 OBSAPR). O-Oxley, John C. and My Meadowview Farm LLC; B-My Meadowview LLC (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $24,000.
Margins: NO, 1 1/4, HF. Odds: 2.65, 4.20, 5.90.
Also Ran: Gidu (Ire), Combatant, Have At It, Westerland (GB), Gunnison, Gemonteer. Scratched: Battle At Sea, Sand Dancer.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
Raging Bull got up just in time to nail Maraud on the wire for his first graded victory in the GII Hall of Fame S. In no hurry early, the 5-2 chalk bided his time near the back of the pack as 'TDN Rising Star' Gidu (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) clocked opening splits of :23.44 and :47.23 while well clear of the rest of the field. Raging Bull was swung out to the center of the track turning for home, but still had plenty left to do as MGSW Maraud and recent Woodbine stakes winner Ride a Comet took aim at Gidu. The bay charged up the outside, quickly picking off rivals, as Maraud took command from the tiring pacesetter in the final sixteeenth. Raging Bull hit the line almost in unison with his rival and was named the victor in a tight photo finish. This was the fourth straight victory in this event, and fifth overall, for trainer Chad Brown, whose other winners include Big Blue Kitten (Kitten's Joy) (2011), Takeover Target (Harlan's Holiday) (2015), Camelot Kitten (Kitten's Joy) (2016) and Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) (2017). It was the second straight Hall of Fame win for jockey Joel Rosario, who was also the pilot of Bricks and Mortar.
“He just ran incredible that last quarter-mile,” said Brown. “I was quite concerned in the far turn that he wasn't getting a hold of the ground very well towards the inside. He was making up no ground. Joel [Rosario] said once he got him in the clear, the ground was a little better on the outside, and he finally hit his stride and started to make his move. I'll tell you, I didn't think this horse was going to win until the wire. Remarkable turn of foot.”
“[The turf] is a little soft. He was struggling a little with it,” said Rosario.” He's the kind of horse that has a big stride and keeps going. The ground was a little different today than what it is with a normal track. I tried to be in the clear. When I wanted to run, I didn't want anybody to be in my way, because he takes some time to get into his stride.”
A debut winner over the Keeneland lawn Apr. 19, Raging Bull followed suit with a grassy optional claimer victory at Belmont June 8. He entered this test off a runner-up effort as the long odds-on favorite in the Manila S. downstate July 4.
Pedigree Notes:
Raging Bull's victory marked the 29th graded win and an international stakes double for his sire Yeomanstown Stud's Dark Angel, whose son Battaash (Ire) won Goodwood's G2 King George S. impressively earlier in the day. The winner's second dam is Italian Highweight Rolly Polly (Ire) (Mukaddamah), who won a trio of group stakes in Europe before being transferred to Brown's mentor, the legendary Bobby Frankel. She won a pair of Grade III events in California for Frankel in 2002, the same year Brown began working for the Hall of Fame conditioner. Raging Bull's stakes-placed dam Rosa Bonheur is also responsible for the unraced juvenile filly Rapture (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}) and a yearling filly named Siyoubaby (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}).
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