By Alan Carasso
Not 24 hours removed from a victory from 'TDN Rising Star' Time to Dream in Wednesday's P. G. Johnson Stakes, Final Score (Not This Time) gave his can-do-no-wrong sire, owner Repole Stable and trainer Todd Pletcher a sweep of the meet-ending juvenile turf stakes with a pillar-to-post success in Thursday's GIII With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.
Given the presence of impressive first-out winner 'Rising Star' Capital Partner (GB) (Kingman {GB}), the long odds-on favorite Thursday afternoon, the punters took a bit of a skeptical approach to Final Score's maiden-breaker over course and distance 18 days prior, where he was allowed to dictate an extremely soft pace from the front and scampered home with plenty in reserve.
It was deja vu all over again Thursday afternooon.
Quickly into stride from the one hole for noted gate rider Kendrick Carmouche, the 9-1 gamble made the pace and it was Capital Partner who somewhat surprisingly prompted the front-runner through a quarter in :24.53 and an even half-mile in :48.63.
Well-held into the second turn, Final Score was shaken up just a bit at the midpoint of the bend, got a right-handed reminder in upper stretch and opened up on them in the final furlong to take it by 4 1/2 lengths over Heeere's Johnny (Oscar Performance), second in Final Score's maiden as well. Capital Partner held on for third.
“We were coming off a race where we went pretty slow on the front end, so we didn't want to send him, but if it was there for the taking that was 'Plan A',” explained Pletcher, now a record seven-time winner of the With Anticipation. “We felt like we would be close. We weren't positive we'd be on the lead. We felt like we'd play off the break and see how fast the fractions were and it worked out pretty nicely.”
You can count the conditioner amongst the fans of the Taylor Made-based Not This Time, who supplied connections' MGISW and GI Breeders' Cup Turf runner-up Up to the Mark, now standing at Lane's End.
“He's a super-hot stallion. They seem to do everything: sprint, route, turf, dirt,” he commented. “He's a phenomenal stallion. He does a little bit of everything. We were fortunate to have success with Up to the Mark early on and we became fans of him early on and fortunate to have ones like these two we ran [Wednesday] and today.”
Pedigree Notes:
Final Score is the 55th worldwide stakes winner and 27th at the graded level for Not This Time and he is also the 122nd SW and 61st GSW out of a daughter of the late Bernardini. The P. G. Johnson winner cost the Repole braintrust some three-quarters of a million dollars at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale not far from the racetrack and they went to $600,000 for Final Score at the same event.
The Feb. 6 foal is one of two winners from three to the races out of daughter of Princess Haya, winner of the grassy GII Canadian Stakes during her racing days and a 100% producer from her five runners, most prominently Lady Kate (Bernardini) winner of the Groupie Doll Stakes and runner-up in the GI La Troienne Stakes. Princess Haya is also the dam of GSP Princess Theorem (Nyquist), MGSP Prince of Arabia (Mineshaft) and the Irish Group 2-placed Bernard Shaw (Into Mischief).
Precious Dixie's youngest produce include a yearling colt by Good Magic, a colt foal by Cody's Wish and, sticking with a Curlin theme, she was most recently covered by Good Magic's 'TDN Rising Star' son Muth.
Thursday, Saratoga
WITH ANTICIPATION S.-GIII, $175,000, Saratoga, 8-28, 2yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.75, fm.
1–FINAL SCORE, 122, c, 2, by Not This Time
1st Dam: Precious Dixie, by Bernardini
2nd Dam: Princess Haya, by Street Cry (Ire)
3rd Dam: Sally Slew, by Slew City Slew
1ST BLACK-TYPE WIN, 1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($600,000 Ylg '24 FTSAUG). O-Repole Stable; B-BG Stables (KY); T-Todd A Pletcher; J-Kendrick Carmouche. $96,250. Lifetime Record: 3-2-1-0, $171,250. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Heeere's Johnny, 118, c, 2, Oscar Performance–Dabinett, by Blame. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($100,000 Ylg '24 KEESEP). O-Magic Carpet Racing & Catherine W Coyle; B-John A Chandler (KY); T-Raymond Handal. $35,000.
3–Capital Partner (GB), 122, c, 2, Kingman (GB)–Blue Waltz (GB), by Pivotal (GB). (360,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O-Klaravich Stables Inc; B-Fittocks Stud & Arrow Farm Stud (GB); T-Chad C Brown. $21,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1 1/4, NK. Odds: 9.30, 10.40, 0.65.
Also Ran: Dr. Agne, Gloves Off, Strategic Risk. Scratched: Caroline St. Beat, One More Freud. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Back-to-back wins for FINAL SCORE as he wins the Grade 3 With Anticipation Stakes at 9-1 under @KendrickCarmou1 for trainer @PletcherRacing. pic.twitter.com/MIH5YYqJz9
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) August 28, 2025
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