Late charge earns Eddington Calder
Derby
Willmott Stables’ EDDINGTON (Unbridled) rallied near the wire
to win Saturday’s $200,000 Calder Derby (G3). The Mark Hennig trainee
sat well off the pace while Bob’s Proud Moment (Proud and True)
ticked off modest fractions of :24 2/5, :49, 1:14 1/5 and 1:38
4/5. The pacesetter threatened to steal the race through the
stretch, but Eddington charged boldly on the outside to win in
the final jumps, completing the 1 1/8-mile competition in 1:51
1/5 on a good turf course under jockey Eibar Coa. This was
Eddington’s first career turf start and his first stakes win,
breaking a seven-race losing streak.
“He deserves to win one of these graded stakes,” Hennig said.
“It opens
the door for a lot of opportunities for him. That’s not to say we’ll concentrate solely on the grass
with him, but this race may have been just what he needed to get
his confidence back on any surface. He’s headed to Payson Park
and he’ll get a little breather until the winter when we’ll start
all over again.”
The three-year-old colt returned $7.40, $4.40 and $3.20 for
the head win, keying a $166.60 exacta. Bob’s Proud Moment held on
to the second spot and gave $24.80 and $10.20 at 42-1. Capias
(Skip Trial) originally finished third, but was disqualified for
interfering with several rivals just inside the sixteenth pole
and placed 12th. Caballero Negro (Formal Gold) was brought up
from his fourth-place finish to pay $9.40 and round out the
$1,788.60 trifecta. Wire Bound (Hesabull) came in just off the
board to finish the 3-1-9-4, $6,013.20 superfecta.
Silversandsoftime (Robyn Dancer), 2-1 favorite Icy Atlantic
(Stormy Atlantic), Soverign Honor (Double Honor), Uncivil (Wild
Again), Halo Goodbye (Halo’s Image), Frolic for Joy (Belong to
Me), Cervelo (Skip Away) and Capias rounded out the field. Cool
Conductor (Stravinsky), Dashboard Drummer (Alamocitos) and
Nightmare Affair (Out of Place) were scratched from the race.
Eddington’s last win came in the form of a 5 1/2-length
victory versus allowance company this February. His record now
stands at 12-3-3-4 with earnings of $614,560.
The chestnut, bought at the Keeneland July Yearling Sale for
$450,000, was bred in Kentucky by Carl Rosen Associates and is
out of the multiple Grade 3-placed Fashion Star (Chief’s Crown).
Eddington is a half-brother to an unnamed yearling by Kingmambo
and a weanling by Cozzene.