In a trip reminiscent of his front-running success in the April 9 Grade 2
Arcadia, Liberian Freighter grabbed the early lead and just held on in the Grade
3, $98,000 Inglewood, the Easter Sunday feature at Hollywood Park. Under Martin
Garcia, the Neil Drysdale charge knuckled down in deep stretch to stave off
Ryehill Dreamer (Ire) and the fast-finishing The Usual Q. T.
Despite the precedent of his Arcadia victory, Liberian Freighter was
dispatched as the 7-2 fourth choice, the longest shot on the board in the
scratch-reduced field of four. The strong-willed gelding once again proved
idiosyncratic on the way to post, but not as obstreperous as he was prior to the
Arcadia.
Sprinting to the fore from the gate, Liberian Freighter took control from
projected pace rival Ryehill Dreamer, who opted to stalk in second rather than
eyeball the leader. As Liberian Freighter carved out fractions of :23 4/5, :47
2/5 and 1:10 1/5, the top two opened up a substantial margin over The Usual Q.
T. and 7-5 favorite Jeranimo.
Down the stretch, Liberian Freighter stayed on resolutely through a mile in
1:33 2/5 and didn’t appear vulnerable until the final yards. Ryehill Dreamer was
gradually gaining on the outside, but making more dramatic headway was The Usual
Q. T. on the inside. Erasing his deficit with bold strides, The Usual Q. T. flew
into contention a trifle too late. He passed Liberian Freighter and Ryehill
Dreamer, only after the race was over.
Liberian Freighter, who held a half-length advantage over Ryehill Dreamer at
the wire, zipped 1 1/16 firm-turf miles in 1:39 3/5 and paid $9.40 and $4. There
was no show wagering. Ryehill Dreamer had a diminishing neck to spare over The
Usual Q. T., while Jeranimo was unable to improve his position in fourth. Honour
the Deputy and Kelly Leak were scratched.
Liberian Freighter, who held a half-length advantage over Ryehill Dreamer at
the wire, zipped 1 1/16 firm-turf miles in 1:39 3/5 and paid $9.40 and $4. There
was no show wagering. Ryehill Dreamer had a diminishing neck to spare over The
Usual Q. T., while Jeranimo was unable to improve his position in fourth. Honour
the Deputy (Honour and Glory) and Kelly Leak (Runaway Groom) were scratched.
“He does the same thing all the time at the gate,” Garcia said of the winner.
“He just wants to play around. But today he was pretty good. This horse just
loves to run. He’s such a nice horse. If there was more speed, I would have
taken him back. I won the (Grade 2) Oak Tree Mile (last October) with him from
six lengths back. He likes this course a lot.”
“He’s all right around the gate,” Drysdale said. “The other day he was just
messing around and playing. Now that he’s older I think he can do both, run on
the lead and come from behind.
“It just seems that today he had a bit more speed than Ryehill Dreamer. He
drew the rail and broke better and inherited the lead. I have absolutely no idea
what’s next. I don’t know if he’ll go a mile and an eighth.”
Joel Rosario, the rider of runner-up Ryehill Dreamer, felt that his dropping
the whip might have been costly.
“Turning for home, I tried to switch the whip to my right hand and I lost the
whip,” Rosario said. “It might have made a difference.”
Trainer James Cassidy was elated with The Usual Q. T.’s near-miss effort.
“He had a lot of setbacks since his last race (a close second in the Sunshine
Millions Classic on January 29),” Cassidy said. “He had a big abscess in his
foot and his works were spotty. I told (jockey) Victor (Espinoza) I thought
those two (Liberian Freighter and Ryehill Dreamer) would go fast up front and I
didn’t want him in the mix because I knew he’d need the race. It shows you how
much class he has.”
Owned by Drysdale’s wife, Shawn Dugan, in partnership with Estate of Edward
Nahem and Charles Winner, Liberian Freighter has amassed $733,740 in earnings
from his 27-10-2-6 line. The dark bay was registering his sixth career stakes
victory, following the 2009 Tiznow and Sensational Star, the 2010 Grade 2 Oak
Tree Mile and Harry F. Brubaker, and the aforementioned Arcadia. His resume
includes six stakes placings, notably the 2008 Grade 2 La Jolla and Grade 3
Cinema.
The six-year-old Liberian Freighter was bred by King Edward Racing Stable in
the Golden State. A son of Bertrando, he is out of the unraced Slewpy mare Anachristina, whose
latest progeny are a juvenile colt, a yearling filly and a newborn colt, all by
Tribal Rule. This is the family of multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire Memories
of Silver, the dam of multiple Grade 3 heroine Winter Memories, who just
captured Thursday’s Grade 3 Appalachian in her reappearance.
Further back, the female line features such outstanding performers as
champions Sunshine Forever and Ryafan; multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire and
successful Japanese sire Brian’s Time; influential stallion and multiple Grade 2
star Dynaformer; Grade 1 winner Offlee Wild, an emerging young sire; and Grade 1
Kentucky Derby hero and sire Monarchos.