by Brisnet.com
Irv Naylor’s Tax Ruling, always prominent, surged through the Springdale
Racecourse stretch to score a gutty 1 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1,
$100,000 Colonial Cup in Camden, South Carolina, on Saturday.
Tax Ruling’s second Grade 1 victory of the year, following his second
straight score in the Iroquois in May, thrust Naylor’s Dyanformer gelding
prominently into the picture for this year’s Eclipse Award as champion
steeplechaser.
Divine Fortune, who had made a bold move to the lead at the last fence,
finished second. Trained by Brianne Slater and ridden by Xavier Aizpuru, Tax
Ruling ran the Colonial Cup’s 2 3/4 miles in 5:11 1/5.
The Colonial Cup’s $60,000 first-place purse raised Tax Ruling’s 2011
earnings to $153,500, second only to Naylor’s Black Jack Blues, a recent import
who won both of his U.S. starts easily, including a seven-length victory in the
Grade 1 Grand National at Far Hills. Black Jack Blues, who missed the Colonial
Cup because of a minor respiratory infection, reigns as the National
Steeplechase Association’s Lonesome Glory Champions Award winner with purses of
$171,000.
At the Colonial Cup start, Tax Ruling went to the lead immediately and set
the pace with Here Comes Art.
“He’s always been a front-runner,” Aizpuru said. “If he’s not on the lead, he
wants to be right there.”
Tax Ruling and Here Comes Art jousted for the lead for more than two miles,
with Here Comes Art in front as the field turned into the stretch. Divine
Fortune took the inside route to the last fence and jumped to the lead. Aizpuru
kept pushing Tax Ruling toward the finish line, and they drew clear on the
outside inside the final sixteenth. Arcadius closed stoutly at the end to nip a
tiring Here Comes Art for third.
Tax Ruling’s career mark now stands at 25-6-2-3, $393,415. In addition to
this victory and his two Iroquois scores, he also counts the 2009 National Hunt
Cup among his wins. The eight-year-old ran third in both the 2009 and 2010
editions of the Colonial Cup, as well as the 2009 Grand National.
Bred in Kentucky by Phipps Stable and was produced by the Grade 1 winner
Fantastic Find, making him a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Finder’s
Fee. Tax Ruling’s second dam was the noted Phipps family producer Blitey, while
his third dam was 1966 champion three-year-old filly Lady Pitt.