Skyring and Gentleman’s Kitten each held long leads during Saturday’s Grade
3, $147,000
Fair Grounds Handicap, but it was 14-1 outsider Potomac River and jockey
Juan Vargas who were celebrating at the end of the about nine-furlong test on
turf.
Down more than 14 lengths on the backside, Potomac River was aided by Skyring
and Gentleman’s Kitten’s unexpected tag-team tactics on the front end. Skyring
led by a half-length through a quarter in :24 1/5, and then allowed Gentleman’s
Kitten to gain the lead after a half in :48 3/5.
Gentleman’s Kitten, who raced well out in the middle of the course around the
clubhouse turn, remained wide down the backside and opened up a seven-length
lead. That margin was whittled down by Skyring approaching the quarter pole, and
by the stretch Gentleman’s Kitten was a spent force.
Skyring regained the lead and opened up 2 1/2 lengths with a furlong to go,
and appeared to be on his way to victory. But Potomac River turned in a
sustained rally from sixth and won by a nose over Skyring in a time of 1:50 2/5
over a course rated good. He paid $31.40.
Skyring finished a length ahead of 6-5 favorite Daddy Nose Best. Gentleman’s
Kitten, Slip and Drive, Hard Aces, and Unitarian rounded out the order of
finish. Ground Transport and Mister Marti Gras were scratched in favor of the
Mineshaft Handicap later in the card.
Potomac River races for Maribel Ruelas and was saddled here by Jose Camejo,
who recently took over training duties from Sergio Baez.
“It’s amazing. I can’t describe my first stakes win because it’s too
emotional. It feels good,” Camejo said.
Unplaced in his first four stakes attempts, Potomac River ended his 12-race,
2013 campaign with a stunning 45-1 upset of the River City Handicap at Churchill
Downs on November 23. The five-year-old son of English Channel threw in a
clunker in his season debut, finishing last of eight in the January 18 Colonel
E.R. Bradley Handicap after a wide trip around both turns.
“Last race he was not ready,” Camejo added. “He shipped from Kentucky and it
was not good for him and he was not 100 percent. We gave him the race and we
fixed a couple of things and it was a 100 percent different race.”
Potomac River’s record now stands at 20-6-2-2, $322,676.
Bred by Mereworth Farm in Kentucky, Potomac River was sold for just $2,300 as
an unraced three-year-old at the 2012 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale.
He is out of the winning With Approval mare Reba’s Approval, herself a
half-sister to Grade 3 victor Reba’s Gold. This is the family of Grade 1 star
and $2.5 million-earner Dramatic Gold.
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