Darley Stable’s homebred ETCHED (Forestry) parlayed a forwardly-placed trip
into a neck victory in Saturday’s $300,000
Meadowlands Cup S. (G2), improving to two-for-two this season and setting
himself up for a possible bid at the Breeders’ Cup. The Kiaran
McLaughlin-trained colt is now five-for-five in the United States, with his lone
career setback coming via a fourth in the 2008 U.A.E. Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3), and Alan
Garcia has guided the four-year-old to all of his wins.
“We had a great trip,” Garcia said. “He broke well and sat right in behind
the early speed. At the quarter-pole I had a horse on the inside (Cool Coal Man) and outside of me (Kiss the Kid) and figured that
was the time to let him go. I thought it was best to let him run his race and he
did just that. The horse on the outside (Kiss The Kid) wasn’t going to go by us.
This is a smart and talented horse.”
Favored at 8-5, Etched broke well from the outermost post and tracked Great
Debater (Trippi) through early splits in :23 1/5, :46 4/5 and 1:10 1/5 over the
sloppy, sealed track. He advanced to the lead on the far turn and suddenly found himself
confronted by Cool Coal Man (Mineshaft) and Kiss the Kid (Lemon Drop Kid) as they turned for home, but Garcia
let it out a notch and Etched accelerated away from his rivals, reaching the
mile mark with a half-length lead in 1:33 4/5. Multiple Grade 3 winner Kiss the
Kid, an earner of $736,267 who was making his final career start following four
seasons of racing, reduced the margin slightly in the final furlong but was
never a serious threat. Etched stopped the teletimer in 1:45.93, just missing
the 1 1/8-mile track record of 1:45.50.
The favorite paid $5.40, $4 and $3.40 while topping the $41 exacta. Kiss the Kid
returned $6 and $3.60 at 7-1. Anak Nakal (Victory Gallop), who moved four wide
on the turn and rallied to finish third, five lengths back at 9-2, gave back $3
and completed the $145.80 trifecta. It was another 1 1/4 lengths to the 41-1
Racketeer (Awesome Again), who capped the $1,676.40 superfecta (8-3-1-4). Cool
Coal Man, Good and Lucky (Wild Rush), It’s a Bird (Birdonthewire) and Great
Debater rounded out the order of finish. Solar Flare (Arg) (Salt Lake) was
scratched.
“This horse has been training great up at Saratoga,” said Andrew St.
Lawrence, McLaughlin’s assistant trainer. “When he’s on his game, he’s on it.
He’s now a perfect five-for-five in the U.S. You can’t argue with that. He was
real impressive and the time was good.”
Etched is the first foal to race out of 2001 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1)
winner Unbridled Elaine (Unbridled’s Song), who earned $1,770,740 from an
11-6-2-1 career line. The 11-year-old mare is out of multiple stakes winner
Carols Folly (Taylor’s Falls), dam of Grade 1 heroine and $1.2 million earner
Glitter Woman (Glitterman) and Gwenjinsky (Cape Town), herself the dam of
multiple Grade 2 queen Lead Story (Editor’s Note) and stakes victor Capejinsky (Cape Town). Glitterwoman is responsible for 2007
Suburban H. (G1) winner Political Force (Unbridled’s Song). Etched has a
yearling half-brother by Distorted Humor and a weanling half-brother by Discreet Cat.
A 6 3/4-length debut winner at two, Etched captured the 2007 Nashua S. (G3)
by 6 1/2 lengths. The chestnut raced only twice at three, concluding last season with a
half-length score in a November allowance/optional claiming event at Aqueduct,
and made a belated 2009 return at Saratoga, winning a nine-furlong
allowance/optional claimer on September 3. His career mark now reads
6-5-0-0, $357,980.