Dynamic Impact edges Midnight Hawk in Illinois Derby

Last updated: 4/19/14 8:23 PM

Dynamic Impact (yellow cap) turned in a gutsy performance in
his stakes debut and put himself in the mix for the Preakness

(Four Footed Fotos)

John C. Oxley’s Dynamic Impact rallied to catch Midnight Hawk on the wire of
Saturday’s Grade 3, $500,000
Illinois
Derby, prevailing by a nose in the final stride at Hawthorne. A maiden
winner in his previous start at Oaklawn Park, the Mark Casse-trained colt jumped
straight to stakes company with little difficulty and the May 17 Preakness
Stakes is now a serious option for the improving son of Tiznow.

Dynamic Impact proved best in the head-bobbing finish with jockey Miguel Mena.

Midnight Hawk, who captured the Grade 3 Sham in January before consecutive
placings in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis (third), Grade 2 San Felipe (second) and
Grade 3 Sunland Derby (second), stumbled slightly at the start but quickly
recovered to show the way into the first turn. The 2-5 favorite traveled a
couple of paths off the rail and Dynamic Impact advanced from his innermost post
position to closely track the pacesetter along the inside.

Midnight Hawk led by a half-length through an opening quarter-mile in :24 and
a half-mile in :48. Dynamic Impact was still clinging to the rail entering the
far turn, but he started to retreat slightly as Midnight Hawk spurted clear
rounding the bend, completing six furlongs in 1:12 with a one-length advantage.

Mena swung his mount off the rail entering the stretch and Dynamic Impact
responded to his urgings at a critical time as Midnight Hawk threatened to run
away, up by 1 1/2 lengths with only an eighth of a mile remaining. Dynamic
Impact needed every inch of the long Hawthorne stretch, surging late to take the
close photo.

The tight finish could’ve gone either way

(Jamie Newell/Horsephotos.com)

Overlooked as the 9-1 fourth choice among eight three-year-olds, Dynamic
Impact returned a win mutuel of $21.20 to his backers.

He completed 1 1/8 miles in 1:49 on the fast track.

Midnight Hawk wound up 8 1/2 lengths clear of third-placer Irish You Well,
who was followed by Class Leader, King Cyrus, A Step Ahead, Emmett Park and
Global Strike.

Dynamic Impact made three starts last fall, the best result coming as a neck
second in a Keeneland maiden special weight in October. He opened 2014 with a
runner-up in a January 30 maiden tilt at Oaklawn Park and came back to earn his
first win on March 1, scoring by a neck in a one-mile event.

With Saturday’s $300,000 payday, the bay colt increased his bankroll to
$360,716 from a 6-2-2-0 ledger.

Bred in Kentucky by Blue Heaven Farm LLC, Dynamic Impact was purchased for
$125,000 as a yearling at the 2012 Keeneland September sale. He is the first
foal to race from the stakes-winning Featherbed, a daughter of Smart Strike who
finished second in the 2006 edition of the Grade 1 Matron.

Dynamic Impact’s third maternal dam, multiple stakes heroine In My Cap, is a
full sister to Grade 1 winner Trumpet’s Blare and multiple Grade 3 queen Passing
Vice. This is also the female family of Grade 1 winner Albert the Great, an
earner of more than $3 million.

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