Pete's Play Call Continues Winning Ways in Gravesend
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Chelsea Durand
Pete's Play Call wins the Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack
Pete's Play Call started his 8-year-old campaign the same way he concluded 2020, saving his best for the stretch to win the 62nd running of the $97,000 Gravesend Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at Aqueduct Racetrack Jan. 2.
Pete's Play Call outkicked Stan the Man by 2 1/2 lengths to win his first start since being claimed for $62,500 by Michael Dubb from a win Nov. 27 at the Aqueduct. Now trained by Rudy Rodriguez, the gelded son of Munnings was forwardly placed in second early behind Happy Farm, who led the five-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in :23.09 on the muddy, sealed track.
Under jockey Jorge Vargas Jr., Pete's Play Call overtook Happy Farm, with the half-mile clocked in :46.99, and held the advantage over the final quarter-mile. Stan the Man, the runner-up of the Nov. 29 Fall Highweight Handicap (G3) on the same track, made a late bid under Eric Cancel, but Pete's Play Call pressed to the wire, completing 6 1/2 furlongs in a final time of 1:17.63.
"Rudy told me he was going to run big today and he did. All credit to him, he had him ready off the claim," said Vargas, Jr., who won two races on the card. "I was pretty happy where I was and when I asked him, he took off. He's quick. I was just trying to keep him happy and where he was comfortable."
Pete's Play Call ($10.20) improved his career earnings to $648,421. It was his first stakes win since the Bonapaw Stakes in December 2019 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, another race that came over an off track
"He was training very good. He's a hard-knocking horse," Rodriguez said. "He's been doing very well since we claimed him. I thought we paid top dollar for him, but seeing him working in the morning, it looked like he was worth every penny."
Bred in Maryland by Mr. and Mrs. Charles McGinnes, Pete's Play Call is one of nine winners from the Irish Open mare Taft Lil Queen. She has produced four stakes winners, including grade 2 winner Kiss to Remember. Another stakes winner from Taft Lil Queen, For Royalty, became the dam of grade 1 winner Constellation.
Pete's Play Call was a $90,000 purchase by trainer Mark Glatt at the 2014 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the consignment of Brookdale Sales, agent for Thornmar. He initially trained in California by Glatt for owners Dan Agnew, Gerry Schneider, and John Xitco before he was sent east following a claim. He has been in five barns over his 46-race career.
Stan the Man, owned by Long Lake Stable and trained by John Terranova, finished 3 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Drafted. My Boy Tate, the 7-5 favorite, and Happy Farm completed the order of finish.
"He handled the track good," Cancel said of the runner-up. "He's a good horse and goes with everything. He doesn't have any excuse. He just got beat by a horse that was ready to run and never gave up.
"I was comfortable with where I was and I made the move when I had to," he added. "The horse reacted quick with it, but the horse that beat us never gave up."