Big Invasion Posts Fifth Straight Win in Quick Call
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Photo: Coglianese Photos
Big Invasion wins the Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
There may not be an abundance of stakes opportunities for a top-notch 3-year-old turf sprinter, but trainer Christophe Clement has surely made the most of what's out there for Big Invasion .
The son of Declaration of War rolled to a fifth straight victory and his first in a graded stakes as he captured the $175,000 Quick Call Stakes Presented by the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (G3T) for 3-year-olds July 17 at Saratoga Race Course.
"He's a very good horse. He keeps winning and that's what the better horses do: they win more than the other horses," Clement said about the Reeves Thoroughbred Racing runner. "The stakes we compete in are never easy, so this is very nice."
The lone blemish in Big Invasion's six starts came in his Jan. 7 debut, when he was second in a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight race at five furlongs.
"It was a bad, bad trainer," Clement joked about the loss.
Since then, the bay colt bred by John O'Meara has not only been perfect, but he's been a convincing winner in each of those starts, prevailing by at least two lengths each time.
"He was very impressive and was impressive before that and impressive the time before that," Clement said. "He can do different things.
"If there was no pace, he could have gone to the lead. He showed he can go seven-eighths at Belmont Park (by winning the May 22 Paradise Creek Stakes in his last start). He is becoming very versatile and more mature. He is a very serious horse."
The victory gave owner Dean Reeves a pair of grade 3 turf stakes wins with Clement at the four-day-old meet after winning the Forbidden Apple Stakes (G3T) on July 15. Reeves was unable to attend Sunday's race due to a funeral for a longtime employee, but his wife, Patti, had a chance to walk Big Invasion into the winner's circle.
"I've missed his other races, but he's been very versatile and exciting for us," she said.
Longshots Surprise Boss and Run Curtis Run dueled for the early lead in the 5 1/2-furlong Quick Call, with Joel Rosario and Big Invasion fifth after an opening quarter-mile in :21.41. Under tight restraint early, Big Invasion moved outside for running room on the turn and the race was history as he grabbed the lead before the eighth pole and sailed home.
The 4-5 favorite ($3.70) was timed in 1:00.80 on firm turf, less than a second off the course record of 1:00.21 on the Mellon Turf Course.
Michael Dubb and Michael Caruso's Run Curtis Run, a son of Summer Front , was second by a half-length over Richie's World Stables' Surprise Boss, a War Dancer colt.
A son of the Curlin mare Curls in Place, Big Invasion was bought by Taproot Bloodstock, agent, for $72,000 from the Vinery Sales consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He has earned $361,545.
He is the third foal from Curls in Place to race and is a half brother to a pair of stakes-placed runners: the Creative Cause mare We Miss Susie and the Violence gelding Unitedandresolute . She has also produced a 2-year-old Empire Maker filly and a yearling Air Force Blue colt.