Gaslight Dancer Psyches Out Palisades Field of 12
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Photo: Heather C. Jackson
Gaslight Dancer wins the Palisades Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse
Gaslight Dancer certainly made the 12-horse field for the $250,000 Palisades Stakes question their power as he twirled victoriously down the Keeneland turf course April 16.
Tracking the pace in fifth under Tyler Gaffalione, the 3-year-old City of Light colt was well behind Bushido , who rocketed to the front to rattle off an opening quarter in :21.12. Still leading the pack in :44.43, Bushido began to give way as both No Nay Hudson and Crispy Cat moved up to engage. Reaching the stretch in :56.40, Gaslight Dancer moved past that pair—driving forward to win by 1 1/2 lengths and finish the 5 1/2 furlong event in 1:02.71.
"He broke alertly, and got a nice spot on the fence. We were able to work ourselves out, and he really kicked home nice," Gaffalione said.
The winning Jockey of the Palisades Stakes, @Tyler_Gaff talks to @andie_biancone about the win with GASLIGHT DANCER. Watch more on #FanDuelTV. pic.twitter.com/oWfNnMHKOF
— TVG (@TVG) April 16, 2023
Two of a Kind rallied from the back under Julien Leparoux to finish runner-up, and Chiringo under Irad Ortiz Jr. went from 11th to third from the three quarters pole to the wire.
As multiple other horses have done, Gaslight Dancer used the Keeneland Spring Meet to freshen up after his last start at the World Championships, where he was sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) for trainer Mike Maker and the partnership of Paradise Farms, David Staudacher, Skychai Racing, and Angelo Carlesimo.
"We gave him some time off and then we had some delays in Florida because of Palm Meadows and so forth," Maker said. "I figured (if) 5 1/2 was too short, that we could at least get a race under his belt to stretch him out. After that impressive run, we may have to re-think that."
After the Palisades, the colt improved his record to 2-1-0 from five starts and increased his earnings to $282,554. One of his career highlights is finishing a close second behind Nagirroc in last year's Futurity Stakes (G3T) at Belmont At The Big A.
Bred in Kentucky by Springhouse Farm, the colt was a $260,000 purchase by Maker from the Julie Davies consignment at the 2022 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. He is the first foal out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Raindrops Droptops who also has a 2-year-old Munnings colt named Moon Raid. The dam was sent to McKinzie for this year.
Maker says he was happy to have Gaffalione up for the race, who rode Gaslight Dancer in his first start at Churchill Downs last August, and that planning another start for the colt will be fairly simple due to the surplus of choices.
"(There's) all kinds of options. I was originally thinking American Turf but the 3-year-old sprint (Kentucky) Derby week is a possibility if he needs more time. As hot as Tyler is we have confidence every time we leg him up."