Our Caravan Spoils Normandy Invasion Comeback
Description:
In his first race in more than a year, Fox Hill Farms’ Normandy Invasion finished second in his 5-year-old season debut in what amounted to a match race with winner Our Caravan July 1 at Delaware Park.
With just three horses entering the starting gate for the 1 1/16-mile allowance/optional claiming race, and Gray Beau never factoring, stakes winner Our Caravan seized the early lead and carried Normandy Invasion wide in the first turn while racing six- or seven-wide under Alex Cintron. Those two battled through a half-mile in :48.
Despite the layoff and tough trip, Normandy Invasion, under jockey Kerwin Clark, forged a half-length advantage in the stretch but Our Caravan fought back and surged to a three-quarter-length victory. Anstu Stables’ Our Caravan, who is trained by Michael Dilger, completed the race in 1:43.08 on a fast track.
The winner returned $5.80 to win. Normandy Invasion was sent off at 1-5 odds.
Delaware Park did not offer place or show wagering. Five entered horses were listed as vet scratches from the race.
Our Caravan, a 4-year-old Daaher gelding, picked up his first victory since last year’s Calder Derby.
Trained by Larry Jones, Normandy Invasion, a 5-year-old Tapit horse with second-place finishes in three graded stakes, has been working at Delaware, where Jones is based for the summer. The layoff included recovery time from a fractured sesamoid.
"It looked like he got a little tired, but it was OK and the main thing is it looks like he came back good," Jones said. "It will give us some things to work with now since this is the first time he ran for me. It also looked like that when he made the lead, he pulled up like he did in the (Kentucky) Derby. He made the lead at about the eighth-pole in the Derby and he started waiting on horses sort of like he did today."
Normandy Invasion finished second in the Remsen Stakes (gr. II) at 2, second in the Wood Memorial Stakes (gr. I) at 3, and second in the New Orleans Handicap (gr. II) last year at 4. In his final 2014 start he finished 10th in the Metropolitan Handicap (gr. I).