Sunny Ridge Digs in to Win Stymie
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Photo: Coglianese Photos/Robert Mauhar
Sunny Ridge takes the March 12 Stymie over longshot Doyouknowsomething
Dennis Drazin's homebred Sunny Ridge scored a close victory after going wide into the stretch in the $125,000 Stymie Stakes March 12 at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Under jockey Manuel Franco, the 4-year-old son of Holy Bull went five wide exiting the second turn and rallied down the middle of the stretch to pull off the three-quarter-length win in the 1 1/8-mile test on the inner track rated fast.
"I got a good trip. The assistant (trainer) told me to try to cover him after the break and wait for the right time to make a move," Franco said. "It worked out well. He loves this track. He handles it well and runs hard every time."
Diversify, who was the 5-2 second choice, broke from the outside and immediately made his way to the front of the nine-horse field. Dolphus and Admiral Blue chased in second and third, while Sunny Ridge raced comfortably in fifth and 2-1 favorite Send It In raced near the back. Diversify set fractions of :22.98, 47.01, and 1:11.37 through six furlongs.
Around the far turn, Dolphus began to pressure Diversify as Sunny Ridge went wide to move around Admiral Blue and Royal Posse. Doyouknowsomething, the 35-1 longshot in the field, passed his foes in a drive for the wire but was outrun by Sunny Ridge. The Jason Servis trainee stopped the clock in 1:50.19.
With a late run, Send It In finished another three-quarters of a length back in third, a head in front of Dolphus in fourth. Admiral Blue rounded out the top five.
Sunny Ridge returned $10.40, $6.70, and $4.30 across the board. Doyouknowsomething paid $20.60 and $7.80, and Send It In was worth $2.90.
The New Jersey-bred entered the Stymie off a 4 3/4-length score in the Jazil Stakes Jan. 14 at Aqueduct at a distance of one mile, 70 yards on the inner track. During his 3-year-old season last year, he won the Withers Stakes (G3) and ran third in the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1). As a juvenile, he won the Sapling Stakes and ran second in both the Champagne Stakes (G1) and the Delta Downs Jackpot Stakes (G3). He now boasts a record of 5-2-2 from 15 starts, with earnings of $833,002.