Our Double Play Cuts Back for Researcher
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J C M Racing’s Our Double Play will cut back in distance after a brief break from racing and seems to have found a good spot in the $400,000 Researcher Stakes for 3-year-olds at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races Sept. 21.
The Researcher, named for the two-time winner of the Charles Town Classic (gr. II) before it achieved graded status, is at seven furlongs around two turns. It attracted a field of 10 with one horse on the alternate list in case of scratches.
The Researcher is the 11th race on a 13-race card that begins at 5 p.m. EDT. The 12th race is the $400,000 Charles Town Oaks.
Our Double Play, a Kentucky-bred Grand Slam colt trained by Philip Bauer, won the one-mile Prairie Mile at Prairie Meadows Racetrack & Casino in early June, and then finished fourth as the favorite in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Derby (gr. III) in late June. He sports a series of sharp works at Churchill Downs since then, and has been made the 4-1 second choice on the morning line for the Researcher.
Three starts back, Our Double Play was a strong winner of a seven-furlong allowance event at Churchill. Miguel Mena has the call for post 8 at 118 pounds.
Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence’s Bond Vigilante is the 7-2 morning-line favorite for trainer Chad Brown. The New York-bred colt by Salute the Sarge won the state-bred Claramount Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in early August in his last outing.
Bond Vigilante is three-for-four and never has competed outside of New York-bred company. He has raced twice at one mile but never has been around two turns in a race.
“We’ve always liked the horse and have always been high on him,” Brown told Charles Town officials. “He has shown me that he has ability and I think he’s really earned his way into a race like this based off his last couple efforts.”
Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence won the Researcher, then called the Red Legend, in 2012 with the Tom Amoss-trained Sum of the Parts. Javier Castellano will ride Bond Vigilante from post 9 as the 121-pound highweight.
$400,000 Researcher Stakes (Race 11, approximate post 9:50 p.m. EDT), 3YOs, 7 Furlongs (Dirt)
PP., Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Whiskey Romeo (KY), L Saez, 118, D A Cannizzo
2. Do It for Don (FL), T L Dunkelberger, 118, W R Komlo
3. Heaven's Runway (KY), P Morales, 118, J R Martin
4. Hidden Canyon (WV), J D Acosta, 118, J Contreras
5. Take It Like a Man (KY), L Saez, 118, K Gorder
6. Mongolian Saturday (KY), C L Castro, 118, E Ganbat
7. Res Judicata (PA), K Carmouche, 118, J C Servis
8. Our Double Play (KY), M Mena, 118, P A Bauer
9. Bond Vigilante (NY), J Castellano, 121, C C Brown
10. Emile (IL), C Montalvo, 118, E Ganbat
Alternate
11. Wynns Nighthawk (FL), A Cintron, 118, T F Ritchey