High North Holds Off Mr Freeze in Iowa Derby
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Photo: Coady Photography
High North (inside) leads a cavalry charge to the wire in the Iowa Derby
With an opening on the inside in the stretch run of the $250,000 Iowa Derby, Shortleaf Stable's High North moved to the front and held off a late challenge from Mr Freeze to win the 1 1/16-mile test by a half-length under jockey Florent Geroux July 6.
On the rail in a stalking position throughout, after a break from the inside post in the field of eight, the Brad Cox-trained Midnight Lute colt lacked running room in the final turn, but found a clear path soon enough to finish off the distance in 1:44.35 at Prairie Meadows.
"I was thinking about coming out, but (the horse outside of me) was holding his position, so I didn't have much choice," Geroux said. "So I kept to the inside and hoped to get through."
The ground-saving trip may have been the difference, as there was a wall of horses threatening in the final furlong. Mr Freeze was the only challenger to emerge from the pack, but could not get past High North before the wire.
The Tabulator set the pace in the Iowa Derby, which was downgraded from a grade 3 to a listed stakes for 2018, with fractions of :23.30, :47.18, and 1:11.73 through six furlongs. The Tabulator still had a half-length lead with a furlong to run, but it didn't last. At the wire the top seven finishers were only separated by 2 1/2 lengths. A length behind Mr Freeze came Lionite, who was followed by Believe in Royalty and Cool Bobby in a dead heat for fourth, Fort Peck, The Tabulator, and Battle At Sea, to complete the order of finish.
The Iowa Derby was the second stakes win for High North, who also won the Northern Spur Stakes at Oaklawn Park April 14. Prior to the Iowa Derby, he finished fourth in the Peter Pan Stakes (G3) May 12 at Belmont Park.
Bred in Kentucky by Mercedes Stables, out of the Awesome Again mare Spacy Tracy, High North now has a 3-1-0 record from nine starts and $335,850 in earnings. He was a $230,000 purchase by Shortleaf out of the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.