Tobacco Road Rolls to Victory in Ellis Park Juvenile
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Photo: Steve Kweskin
Tobacco Road wins the Ellis Park Juvenile Stakes at Ellis Park
Corey Lanerie completed his sweep of Ellis Park's 2-year-old stakes by guiding Tobacco Road from eighth in the 10-horse field to a three-quarters of a length triumph over Whiskey Echo in the $75,000 Ellis Park Juvenile, giving Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen the exacta.
"He had a completely different trip from the filly," Lanerie said, referring to Serengeti Empress' front-running 13 1/2-length romp over Include Edition in the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante one race earlier. "He doesn't have as much speed as she did. He broke really good, and then the speed just kind of ran away from him. I had to kind of keep him busy the first quarter of a mile. Once he found his stride around the turn, from the three-eighths to the quarter pole, I could tell I had a lot of horse. It was just trying to time it right and get him to the front at the right time.
"Actually at the quarter pole, I thought I had the two in front of me with ease. I hadn't really asked my horse. I didn't think the two in front, that they had that much. When I got to his (Whiskey Echo's) hip, he proved me wrong. I got a little worried at the eighth pole. And then by the sixteenth pole I was kind of taking control and getting away from them."
After three races, the son of Quality Road has followed the identical path as Lookin At Lee, the 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) runner-up ridden by Lanerie. Both horses are trained by Asmussen and owned by Lee Levinson's L and N Racing. Both horses finished fifth at Churchill Downs in their first start, won at Ellis Park in their second, and took the Ellis Park Juvenile in their third.
Tobacco Road just needs to run to $1.1 million and be at least second in a Triple Crown race to keep up the comparisons.
"It was a good day," Levinson said. "The comparisons continue. The best part was how he finished, because he was pulling away at the end. ... When he came around the turn, you could just see him coming. He was catching them with every stride. We were pretty excited. We thought we had a great chance. But you never know, watching those races."
Though the early pace of :22.47 and :45.66 through the first half-mile was similar to what Serengeti Empress set in the Debutante, the boys finished much slower, with Tobacco Road wrapping up the seven furlongs in 1:23.99 after the six furlongs had slowed to 1:11.02. But there also was more competition for the lead, with Manny Wah and Whiskey Echo on the pace battling long shot S S Trooper.
Whiskey Echo, the program favorite who went off as the second choice behind Tobacco Road, won his first start at Belmont Park and was third in Saratoga's Sanford Stakes (G3). Asmussen said both colts will go to Churchill Downs and be considered for the Iroquois Stakes (G3), a Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" race for the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).
"They're both really nice colts, obviously," Asmussen said. "We felt good about our chances going in. Whiskey Echo off the third in the Sanford, I thought this was the perfect spot for him. And then when Tobacco Road ran so well there a couple of weeks ago, it was obvious to run him back at Ellis. But both colts ran well and handled more ground, and that's kind of what it's all about right now."
Said Shaun Bridgmohan, rider of runner-up Whiskey Echo: "The horse tried really hard. He gave me what he had. The winner came on the outside and got us all. But me and Channing (Hill, on Manny Wah) were running right along. The winner just outgamed us today."