Synchrony Wins Second Fair Grounds Handicap
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Photo: Hodges Photography / Lou Hodges, Jr.
Synchrony gallops home in the Fair Grounds Handicap at Fair Grounds Race Course
Pin Oak Stable's homebred Synchrony shook off the cobwebs Feb. 16 and secured his second straight Fair Grounds Handicap (G3T) victory by 1 1/4 lengths in a game season debut at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
The 6-year-old son of Tapit galloped briskly back to meet owner Josephine Abercrombie in the Fair Grounds winner's circle, getting his picture taken for the first time since he aced the Sept. 1 Red Bank Stakes (G3T) at Monmouth Park on the heels of a July 29 Oceanport Stakes (G3T) score at the New Jersey oval.
Jockey Joe Bravo, aboard for eight of Synchrony's 19 starts for trainer Mike Stidham, had a plan in place for his mount's first outing since a third in the Nov. 24 Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T) at Del Mar.
"The turf seemed to be a little speed-favoring on the inside, so I used him a little bit away from the gate (to get over to the rail), but let's be honest, he was in control throughout," Bravo said. "It does help that I know the horse, but he's an amazing animal. Mike's done a great job getting him ready off the layoff. I knew I was loaded in the post parade."
With Bravo's right-handed taps at the break sending the signal to get in the game, Synchrony found a path to the inside and bided his time, eighth in the field of nine, as Great Wide Open showed the way through an opening quarter in :23.18. The duo moved up to seventh as the half went in :47.37 and made steady progression to sixth through three-quarters in 1:11.34.
Bravo sought a seam on the inside headed around the final turn but was forced to steady briefly at the five-sixteenths before swinging six wide into the stretch. Bandua, a 35-1 shot, was in command after taking over from the tiring pacesetter, and Synchrony had plenty of work left to do. But the even-money favorite dug deep like a favorite should and overcame Bandua through a 1:36.10 mile.
Bandua held for second, while Markitoff finished two lengths back in third. The final time for the 1 1/8-mile test was 1:48.09 on turf rated firm.
"He's a really good horse," Stidham said. "He's shown it over and over again. I think he's still got a grade 1 sitting out there somewhere waiting for him, and we're going to try and have him ready for it."
Last year, Synchrony coupled his Fair Grounds Handicap win with a Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2T) score in March, and that pattern will be the goal this season as well.
"We'll go back with the same program we followed last year, and hopefully we can win again," Stidham said.
Synchrony was bred in Kentucky out of the grade 3-winning Forest Wildcat mare Brownie Points, who produced a Pioneerof the Nile colt in 2018. His record stands at 8-3-5, and the winner's share of the $150,000 purse boosted his earnings to $733,052.
"This horse is a credit to Pin Oak Stud and (farm manager) Clifford Barry," Stidham said. "They've been fantastic, giving me the opportunity and all the leeway to do what I thought was right with this horse, and it's paid off."
Also on the Saturday card, Marc Detampel and Sunshine State Racing's Chaos Theory won the $75,000 Colonel Power Stakes, and Mrs. J. V. Shields Jr. and E. J. M. McFadden Jr.'s Mitchell Road took the $75,000 Albert M. Stall Memorial Stakes.
Chaos Theory, a Kentucky-bred son of Curlin trained by Brendan Walsh, was piloted by Tyler Gaffalione and rated off the pace while Latent Revenge set fractions of :22.74, :45.66, and :57.09. After going wide into the stretch, Chaos Theory rallied on the outside of runners and made a strong closing move to take the Colonel Power by a length, completing 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:03.07. Savage Battle was a hard-fought second, and Latent Revenge held for third.
"Brendan had the horse ready today," Gaffalione said. "All I had to do was sit on him and wait. When I asked on him, he really turned it on. I just had to help him out of the gate a little."
The Colonel Power was Chaos Theory's third win from six starts and enhanced his earnings to $98,690. He was bred in Kentucky by Bluewater Sales and Mike Carpenter out of the Tale of the Cat mare Chaotic Cat and was a $260,000 weanling purchase by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings from the 2015 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, where he was consigned by Bluewater. After failing to meet his reserve at the same sale in 2018, he was purchased privately by his current connections.
Bill Mott trainee Mitchell Road tracked the pace set by Coffee Crush in the Albert M. Stall Memorial for older fillies and mares, took the lead in upper stretch, and drew off to win the 1 1/16-mile test in 1:41.32 by three-quarters of a length over Beau Recall. It was the first stakes score for the 4-year-old English Channel filly, who was bred in Kentucky by J. V. Shields Jr. out of the War Chant mare Quake Lake. Her earnings now stand at $154,570, with four wins and two seconds from six starts.