Speedy Pure Sensation Not Slowing Down at Age 8
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Photo: Barbara Weidl/EQUI-PHOTO
Pure Sensation wins the Parx Dash at Parx Racing
Patricia Generazio's homebred Pure Sensation has shown no signs of slowing down at age 8. The speedy Florida-bred son of Zensational scored his third Parx Dash Stakes (G3T) victory July 6 at Parx Racing and did so in frontrunning fashion on soft turf.
After ticking off opening fractions of :22.18 and :46.81 under Paco Lopez, Pure Sensation dashed away and won by 4 1/4 lengths despite drifting in the stretch and being geared down at the wire. He completed five furlongs in 1:00.42.
Christophe Clement conditioned Pure Sensation to Parx Dash victories in 2016 and 2017, but the gelding finished third a year ago. In notching his third win, he ties Ben's Cat's Parx Dash record since the race first ran in 2011.
"I was surprised. He always seems to be—he's got so much speed. He's always run better on a faster track than softer track," Clement said. "He dominated the race from the beginning to the end, which was great."
Pure Sensation debuted at Saratoga Race Course as a 2-year-old and placed in two stakes that year. He won the Quick Call Stakes back at Saratoga at 3 and the following year scored his first of three Turf Monster Handicaps (G3T) at Parx, the only horse to do so. He has since won the Jaipur Invitational Stakes (G3T) and Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational Stakes, and he has run in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) three times, his best placing being third in 2016.
This year, Pure Sensation is 3-for-3. He scored an allowance optional claiming event April 12 at Gulfstream Park, then dug in to win the Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Stakes June 1 at Penn National Race Course despite being bumped at the break and down the stretch.
"He's a beautiful-looking horse. He's a big horse," Clement said. "When we ran him at Gulfstream this winter, Gulfstream checked the weight and I was told he was actually the third-heaviest horse to run at Gulfstream over the winter. He's a pretty imposing horse to look at. He's very good-looking, tall, and big.”
Pure Sensation is a third-generation homebred for Generazio, and Clement noted the breeding operation's success without mating with the biggest stallions, calling it "a great story."
The flashy gray is out of Pure Disco, a New Jersey-bred daughter of Disco Rico—V for Vera, by Concorde's Tune. Pure Disco won multiple stakes in New Jersey and also produced stakes winner Salute the Colonel, a 5-year-old Colonel John gelding who won the non-black-type Richard Henry Lee Stakes July 4 at Gulfstream.
Pure Sensation received a free entry back into this year’s Turf Monster, scheduled for Sept. 2, with his Parx Dash victory. Going for a fourth tally is a possible route after winning it in 2015, 2017, and 2018. Another shot at the Belmont Turf Sprint in October is also on the table.
Clement said if Pure Sensation does everything well, he and the Generazios will look at the Breeders' Cup again.
The Generazios also have the 7-year-old Disco Partner, another third-generation homebred, in training with Clement. Disco Partner and Pure Sensation are no strangers to each other on race day, and both are multiple graded stakes winners. The Troy Stakes (G3T) Aug. 3 at Saratoga could be next for Disco Partner, who was third in last year's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
Pure Sensation has a 13-5-6 record from 33 starts and $1,773,550 in earnings. As for the gelding's longevity, Clement said the connections let the horse tell them what he wants to do.
"I think the main key is just to listen to him, and as long as you listen to him, he’s been very fair and very good to us," Clement said. "And as long as we're good and fair to him, then he seems to be lasting."