Churchill Downs Stephen Foster Handicap 2011 - Pool Play pulls off stunning victory, Mark Casse delighted
Churchill Downs saw Pool Play provide his trainer, Mark Casse, his second ever Grade One win when he landed the Stephen Foster Handicap.
18 June 2011 has to be the most historical day at Churchill Downs because of Pool Play’s unexpected win, in a race where he was given 36 to 1 odds to win.
The longest of long shots surprised everyone with his come from behind win. He ran with magnificent speed out classing all the horses’ even Mission Impazible, who thought he had won the race, but Pool Play had something to say about it, and stuck his neck out, pushing his own limits, and, won the Grade One Stephen Foster Handicap.
It was Pool Play’s debut on dirt and he was making his 28th start. Pool Play has run on Polytrack almost his entire career and on 18 June he made Churchill Downs dirt his own by providing a thrilling spectacle to all, who were present by ending the race in a dramatic win, when he beat Mission Impazible by just a neck.
The 6 year old son of Silver Deputy made it look as if he was made to run on dirt when given a chance by trainer, Mark Casse, to prove his mettle and he ceased the moment when the opportunity beckoned, and, grabbed a career changing victory.
The track was 1 1/8 mile long and Pool Play completed the run in 1 minute and 50.52 seconds leaving trainer Mark Casse ecstatic.
Definitely when it all kicked off and the break was made it was Mission Impazible, who looked mighty fine, with his impressive pace and in an instant became the horse to beat. Breezing past Duke of Mischief he straight away looked in contention to grab the Grade One Stephen Foster Handicap.
Tailing both of them was Apart, who was looking for an opening down the rail, or, on the outside to break free from the two horses duelling it out for the finish line.
All remained the same and not much changed in terms of position until the final turn, which proved to be crucial, given the muddy conditions, and, the track was all wet. Jockeys had to pull off a brief turn around the corner to give away minimum time and less space for any horse to take advantage of a slight mistake.
Duke of Mischief galloped his heart out to take a slight lead but on the sixteenth pole, Mission Impazible gained the lead back and looked to have sealed the race. While all this was going down, all horses were unaware of Pool Play, who was ready for a last dance with Mission Imapazible, and screamed past everyone at the middle of the race track to cause a massive upset win.
It was Marke Casse’s first major win and of much significance since it was in his hometown, Louisville.
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