New York Stakes 2011 – Giants Play wins at Belmont Park under Rajiv Maragh, First US victory
The much anticipated duel between Giants Play and Hibaayeb resulted in Giants Play championing the Grade 1 New York Stakes. The race has a purse of $150,000 and it was held on the turf surface of Belmont Park.
Rajiv Maragh’s tactical brilliance may have led Giants Play to romp the other seven contenders that had gathered on June 25, 2011.
One ponders as to what was Maragh’s tactical brilliance? The answer to this query is that he managed the pace of the Giants Play in such a way that he was able to dominate the others. The tempo set by Giants Play also earned the bay filly her first ever
win in the United States.
The 4-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway was bred in Kentucky by Swettenham Stud. She made eleven starts, and, was victorious for the second time.
Before scoring a win in the New York Stakes, Giants Play sole win came in September 2010 on the Kempton poly-track. Giants Play is out of the mare Playful Act and up till now her earnings are a total of $155, 949. She was bought from Keeneland in September
2008 in a yearling sale purchase for $850,000.
The Newsells Park Stud four year old bay filly posted fractions of 26.54 seconds and 52.99 seconds holding off the 7-5 favorite, Hibaayeb, who only managed to charge up in the quarter mile but could not stand up to the pressure of Giants Play and gave up.
Giants Play was sent in as the 7-2 favourite for the New York Stakes.
When Giant’s Play managed to wither out Hibaayeb, the only danger lurking was from Zagora. The Christophe Clement trained never faltered and maintained a 1 ½ length advantage at the top of the stretch and held off Zagora in the final yards.
It was the first start for Giants Play after she stood runner-up to Hibaayeb in the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay held on May 29, 2011. Rajiv Maragh commented on the filly’s performance by saying “She was a lot more relaxed today and it helped me do my job better,
I felt like we were going slow, but my main thing was to try to get her to settle. It was the key to getting the best out of her, so that’s what I did. I wasn’t worried about the fractions at all”.
Rajiv also said that Clement did a great job with the filly and she was real relaxed today. Clement placed a net over her nose prior to the New York Stakes and apparently the gesture really helped her calm down.
Clement was happy with the filly expressed her joy by saying “She’s done it. Where do we go next? I don’t have a clue. Let’s enjoy it. It is a big deal. It’s an amazing pedigree, and she’s obviously a very valuable mare”.
The future looks promising for the Giants Play.
Tags: