Nowhere to go in the stretch for Sky Blazer in the Fort Lauderdale
Trainer Barclay Tagg is still disappointed about the unlucky trip his 5-year-old gelding, Sky Blazer, had in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale Stakes at Gulfstream Park on 12 January, 2013.
According to his trainer, Sky Blazer has bags of talent, but he gets himself into trouble every now and then, and finishes way short of his potential. In the Fort Lauderdale Stakes, Sky Blazer finished eighth behind the long shot winner, Mucho Mas Mucho.
Under jockey Joel Rosario, who was riding the son of Sky Mesa for the first time, had to check numerous times in the 1 1/16 mile test through the stretch near the inside, and it made to a frustrating race for his connections, who are fully aware of their
gelding’s skill.
“The horse has a ton of talent, he just gets himself into trouble and things go wrong for him, which is a shame because he’s such a nice horse and the owners are such nice people,” said Tagg. “He also ran well in the Bernard Baruch this summer at Saratoga
after breaking poorly. He does have a tendency to get a little too far back in his races, but he actually was in a pretty good spot the other day. They were all in really tight coming down the stretch. Everybody was just bunched and stacked right in front
of him on the rail, and he had nowhere to go. It just didn’t look like he had any chance to get out at all.”
Joyce Young and Gerald McManis’ Sky Blazer previously ran in October last year in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker Stakes over Belmont Park’s turf course, and over 1 1/8 miles he finished sixth to winner Boisterous.
His long awaited placed finish in a graded stakes race was at Saratoga in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap, where he managed a third place finish in the 1 1/16 mile event.
In the Fort Lauderdale Stakes, Sky Blazer had too much traffic to contend with, and everybody was bunched and stacked in front of him, which make things really difficult for him in the stretch, as he became victim of a tough trip at Gulfstream Park.
Last year, Sky Blazer won an optional claimer here at Gulfstream Park , but this time was beaten four lengths after a troubled trip in the Fort Lauderdale Stakes.
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