NEWS
Smokey Fire stays hot in Kennedy Road
Posted: Saturday, November 21, 2009 6:40 PM
SMOKEY FIRE
Michael Burns photo
To view the Kennedy Road Stakes, click here.
by Ron Parker
Jim Dandy Stable’s Smokey Fire made his first start in stakes company a memorable one on Saturday as he came charging between horses to win the $159,787 Kennedy Road Stakes (Can-G3) at Woodbine.
The four-year-old Smoke Glacken gelding, ridden by jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson, settled just behind the leaders as Home for Harlan set a rapid early pace of :22.39 in the six-furlong contest over Woodbine’s synthetic Polytrack surface.
The pace took its toll on the front-runner, who weakened in the turn when challenged by Signature Red and faded to last in the nine-horse field as Smokey Fire emerged between rivals to seize the lead. Under right-handed urging by Wilson, he edged clear to win by three-quarters of a length, crossing the finish line in 1:08.49 on a fast track.
Field Commission closed for second, 1¼ lengths in front of Signature Red.
“It couldn’t have worked out any better,” Wilson said. “He’s an impressive horse to look at and he’s just as impressive to sit on. [Trainer Sid Attard] said ‘Let him run his own race.’ I was able to sit on the outside and stay comfortable. When we started cruising up beside Signature Red around the top of the lane and I was still under a hold, I had a pretty good smile on my face.”
Smokey Fire previously had been ridden in all of his races by jockey Chantal Sutherland, who also had been the regular jockey on Kennedy Road entrant You Don’t Pass. Wilson picked up the mount on Smokey Fire when Sutherland chose to ride You Don’t Pass, who was scratched from the original field of ten.
Bred in Ontario by Mel C. Lawson, Smokey Fire won for the fourth time from eight starts and boosted his earnings to $250,359.
Out of the Housebuster mare Destroy, Smokey Fire is a full brother to stakes winners Ghost Fleet and Utterly Cool.
“He’s on his way to Kentucky on Tuesday,” Attard said. “That’s it for him this year. We’re hoping he’s going to be a nice horse next year.”
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Ron Parker is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
