NEWS
Smokey Fire prevails in Play the King
Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010 7:20 PM
SMOKEY FIRE (outside) GETS UP TO WIN AT WOODBINE
Michael Burns/WEG photo
To view a video replay of the Play the King Stakes, click here.
by Patrick Reed
Jim Dandy Stable’s graded stakes winner Smokey Fire rallied three wide through Woodbine’s stretch under Jono Jones to overtake Jungle Wave and Fatal Bullet and score a neck win in the $213,628 Play the King Stakes (Can-G2) on Sunday.
Jones executed a well-timed ride aboard Smokey Fire, who tracked pacesetter Fatal Bullet and Jungle Wave through the far turn of the seven-furlong race before closing resolutely in the final yards for a hard-fought victory against tough competition. The five-year-old Smoke Glacken gelding covered the distance in 1:20.83 on firm turf.
Smokey Fire’s trainer, Sid Attard, enjoyed a one-two finish on Sunday as Jungle Wave, last year’s Play the King winner, held off game 2008 Canadian Horse of the Year and champion sprinter Fatal Bullet by another neck for second. Attard also trains Grade 2 winner and 5-to-2 favorite Signature Red, who finished a non-threatening fifth.
Following the race, Jones credited Jungle Wave’s jockey Patrick Husbands for applying constant pressure to Fatal Bullet through the turn, which set up his own mount’s closing kick.
“I was happy to see Patrick put pressure on Fatal Bullet or I would have had to do it,” Jones said. “Sid told me to stalk with this horse so I didn’t want to disobey him. If Patrick hadn’t pressed Fatal Bullet, we would have been in trouble, I think.
“It worked out perfect for me after that. This horse knows where the wire is—he was determined to win.”
Smokey Fire entered the Play the King off of a last-place finish in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on August 8. Prior to that, he defeated a strong field, including Fatal Bullet, in the Bold Venture Stakes at Woodbine on July 17.
The gelding, who began his racing career in 2009 as a four-year-old, improved his overall record to six wins in 11 starts and $497,217 in earnings. Bred in Ontario by Mel Lawson, he is out of the unplaced Housebuster mare Destroy and is a full brother to stakes winner Utterly Cool. Smokey Fire’s second dam is multiple Canadian champion Eternal Search.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Patrick Reed is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
