NEWS
Vow to Wager earns Battaglia win via DQ
Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010 8:15 PM
VOW TO WAGER
Pat Lang Photo
To view the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, click here.
by Patrick Reed
Maiden winner and 23.30-to-1 longshot Vow to Wager won a physical edition of the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes on Saturday at Turfway Park after first-place finisher Codoy was disqualified and placed second for interference in deep stretch.
Ridden by John McKee, Vow to Wager closed resolutely to challenge Codoy in the final sixteenth but lost momentum after Codoy drifted in through the closing strides.
McKee’s objection against Grade 3-placed Codoy and jockey Sal Gonzalez Jr. was upheld, giving Vow to Wager his first stakes victory in the Battaglia, Turfway’s traditional prep race for the Lane’s End Stakes (G2) on March 27.
WEBN Stakes winner Kera’s Kitten, sent off as the 1.30-to-1 favorite, led the Battaglia’s eight-horse field through an opening half-mile in :47:79 with constant pressure from Indiana-bred stakes winner Lucky Chuck. The two front-runners dueled into the far turn as 3.60-to-1 second betting choice Codoy, making his first start since a 12th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G2) in November, commenced his rally from last.
As the field entered the stretch, Lucky Chuck bore out badly, carrying Kera’s Kitten and three other horses well out into the center of the track. Codoy then accelerated through an inside gap to take the lead but added to the chaos by drifting in approaching the finish line.
Gonzalez lost his whip with three-sixteenths of a mile remaining and had to hand ride Codoy in the late stages as he bested Vow to Wager by one length. Codoy covered 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.94 on the synthetic Polytrack surface but disqualification by the Turfway Park stewards cost Codoy his first stakes win.
Vow to Wager finished willingly despite also bumping several times in the stretch with In the Paint. Vow to Wager held off that foe by three-quarters of a length. Kera’s Kitten stopped after he was bumped hard by Lucky Chuck and finished last.
Vow to Wager, a three-year-old Broken Vow colt trained by Dale Romans, earned his first career victory in a one-mile race at Turfway on January 31 after failing to win in three starts at two. Owned by Donegal Racing and bred in Kentucky by Dixiana Stables, Vow to Wager is the first winner out of the stakes-winning Valid Wager mare Wage a Penny. He boosted his career earnings to $74,024 with Saturday’s win.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Patrick Reed is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
