NEWS
General Quarters battles to Woodford Reserve Turf win
Posted: Saturday, May 01, 2010 7:03 PM
GENERAL QUARTERS (inside)
PhotosByZ.com/Thoroughbred Times
To view the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes, click here.
by Joe Nevills
One year after a disappointing tenth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), General Quarters earned redemption on Saturday with a hard-fought victory in the $553,100 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs.
“All of these fans and wonderful people that last year bet on him, and he didn’t do very well and got hurt,” owner and trainer Tom McCarthy said. “I hope this year they doubled their bets and came back.”
The four-year old Sky Mesa colt chased leader Wise River early, then settled into fourth behind a leisurely pace. Wise River took an unchallenged lead through the first turn and led the field through an opening half-mile in :50.95.
Wise River grudgingly surrendered the lead to the cavalry charge coming out of the final turn, with Court Vision gaining a head advantage over General Quarters in early stretch. The pair battled to the finish line, but General Quarters dug in to gain a neck advantage in the final strides under jockey Rafael Bejarano.
General Quarters covered 1 1/8 miles in 1.53.42 on turf rated as yielding at odds of 8.80-to-1.
Bejarano said his concern about the rain-soaked ground quickly dissipated.
“I was a little worried about it because it was a little soft, but as soon as I saw my horse warm up really good, I knew he was 100%,” he said. “He brought me a lot of confidence in the race.”
McCarthy credited jockey Robby Albarado, who had the mount on Court Vision in the Woodford Reserve, for the decision to move General Quarters to the turf.
“Robby Albarado told me he was a turf horse when we breezed him,” McCarthy said. “He put his finger right on it, then he got on another horse.”
Albarado confirmed the suggestion after losing the stretch duel.
“I did,” he said. “The best horse beat me.”
After the race, McCarthy said he plans to keep General Quarters on the grass for his summer campaign.
The victory was General Quarters’ fourth from 18 starts and boosted his career earnings to $1,090,620. It was his first victory since the 2009 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at Keeneland Race Course, a span of seven starts.
Bred in Kentucky by Mr. and Mrs. David R. Randall, General Quarters is out of the Unbridled’s Song mare Ecology.
Joe Nevills is a Thoroughbred Times contributing writer
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Robert, Louisville, KY on May 03, 2010 at 02:56 PM
I saw this race live and G.Q. would not let Court Vision go by him. This horse seems like a monster on the turf. We should not be surprised, he won the Blusgrass over the polytrack. I will be interested to see how he does next time out.
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