Barbadian trainer Saffie Joseph Jr continued to win despite his recent off-track troubles, when his 3-1 chance Max KO produced a flying late run to beat stablemate Saratoga Flash and win the US$100 000 Mr Steele Stakes at Gulfstream Park here Sunday.
The two were neck-and-neck in a heated stretch duel in the day’s feature on the nine-race programme, before the seven-year-old dark bay won on the head bob at the wire in a time of one minute, 42.51 seconds.
Pre-race favourite Me and Mr. C finished a disappointing third after never really challenging throughout the mile and sixteenth trip for three-year-olds and upward.
Fredo, the longest shot in the field at 35-1, stormed to the front to set the early pace, dragging the field through splits of 24.54 seconds for the quarter and 48.38 for the half mile.
Saratoga Flash stalked from second, with Grand David, Value Proposition and Me and Mr C all in touch, and jockey Edwin Gonzalez keeping the veteran Max KO at the back of the field.
With a half-mile left to run, 4-5 bet Saratoga Flash moved up to take the lead and led into the final stretch, with Max KO now in hot pursuit on the outside and Fredo hanging around on the inside.
Saratoga Flash, with Leonel Reyes in the irons, showed plenty of fight and looked to be staying well until a final late surge took Max KO to the wire first.
The 34-year-old Joseph leads the current meet with 18 wins, three clear of nearest challenger Jose Francisco D’Angelo. (CMC) ]]>
