Monday, March 4, 2019 |
Soldado got bounced around leaving the gate and endured an eventful trip to finish 3rd beaten 5 lengths in a N1X allowance race for three-year-olds, going 1 mile on the dirt at Gulfstream Park yesterday afternoon VIDEO
Breaking from post position 2 of 8 under Luis Saez, Soldado took the worst of a solid bump between Borracho (1) and Mr. Ankeny (3) losing any chance at a favorable early position. Racing down the backstretch behind a wall of horses, Soldado chased the pace with Borracho to his inside through an opening quarter mile in :23.77. Taking a fair amount of kickback with nowhere to go, Saez angled Soldado outside horses racing around the far turn.
Launching a bid 4-5 wide after 1/2 mile in :46.27, Saez and Soldado ranged up into contention at the top of the stretch and couldn't sustain the long drive through the final panel while the winner Final Jeopardy (6) wandered out into Soldado's path mid-stretch without impeding. Final Jeopardy finished clear of a ground saving Borracho by 3 3/4 lengths in final time of 1:35.97 CHART