Nose the Pose wins 2014 Hazel Wright Sire Stakes
by George
Nose the Pose shook off early pace pressure after a quarter mile and opened up to win the $25,000 Hazel Wright Sire Stakes by 2 3/4-lengths on a Saturday night at the Downs that also produced the longest priced winner of the meet at $87.70.
Nose the Pose dueled inside early in the Hazel Wright Sire Stakes, but after a reasonably slow first quarter of 23.40 she opened a short clear lead and slowed down the pace.
She got the half-mile in 47.80 with a length lead over second choice Smoke Show and opened up 2 1/2-lengths on that rival into the stretch after five-eighths in 1:01. Nose the Pose coasted home from there, winning by 2 3/4-lengths over a hard-trying Smoke Show. It was another 1 3/4-lengths back to third-place finisher Queen of Magic.
The final time for the six furlongs was a slow 1:14.40, which seemed rather odd based on the fast times of the other eight races on the card, but the early part of the race was slow and she probably had something left at the wire. The Hazel Wright was restricted to Manitoba-sired 3-year-old fillies. Only an open company test will tell how good Nose the Pose really is.
Ridden by Chris Husbands for the ownership team of Barry Arnason, Al Daley, Darrell Sundsbak and Cam Ziprick, Nose the Pose gave trainer Jim Meyaard his second stakes win in two nights. On Friday night Meyaard won the Frank Arnason Sire Stakes with Jet Again, also co-owned by Barry Arnason and Cam Ziprick.
The Hazel Wright Sire Stakes was the first stakes win for Nose the Pose and left her undefeated in three starts this year. The chestnut daughter of Going Commando-She is Impressive by Regal Classic has now earned $31,080 from a record of 3-0-0 in four starts. In her only start as a 2-year-old she finished fifth in a Maiden Special Weight.
Rival Smoke Show rightly changed her running style to come from off the pace for the Hazel Wright, rather than dueling as she did in her previous loss to Nose the Pose, but the pace was too slow and she couldn't gain in the drive. Still, she gave it a decent try, and the battle between these two may not quite be over yet. More entertainment to come when they stretch out.
Nose the Pose paid a paltry $2.40 to win as the heavy favourite, and capped off a three-race payoff spree of heavy chalk at $2.60, $2.30 and $2.40. Then the price horses started to roll. The winners of races 4-7 paid $5.80, $14.70, $17.50 and $7.90 to produce a $1 Pick-4 that paid $3,891.65 to a single winner. And we weren't done yet.
In the eighth race Chavion Chow booted home the longest-priced winner of the meeting, Alumni Queen ($87.70) for trainer Carl Anderson. Alumni Queen's win triggered the largest Triactor payout of the meet to date at $4,716.60 for a $2 ticket. The 20-cent Superfecta paid $2,188.30! Alumni Queen represented the second win of the meeting for the late-arriving Chow, who also brought in longshot Caporetto ($14.70) in the fifth race for trainer Brent Hyrmak.
Jockey Chris Husbands scored a hat trick with victories in the second, third and sixth races and trainer Shelley Brown won the fourth race to continue her long climb back up the ladder after an odd start in which her horses finished second or third 25 times.
The former leading trainer here now has four wins and as we've said before, her horses seem to get rolling as the meet progresses. A number of her future starters will be overlooked in the wagering and some good payoffs will be available to those who pay attention.
Watch closely.
Next Post Time for Live Racing: 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, 2014
