Lugan Knight (Goldencents) was not going to be denied as he matched strides down the lane with Arctic Arrogance (Frosted) in the $150,000 Jerome S. at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday afternoon. With 10-4-3-2-1 points available to the top 5 finishers on the Road to the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby, it was Lugan Knight's day to shine.
Sent off as the second choice at 7-2, the colt set front-end fractions of :23.41 at the quarter-mile marker and :47.70 for the half-mile, all as the favorite Arctic Arrogance dogged his track to the outside around the far turn. Entering the stretch, the pair left the rest of the field behind, and dueled gallantly towards the wire. With less than a furlong left to go, the homebred edged a head in front to win the day by a half a length.
After the race, trainer Michael McCarthy said, “I was happy with the way the horse broke. He found himself prominent early and it looked like around the turn he still had a little bit of run. I was not surprised to see how well he dug in down the lane. It looked like he was always just going a touch better than the other horse. You hate to say you're confident, but it always looked like he kept that horse at bay. Just a tough horse and a gutsy performance. I was glad to see he was able to get the mile.”
The Feb. 4 running of the $250,000 Grade III Withers S. with Derby qualifying points of 20-8-6-4-2 could be the next target for this colt. On that prospect, Lugan Knight's trainer said, “We'll see. I'll have to give Dylan a call and ask him what he thinks and go from there. A mile was a question mark for me but it looked like he passed that test today. We'll have to wait and see.”
Pedigree Notes:
Lugan Knight is part of a talented family that includes her second dam Roxy Gap (Indian Charlie), herself a MGSW in Canada, who produced GSW Cafe Americano (Medaglia d'Oro). The winner's dam Sly Roxy has a 2-year-old colt by Mendelssohn and most recently was bred back-to-back to Instagrand.
JEROME S., $150,000, Aqueduct, 1-7, 3yo, 1m, 1:37.77, gd.
1–LUGAN KNIGHT, 118, c, 3, by Goldencents
1st Dam: Sly Roxy, by Speightstown
2nd Dam: Roxy Gap, by Indian Charlie
3rd Dam: Harts Gap, by Saint Ballado
1ST BLACK TYPE WIN. O/B-BG Stables (KY); T-Michael W.
McCarthy; J-Dylan Davis. $82,500. Lifetime Record: 4-2-1-1,
$175,775.
2–Arctic Arrogance, 120, c, 3, Frosted–Modest Maven, by Uncle
Mo. O/B-Chester Broman & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Linda
Rice. $30,000.
3–General Banker, 120, c, 3, Central Banker–Elusive Jozi, by
Johannesburg. O/B-Seacoast Thoroughbreds of New England
(NY); T-James W. Ferraro. $18,000.
Margins: HF, 7, 1 3/4. Odds: 3.55, 1.35, 7.40.
Also Ran: Neural Network, Andiamo a Firenze, Narciso Dali, Valenzan Day. Scratched: Circling the Drain. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
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