Despite a rainy week at Hawthorne that saw Friday's races taken off the turf as well as a portion of the Saturday races, The Pizza Man Stakes remained on the turf course and produced a thriller. The $75,000 race for Illinois-bred turf runners was contested at 1 1/16 miles over a course listed as yielding as all seven entrants stayed in to run.
Following the Illini Princess Stakes the week prior, which was won by Chris Block trained Trail Ridge Road, Block was looking for back to back weekends of stakes wins at Hawthorne as Another Mystery was sent off as the 3-5 favorite in The Pizza Man.
A tightly bunched field raced through the opening turn as Readthecliffnotes was pushed through a quick opening quarter of :23.59 by Power Through and Temper Tantrum. Richiesgotgame sat just off the early pace while Another Mystery settled at the rear of the field, only four lengths off the lead. After backing down the pace a bit to pass the half in :48.09 and three quarters in 1:12.22, the field stacked up to challenge Readthecliffnotes at the top of stretch. Mid-stretch, Readthecliffnotes was all out to hold on as Temper Tantrum and Power Through kept things tight upfront. Just behind the leaders, both Jareth Loveberry and Richiesgotgame, along with Orlando Mojica aboard Another Mystery, desperately looked for racing room.
Late in the lane a small hole opened as Loveberry pushed Richiesgotgame through. Mojica waited and angled Another Mystery out late but Richiesgotgame got the jump and held off Another Mystery to win by a head. Another Mystery was a neck in front of a game Readthecliffnotes. The final time for the 1 1/16 miles was 1:42.63.
Owned by Patricia's Hope LLC and Richard Ravin and trained by Larry Rivelli, Richiesgotgame returned $10.00, $3.20 and $2.60. Another Mystery came back $2.10 and $2.10, while Readthecliffnotes returned $5.20 to show. The win in The Pizza Man Stakes was the second stakes victory for Richiesgotgame and seventh lifetime win from 19 starts. He earned $45,000 for the win, boosting his lifetime earnings to $292,144.
This Saturday, Illinois-bred female sprinters take to the main track in the 6 ½ furlong Powerless Stakes. A field of seven has been entered as Chris Block once again sends out the likely favorite. Owned and bred by Richard Perkins, Oeuvre is the 8-5 morning line choice in the Powerless. A winner of six of 12 lifetime starts, Oeuvre has never been worse than second in seven starts at Hawthorne. Breaking her maiden over the track by 12 lengths as a two-year-old, Oeuvre was second to Purr Sea in a pair of juvenile stakes at Hawthorne to close out 2021. Away from the track for six months, Ouevre returned in May to easily defeat state-bred allowance runners on May 15 and did so again on June 11. Oeuvre showed her versatility in June 24, moving to the turf and taking an open turf sprint to close out the spring Hawthorne season. Following a win at Colonial, Ouevre battled to a solid third-place finish in the $500,000 Music City at Kentucky Downs on September 13. She comes into the Powerless off another strong open allowance win at Hawthorne on October 2.
The top threat to Oeuvre in the Powerless is Purr Sea from the barn of trainer Michele Boyce. After breaking her maiden at first asking last summer, Purr Sea ran a game third in the Arlington Washington Lassie last August. She got the best of Oeuvre twice last fall at Hawthorne, defeating her in the Showtime Deb and the Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante. Much like Oeuvre, Purr Sea took six months away from the races before returning at Horseshoe Indianapolis in May. Grabbing a victory and pair of runner-up efforts in five starts in Indiana, Purr Sea comes into the Powerless off a strong victory against open allowance runners at Hawthorne on October 8.
The field for the Powerless Stakes:
PP Horse Jockey Trainer M/L
1 Go Madi Go V. Santiago L. Plasters 20-1
2 Purr Sea E. Esquivel M. Boyce 5-2
3 Dancin at Midnight E.T. Baird S. Manley 9-2
4 Oeuvre
5 White Lies A. Quinonez P. Miller 6-1
6 Iggy Bigs
7 Stopshoppingamy J. Tavares A. Hernandez 10-1
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