Chub Wagon Maintains Her Winning Ways In Plum Pretty At Parx

Daniel Lopez and George Chestnut's Club Wagon answered the two-turn test successfully as she held off a late run from Vault to take the $200,000 Plum Pretty Stakes for Pennsylvania-bred filly and mares at Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn.

Starting from the sixth post position, Chub Wagon stalked pacesetter Precious from the outside through fractions of :24 3/5, :48 4/5, and 1:12 3/5 before taking the lead halfway around the far turn to come away with a half-length victory under regular jockey Jomar Torres.

“We told the kid [Jomar Torres] when you come at the top of the stretch, try as best as you can because the top horses are going to be closing,” trainer Guadalupe Preciado said “I was not worried about the horse going long. She ran very hard.”

Chub Wagon, who paid $4.20 to win as the favorite, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:44 4/5. The 4-year-old filly also survived a trainer inquiry as she drifted out as she and Vault approached the finish line.

“Good trip first time for her first time long,” Torres said “She was relaxed and nice. She got a little tired I love that horse. I think she got out a little, but not too much. I didn't think she would come down.”

Chub Wagon, whose lone defeat came in the Dr. Teresa Garofalo Memorial Stakes with a second-place finish, has now won 10-11 races.

 

QUOTES

Guadalupe Preciado, winning trainer of Chub Wagon (No. 6, $4.20): “We told the kid when you come at the top of the stretch, try as best as you can because the top horses are going to be closing. I was not worried about the horse going long. She ran very hard. We run her so close. I believe in Lasix. We were supposed to run in New York at 6 ½ furlongs (Gallant Bloom on Sunday)} but there is no Lasix.”

“She is very, very nice. We run too close too many times, it was maybe two weeks and she ran a huge race.”

About the Distance: “It's hard to figure out. When she ran seven eighths against these horses, she kept on going. I thought this horse can go. It was two choices, we run over here long or run in NY with no Lasix and we stayed here.”

WORRIED ABOUT INQUIRY: No. the other kid never stopped riding.

Jomar Torres, winning jockey aboard Chub Wagon (No. 6): “Good trip for her first time and her first time long. She was relaxed and nice. She got a little tired. I love that horse. I think she got out a little, but not too much. I didn't think she would come down.”

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Life Is Good Gets Easy Win In Kelso At Belmont Park

On the heels of his first career defeat in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens at Saratoga, Life Is Good had no trouble finding the winner's circle again in the Grade 2 Kelso Handicap at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y.

Going off as the overwhelming favorite in the short field of four, Life Is Good broke fastest from the gate, going out to a one-length lead over Chance It in the race's opening strides. On the Belmont backstretch, the favorite ran easily on the front, with second-choice Chance It stalking, but, midway down the backstretch, Manny Franco on Chance It pulled up, leaving the race with three horses to complete the contest.

It was no contest from gate to wire for Life Is Good. On the far turn, he drifted out a bit from the rail, but had no trouble straightening out to hold off Fort Peck and Doubly Blessed in the stretch. Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. asked the favorite to kick away early, putting five lengths between him and the rest of the field before wrapping up on Life Is Good and finishing 5 1/2 lengths in front at the wire.

The final time for the one-mile G2 Kelso Handicap was 1:34.37. Find this race's chart here.

Life Is Good paid $2.10 and $2.10. Fort Peck paid $6.10.

“He's been training super and we were looking forward to getting him going again. I thought he was very impressive,” trainer Todd Pletcher said after the Kelso. “I left it in Irad's [Ortiz, Jr.] hands. We weren't going to send him away from there, but it looked on paper like he was the main speed. What we were focused on was getting him to settle a little bit, stay on the rail and relax. I thought he did that beautifully today.”

“He's a nice horse. He went fast and he kept going. He did everything smooth and easy,” Ortiz, Jr. told the NYRA Press Office after the race. “As soon as I asked him, he took off. He responded really well.”

Owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farms and trained by Todd Pletcher, Life Is Good is a 3-year-old colt by Into Mischief out of the Distorted Humor mare Beach Walk. Bred by Gary and Mary West Stables, he was purchased by China Horse Club and Maverick Racing from Paramount Sales for $525,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. With his Kelso victory, Life Is Good has four wins in five starts lifetime.

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Quinonez, Run Slewpy Run Combine For Another Win At Remington Park

Owner Mike Jones of Bristow, Okla., and trainer Jesse Oberlander have figured out the key to Run Slewpy Run winning races and it worked again Friday night in the $70,000 Bob Barry Memorial Stakes.

The key is jockey Luis Quinonez.

“Yeah, I've only ridden her three times and I've won all three,” said Quinonez, with a laugh after the 3-year-old filly powered home gate to wire in this 7-1/2 furlongs race on the turf at 5-2 odds.

Run Slewpy Run gave Jones his second win in the past three years in this race, also taking home the trophy in 2019 with Alternative Slew. Randy Oberlander, Jesse's dad, trained that one to the win and Iram Diego rode her.

Run Slewpy Run is a half-sister to Alternative Slew. They both loved the grass and the reason Oberlander and Jones trusted this one to run big in this spot. Both of those turf stakes-winning fillies had Imadancingslew for a dam (mother). She passed away on June 2, 2019. The most amazing stat concerning these two stakes winners is that they show up as Imadancingslew's first two foals. She only had one other, Dancing Devil, who is now a 2-year-old gelding. He has had one start, finishing sixth in a maiden race at Remington.

This 3-year-old filly by Den's Legacy, out of the dam whose sire was Evansville Slew, earned $42,000 for the victory and now has raced eight times with three wins and two seconds for $110,631 in her bankroll. Run Slewpy Run is two-for-two on the turf, winning an allowance race with Quinonez up on Sept. 2 here going the same distance as Friday night. Quinonez's third win in the irons came on Dec. 3, 2020, with Oklahoma-bred 2-year-old fillies, sprinting 6 furlongs on the dirt.

“She broke alert and felt comfortable,” said Quinonez. “She really kicked it on in the stretch when I asked her for what she had left.”

Jesse Oberlander said she likes the turf and she will continue on that surface in the future.

Run Slewpy Run and Machos Vision vied for the early lead and the former took over on the far turn and the latter faded to last. Quinonez let out a notch at the top of the stretch and the lead grew to 1-1/2 lengths before she drew away to win by three lengths. Country Daisy, the 2-1 wagering favorite, came rolling from mid-pack to get up for second, a neck ahead of She's All Wolfe (3-1). Run Slewpy Run paid $7.40 to win, $3.80 to place, and $2.60 to show. She finished in a time of 1:29.21 over the firm going. The early fractions were :24.05 for the first quarter-mile, :48.11 for the half-mile, and then 1:11.89 for three-quarters of a mile. She is a homebred horse by her owner.

The Bob Barry Memorial is named in honor of legendary sports broadcasters Bob Barry, Sr. and Bob Barry Jr. Between the father and son, they covered over 60 years of sports in Oklahoma, winning numerous sportscaster of the year awards.

Run Slewpy Run won the final race of the evening at Remington Park. She completed the Sooner 6ix mandatory payout wager, races 4-9. Those with tickets holding six consecutive winners were paid $5,206.78 each from a betting pool of $151,448 that was coupled with a carryover pool of $46,974.58. The odds for the winning horses in the combination were 7-2, 4-1, 5-2, 3-1, 2-1, and 5-2.

Racing continues this week with a Saturday-Sunday schedule. It's the only Sunday race day of the meet, serving as Oklahoma Derby Day. Post time is 3 p.m. on Sept. 26, while Saturday night begins at 7:07 p.m. All times are Central.

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Quality Rocket Repeats In Red Earth Stakes At Remington

Quality Rocket won his second consecutive $70,000 Red Earth Stakes at 7-1/2 furlongs on the turf Friday night at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, Okla. If not for a late runner two years ago, it would have been his third consecutive win in this race.

In that 2019 race, a huge longshot, Timely Reply chased down Quality Rocket in the stretch after the near three-time winner had a two-length lead coming for home in that race. Quality Rocket lost by a neck in that one, but has been perfect in the Red Earth Stakes since. The 7-year-old gelding by Backstabber, out of the King of Scat mare Lady Cambridge, won last year by 4-1/4 lengths with Garrett Steinberg up.

Quality Rocket passed the 9-5 wagering favorite Quarky on Friday night in the stretch to get up by one length with Ramon Vazquez in the saddle for trainer Boyd “Jo-be” Caster.

“He loves to be a racehorse,” said Caster. “and he gets better with age. He's like, 'Line 'em up and let me run.'”

Run, he did. He covered the distance in 1:28.45 over the firm turf, faster than his 1:28.64 that he won in last year. Quality Rocket actually ran even faster when he finished second by a neck. The winner two years ago, Timely Reply, finished in 1:27.69. It was Caster's second win in this stakes race and Vazquez's first. Last year, Quality Rocket won for owner Gerald Ball, who passed away between that race and this one. The gelding is now in the hands of Jeremy D. Ball, Gerald's son, of Shawnee, Okla.

“Yeah, we lost Gerald last year; I'm sure he was watching tonight,” Caster said. “Quality Rocket sure does like the grass. His daddy (Backstabber) did, too. He passed it on to his son.”

Quality Rocket, bred in Oklahoma by Gerald and Oteka Ann Ball, earned $42,000 for the victory and improved his lifetime record to 35 starts, 11 wins, nine seconds, and one third for $409,006 in his bankroll. His turf record is seven starts, three wins, and one second for $181,280. This horse has been versatile for Caster as well. He has won back-to-back $45,000 Route 66 stakes at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., the past two years, at 6-1/2 furlongs on the dirt of a half-mile bullring there. In this year's Route 66 he finished 4-1/2 lengths ahead of Welder, a sprinting Oklahoma-bred millionaire.

Quality Rocket followed up his win in the Red Earth here last year with a victory in the $130,000 Oklahoma Classics Turf, stretching out to 1-1/16th miles on the grass. Caster said he would likely go in that race again this year, scheduled for Oct. 15.

“Jo-Be just told me not to fight him and let him get comfortable,” said Vazquez. “I had my doubts, yes, about getting past that 2-horse. I was just waiting for my moment and my horse didn't quit.”

Quality Rocket (5-2) returned $7.20 to win, $3.80 to place, and $3.20 to show. Tommyhawk was third at 15-1 odds, 1-3/4 lengths behind the runner-up. The early fractions in the race were :23.22 for the first quarter-mile, :46.62 for the half-mile, and 1:10.48 for three-quarters of a mile.

Racing continues this week with a Saturday-Sunday schedule. It's the only Sunday race day of the meet, serving as Oklahoma Derby Day. Post time is 3 p.m. on Sept. 26, while Saturday night begins at 7:07 p.m.

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