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Pegasus Turf Contender? Social Paranoia Scores Off The Layoff For Pletcher

The Elkstone Group LLC's Social Paranoia distinguished himself as a serious candidate for the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1), scheduled for Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park, with a gutsy triumph in Wednesday's feature race at the Hallandale Beach, Fla. track.

The 4-year-old son of Street Boss, sent to post at the even-money favorite in a field of nine, came off a five-month layoff to score a hard-fought half-length victory in the 7 ½-furlong optional claiming allowance on turf.

“It's always nice to have a win off a layoff like that. He came back and we got a quality win out of him. We were hoping for a good effort,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “We'll see how he comes out of it and maybe keep an eye on the Pegasus Turf.”

Social Paranoia joined Pletcher trained Largent, the winner of last Saturday's Fort Lauderdale (G2) at Gulfstream, on the list of Pegasus Turf candidates. He ran 7 ½ furlongs over a firm course in 1:27.48.

Social Paranoia rated off the early pace before making a five-wide sweep on the turn into the homestretch, outkicking Olympic Runner to the wire while galloping out strongly under Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Wednesday's victory was Social Paranoia's third in four starts over the Gulfstream turf. He broke his maiden by eight lengths in May 2019 and won the Appleton (G3) last March over the grass course.

“It feels great. Todd did a great job getting him ready, but he's won on the layoff before, so I was very confident in Todd,” said The Elkstone Group's Stuart Grant. “We're very excited. As you know we have our eye on late January back here and I think he showed that he deserved a spot there. This is his third win out of four [on Gulfstream turf].”

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Russian Influence Dominates Miss Indiana Stakes

All she needed was a little more time to shine, and that's exactly what she did. Russian Influence and Marcelino Pedroza scored the win in the 23rd running of the $75,000 Miss Indiana Stakes Tuesday, Nov. 17 at Indiana Grand. The race, which began at Hoosier Park in 1998, was the first 2-year-old pari-mutuel stakes race in the state and transferred to Indiana Grand when the program went to one breed, one track in 2013.

Russian Influence broke sharply and could have been a contender early, but Pedroza grabbed the reins and opted to settle in behind the field in next to last place. A herd of horses shot to the lead. America Rules and Tommy Pompell were the first to claim the top spot on the inside but were tracked closely by Hungarian Princess and Sammy Bermudez to their outside. Big If True and Eddie Perez were a lane further out. Horses were stacked three-wide through the first seven spots down the backstretch.

Pedroza began to move Russian Influence forward heading into the final turn of the one mile, 70-yard event, but ran into traffic trouble midway through the turn and was delayed a few strides. However, room opened up soon after and he was able to shoot through horses and was among the top three heading into the lane.

In the stretch, Russian Influence took over and sped out to the top spot, rallying home for the win by two and three-quarter lengths in a time of 1:45.88. Hungarian Princess held off Timeless Glory and Geena Lucille to finish second.

“I got on this filly after the last time she ran and really liked her and it gave me the opportunity to know what to recognize from her,” said Pedroza. “She just needed distance. She broke sharp but the plan for the race worked out perfectly. We let the speed go and at the 5/16ths, I was looking for a way to get through. Once we got through, I had a lot of horse left.”

It was the second win in three starts for Russian Influence and her first appearance in stakes action. She was purchased as a yearling at the Keeneland January All Ages Sale in 2019 for $120,000 by owner Stuart Grant of The Elkstone Group. He instantly liked what he saw.

“Stuart (Grant) texted me after the sale and told me he just bought the next Lady Fog Horn,” said trainer Tony Granitz, who campaigned two-time Indiana Horse of the Year Lady Fog Horn to more than $825,000 in earnings. “I told him those were big shoes to fill. We had to wait quite a while before we got her, but to this point, she's done everything right. We took the blinkers off of her tonight and it worked out great. We've been waiting for two turns.”

It was the first time Pedroza had been aboard Russian Influence in a race, but he was familiar with the Into Mischief Indiana bred filly from the mornings. With Andres Ulloa riding two of three entrants entered in the Miss Indiana Stakes for Granitz, he had to find a new pilot for Russian Influence.

“Andres (Ulloa) had just won on Taperinea so I told him we'd leave him on her and get someone for this filly (Russian Influence),” said Granitz. “We worked Russian Influence and Taperinea together last week and Marcelino came over and breezed her. It can be stressful having three in one race, but all three ran well today. I thought Timeless Glory ran really well to finish third. It's been a great year for all of our 2-year-olds.”

Russian Influence completes her two-year-old campaign with more than $70,000 in earnings in just three starts. The filly was bred by Deann and Dr. Greg Baer of Columbus, Ind.

For Pedroza, it was his third win on the program. The Panamanian jockey recently returned to riding after a three-month layoff due to an injury. In only two months of action, Pedroza has earned a spot among the track's top six riders and has accumulated more than $1 million in purses in the process.

The final two days of racing in 2020 are set for Wednesday, Nov. 18 and Thursday, Nov. 19 with a 2:05 p.m. start time. The Wednesday program offers the final two Thoroughbred stakes races of the year with the 23rd running of the $100,000 To Much Coffee Stakes and the 24th running of the $100,000 Frances Slocum Stakes for older Indiana breds on the program. The afternoon card will also feature a $115,522.76 carryover in the Straight Fire 6 Jackpot Pick 6, which begins in Race 2.

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Honor Roll Presented By The Runhappy Meet At Kentucky Downs: Social Paranoia’s Road From The Sale Ring To The Dueling Grounds Derby

Joe Seitz remembers $75,000 being a “fair price” when the now 4-year-old Social Paranoia sold as part of the Brookdale Sales consignment at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July Yearling Sale in 2017.

Street Boss, the colt's sire, was standing for $10,000 live foal at Darley when Social Paranoia was conceived, so 7.5 times the stud fee was a profitable multiple for his breeders, Mineola Farm and Silent Grove Farm.

Social Paranoia's buyer and current owner, Stuart Grant's The Elkstone Group, has enjoyed an even higher multiple off the purchase price. After 15 career starts for trainer Todd Pletcher, Social Paranoia has earned $929,710, more than one-third of that coming from his 2019 victory at Kentucky Downs in the $600,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Derby.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Social Paranoia raced closed to the lead on the European-style turf layout at Kentucky Downs, moved to the lead inside the furlong pole and edged clear late to win by a half-length. His time of 2:08.50 for 1 5/16 miles established a new course record.

“I remember him clearly when he was at Fasig-Tipton,” Seitz said recently. “He was very popular, an awesome sale horse. We got $75,000, which was a fine price, but I had hoped he would do more.

“Fortunately, he got in the right hands, with Stuart Grant and Todd Pletcher.”

Slow to leave the maiden ranks (though he was third in the Grade 3 Pilgrim in the last of five starts at two), Social Paranoia scored his initial career win in his first start at three at Gulfstream Park and has exclusively competed in stakes competition ever since.

His big score at Kentucky Downs was the final start of 2019 for Social Paranoia, who began his 2020 campaign with a victory in the G3 Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream. Most recently he unleashed a furious stretch rally to win the G3 Poker Stakes at Belmont on July 4. He's just resumed training after a minor setback following the Poker and was not nominated for any stakes at the upcoming Runhappy Kentucky Downs meet, according to Pletcher.

Brookdale will be offering a full-brother to Social Paranoia in Book 2 of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

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