Longshot Rarified Flair holds off Ocean Pointe to win Rushaway. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
Turfway Park Press Release
FLORENCE, Ky.— It was bombs away in the $250,000 Rushaway Stakes where Magdalena Racing, C&H Diamond Racing, David Menard and Al Riccio’s Rarified Flair made his 3-year-old debut a winning one at odds of 29-1.
Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by Chris Landeros, Rarified Flair recorded his second-lifetime victory in a final time of 1:45.45 for the 1 1/16-mile distance.
Rarified Flair had a slow beginning in the Rushaway and was forced to eighth early in the field of 12 3-year-olds. Moon Landing and John Velazquez took early command of the Rushaway field into the first turn and cruised a quarter mile in :23.73. Up the backside, Moon Landing was joined to his inside by a keyed-up Worthington and the duo completed a half-mile in :48.73.
Meanwhile, Moon Landing continued tracking the early pace in seventh, about five lengths off the pace. Around the far turn, while the leaders continued to battle one another, Luan Machado and Midnight Rising made a bold, four-wide rally and took the lead at the quarter-pole. Moon Landing was tipped five-wide in the stretch by Landeros and surged past Midnight Rising inside the 1/16th pole.
“Kenny (McPeek) was confident in him today and so was I,” Landeros said. “We broke in a little bit of a tangle, but I let him take his time to get his feet underneath him. He traveled well after the start and came with his run in the stretch. I’m very proud of his effort.”
Midnight Rising lost the photo for third by a nose to round out the superfecta. He was 2 1⁄2 lengths clear of Itzos followed by Worthington, Unified Weekend, Quadra Island, Moon Landing, Ironsides, Reckoning Force and Roja Redemption.
Bettors were rewarded if they backed Rarified Flair who returned $2 mutuels of $61.78, $26.90 and $12.92. Fellow longshot Ocean Pointe, who went off at odds of 35-1, completed the exacta and returned $31.42 and $14.70. Santorini, the 2-1 post time favorite, finished third and paid $3.68.
Rarified Flair is a 3-year-old son of Honor Code out of the Arch mare Truth. He was bred in Kentucky by Maccabee Farm.
