Maiden Claiming

Chart notes

ELCONDOR was sent hard from the start quickly angled over to the rail, gained the early advantage then was clear of the field by the half mile pole, held sway through the turn with four rivals in close pursuit, came into the stretch in the three path then veered sharply to the six path at the top of the stretch, had enough left to fend off a fast closing MY BUCKET LIST and just lasted. MY BUCKET LIST stumbled slightly at the break then was carried out very wide when DRAW SOME impeded his path after the break, altered course to the inside then raced three to four wide throughout, tipped out to the five path for the stretch run and rallied nicely to just miss despite being carried out some in mid-stretch when MISCHIEVOUS PIRATE altered course. MISCHIEVOUS PIRATE came away well despite some contact with LUCKY DIABLO from the outside, contested the early pace, checked briefly down the backstretch run when ELCONDOR cut across his path, then moved out a path to re-engage the leaders going into the turn, had to alter course at the top of the stretch to avoid ELCONDOR once again when that one veered out, ran on to the finish but could not find another gear when needed in the late stages. BEGIN AGAIN stumbled at the break then while off-balance bumped hard into LUCKY DIABLO, recovered, then made some steady forward progress on the leaders to move into serious contention by the three eighths marker, stayed to the inside through the turn and entered the stretch with a chance and finished up well but was not quite enough to crack the top three. NORDIC SEA got a clean break then was not pressed for speed and was outrun down the backstretch, kept to task with encouragement from the rider and managed to pass a few in the final furlong. WESTERN SIERRA broke well then set out to contest the early pace, got put in a bit tight near the seven-sixteenths marker then shifted out out a path but was then forced to duel between horses while in tight quarters going into the turn then dropped back off the pace near the quarter pole and was unable to recover from there. DRAW SOME ducked out after the break and bothered MY BUCKET LIST, raced three wide and in the middle of the pack early on, struggled to keep up with the pace from the turn and struggled home running one-paced to the finish. MISCHIEF'S THIRSTY ducked in sharply at the start, saved ground and came under heavy pressure early but was unable to make an impact. LUCKY DIABLO got pinballed into MISCHIEVOUS PIRATE when bumped hard by BEGIN AGAIN from the outside at the start, steadied, then fell well behind the field and trailed throughout. THERE WAS A JOCKEY'S OBJECTION LODGED BY THE RIDER OF MISCHIEVOUS PIRATE AGAINST THE RIDER OF ELCONDOR FOR THE INCIDENT IN UPPER TO MID-STRETCH. IN A UNANIMOUS DECISION THE STEWARDS RULED THAT THE OBJECTION WOULD NOT BE ALLOWED AND THERE WOULD BE NO CHANGE TO THE ORDER OF FINISH.