Maiden Claiming

Chart notes

HOWBOUTCHA took a bump from THE BIRDMAN but otherwise came away well, vied three deep in the early pace mix, dueled outside of DOWN PERISCOPE from the three-furlong pole, gained the upper hand by mid-stretch, and held safe from a late bid by RUGGED SAWYER LEE in the final yards. RUGGED SAWYER LEE hustled from the break and was the inside horse in the early pace battle, backed off heading into the turn, but kept to a stalking position on the inside, tipped out to the three path for the stretch run, finished up well despite racing on the wrong lead, closed the gap in the late stages but could not reel in the winner. PONTOTOC was not involved in the early pace, settled three-wide in the second flight, then advanced on the leaders on the turn, finished well under steady handling to move into third, but was not getting to the top two. THE BIRDMAN veered out at the start into HOWBOUTCHA, then overcorrected and brushed with SASSYS CODE TALKER, was under a ride from the start, and lacked a meaningful rally. NJUSTLIKETHAT was forced out a bit by the inside rival after the break, pressed the early pace four-wide, dropped off after passing the half, and was unable to threaten in the later stages. EURO K steadied in traffic in the initial stages, dropped back to last, and was never a factor. SASSYS CODE TALKER got bumped on both sides at the start, then lacked any speed and was far back early, rallied much too late, but managed to outfinish one before the finish. DOWN PERISCOPE broke in and bumped SASSYS CODE TALKER, contested the early pace, then faltered in the stretch.