Photo: CDI
Volunteer Racing’s Forbidden Forest outdueled Courtlandt Farms’
Prime Cut by a nose Friday’s $51,000 1 1/16-miles allowance optional claiming feature for 3-year-olds at Fair Grounds.
Ridden by
Trey Agilar, Forbidden
Forest made the
pace with early splits of 25.15 and 50.31, lost the lead turning for
home but came again willingly in the late stages to be narrowly best.
The winner, trained by
Leo Gabriel Jr.,
accomplished the final distance in 1:47.33, increased his career
earnings to $70,264 with his second win in seven lifetime starts and
returned mutuels of $9, $3.60 and $2.40.
Prime Cut, one of several highly regarded sophomores trained by
Neil Howard, pressed the pace under jockey
Jamie Theriot, gained the
advantage briefly between calls, could not sustain the bid but finished
a half-length to the good of Patricia Blass’s
Bluegrass Jam.
That
Jinks Fires trainee, ridden by James Graham, also garnered the lead briefly in the lane but could not match the top two in the last strides.
Prime Cut paid $2.60 and $2.20 in the second spot while Bluegrass Jam returned $2.60 in the show position.