17-1 Lake Sawyer in the Winner's Circle after Wheat City Stakes
by George
If you thought Jennifer Reid got lucky on Friday night at the Downs you’d be wrong.
Following up on her 4-for-8 performance on Friday, the 107-pounder from Saskatchewan gave an encore performance on Saturday night, winning four of the eight races including the $30,000 Wheat City Stakes and knocking everyone out of the Pick-4 in the process. As a result, $4,425 will be carried over to the Pick-4 pool on Wednesday. Sharpen your pencils. And don’t leave Reid off your tickets.
Picking up where she left off after winning the last race on Friday night, Reid won an outside duel aboard Muted Word ($4.10) for trainer Tom Gardipy Jr. to take the first race on Saturday. She then finished fourth in the second race, took the third race off, and came back in the fourth race to wire the field aboard Mygallovesgold ($8.50) for trainer Gary Danelson. That got the Pick-4 off to a good start.
Reid didn’t have a mount in the fifth and sixth races, but certainly made up for it in the Wheat City, the final leg of the Pick-4, when she slipped through along the rail aboard longshot Lake Sawyer ($34.80), opened up into the stretch and held on to win by a diminishing nose for trainer Jared Brown. That knocked everyone out of the Pick-4, and just to make an innocent yet powerful statement, Reid came back to win the eighth race from just off the pace aboard Show Me Yours ($4.40) for trainer Blair Miller.
Lake Sawyer was obviously not supposed to win the Wheat City Stakes. He was basically the only horse in the 6-horse field that nobody bet on at 17-1. But the contenders did what they often do in the stakes here, they got into an early bid battle on the turn and set the race up for a rallier.
UR Burnin Daylite set the early pace with fractions of 24.20 and 49 flat before getting outside pressure from Ask Eddy and Gotatigerbythetail, and while these three were going at it on the final turn, Dandy’s Legacy was gearing up for a wide rally at 6-1 from the back of the pack. Lake Sawyer meanwhile had his nose in a small hole on the inside in late turn and as soon as U R Burnin Daylite drifted just off the rail he pounced, getting both the trip edge and the jump on Dandy’s Legacy. Lake Sawyer slipped through and opened a short clear lead along the rail and was a length in front of Ask Eddy at the eighth pole after six furlongs in a 1:13.80.
To say Reid went to work on her mount in the traditional sense would not be an accurate description. Rather it was a combination of soft hands and words of encouragement that spurred Lake Sawyer to turn back Ask Eddy and at the same time find even more as Dandy’s Legacy came hard from the outside with a long resolute rally. At the wire it was Lake Sawyer by a nose.
Horses just run for some jockeys.
“Way to go Jennifer!” shouted a lady as the victor entered the Winner’s Circle.
Ask Eddy finished half a length behind the top pair in third. Gotatigerbythetail hung in the drive and finished fourth after making a three-wide bid on the turn and U R Burnin Daylite faded to fifth. Free Press Stakes winner Schillerthekiller surprisingly faded to last after a decent trip stalking between horses.
Lake Sawyer, who arrived from Turf Paradise earlier this year, had finished second twice in $15,000 claiming races here prior to the Wheat City. Trained by Jared Brown for the partnership of Lucky 8 Stable, Ross Brown, and Val and Trevor Brown, the 4-year-old gelding by Include-Tee Off by Thunder Gulch was winning the first stakes of his career and improving his lifetime record to 4-4-0 from 18 starts for earnings of $53,468.
Reid vaulted into third place in the standings with her four wins on Saturday. Her record now stands at 26-25-14 from 135 starts, good for a 19% win clip. She is now eight wins back of Paul Nolan (34) and five behind Rohan Singh (31). Her mounts have earned $225,189.
Without getting lucky.