Glenard hangs on late to win Warrior Veterans
July 20, 2015SHEBYVILLE, Ind. – A yielding turf course one jockey described as “saturated” blunted the excellent acceleration of Glenard, who instead used a steady inside run to win the $104,000 Warrior Veterans Stakes by a length Saturday evening at Indiana Grand.
Trained by Graham Motion for Andrew Stone and ridden by Alex Cintron, the 5-year-old Glenard, an English import, probably is at his best on firmer footing. He finished with fire coming home second in the Fair Grounds Handicap, his U.S. debut, came out of a dud of a performance in the Pan American at Gulfstream sick, and rebounded to win a high-end Delaware Park allowance last out.
The narrow 2-1 favorite Saturday, he saved ground on both turns, came inside the pacesetting Scotland Forever at the top of the homestretch, and finished well enough to beat the outside-closing Thatcher Street by one length. Scotland Forever held third, with Regally Ready fourth. Glenard paid $6 to win and was timed in 1:45.97 for 1 1/16 miles.
Antonia Autumn upsets in General Assembly
Last of 10 halfway through the race, Antonia Autumn stormed down the center of the track and won the $103,400 Indiana General Assembly Distaff by 1 3/4 lengths to start off the stakes action on the Indiana Derby card.
The race, conducted on a squishy, yielding course, basically fell apart, with the pace-setting horses all folding their tents in the homestretch as the back of the pack surged. Second behind Antonia Autumn ($35.60) was Kitten’s Dumplings, who raced ninth for most of the trip and came home 1 1/2 lengths in front of the third-place Annulment while no match for the winner.
Antonia Autumn, trained by Ben Colebrook for Castleton Lyons, won for the fourth time in 16 starts, and her first stakes win was an important one as she is a half-sister to the champion Gio Ponti.