Lexington, KY — Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, Crazy Wow and Muscle Diamond deserve their share of accolades for capturing their respective divisions of the Bluegrass Stake for 3-year-old male trotters on Saturday (Oct. 3) at The Red Mile.
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| Crazy Wow was a 1:55.4 winner with Tim Tetrick up. |
Crazy Wow took center stage first when he went to the gate as the public’s second choice at even money. The son of Crazed and No Pan No Gain, who is owned by Our Horse Cents Stables, JT45, J&T Silva Stables and Deo Valente Farms, had the services of Tim Tetrick for his mile. The duo left from post four in the sixth race of night and broke on top while the 4-5 favorite The Bank was caught three wide on the first turn.
The Bank swiftly assumed control after a first quarter-mile in :28.2 while Tetrick bided his time with the Ron Burke trainee in the pocket spot. The top two remained in the same positions around the red clay oval through splits of :57.3 and 1:27.
As the field traveled into the last turn, however, Tetrick made his move. Crazy Wow popped out of the pocket, slingshot to the lead and never gave a backwards glance to his competition. He hit the wire in 1:55.4, 3-1/4 lengths ahead of The Bank and never looked like he even broke a serious sweat. Crescent Fashion was in third. Crazy Wow paid $4.00 for the victory.
“He is just a really good horse all the way around,” trainer Ron Burke said. “When we first got him I was a little concerned about how he was mentally, but as he has raced on he has really grown into himself in that way. I think in the (Kentucky) Futurity (that he will be supplemented into) and the Breeders Crown he will show that he is right up there with some of the best horses out there. I’m looking forward to see how his season turns out.”
With his most recent triumph, Crazy Wow has now amassed $977,415 in his career and has a record of 25-12-5-1 from his performances in two seasons.
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| Nigel Soult photos |
| John Campbell steered Muscle Diamond to a 1:56 triumph. |
In race eight it was Muscle Diamond’s turn to illustrate why he has been so highly regarded throughout his short career. As the son of Muscle Hill and Windylane Hanover and his regular pilot John Campbell prepared to leave from the fourth post position in the eighth race, the colt was the bettors’ second choice behind 3-10 favorite Uncle Lasse.
Owned by his trainer Brett Bittle, Charles Keller III, Charles Keller IV and Dan Bittle, Muscle Diamond settled in seventh position in the early going as longshot Southwind Mozart cut the fractions of :29.1, :58.2 and 1:27.3 before ceding the lead to Uncle Lasse who was in second place on the final turn.
Muscle Diamond was waiting in third for Campbell to let him loose and they out footed Uncle Lasse to the finish line in 1:56. He paid $8.80 for the triumph with Uncle Lasse in second place and Honor And Serve third.
As he made his way to the winner’s circle Brett Bittle’s smile possessed enough warmth to take much of the chill out of the air. It hasn’t been the season he had hoped for with his talented colt, but this win illustrated the injuries, illnesses and bad racing luck Muscle Diamond has endured can now be relegated to the past.
He also has an affinity for this surface, even when it is a little wet, as he set his 2-year-old mark of 1:53.4 in last year’s edition of the International Stallion Stake exactly 12 months ago on this very day. After leaving Lexington in 2014, the colt went on to finish second in both the Matron and the Breeders Crown.
“He really is a very nice horse and things have not went well for him this year at all,” Campbell said. “He had some small physical issues early in the year, then he was sick in Canada and did not have much time to come back from that. This race definitely proved that he has recovered from the other things that have not went his way this season and this is the best time of year to do so. This was a very nice win for him.”
With this latest victory, Muscle Diamond now sports a resume of 18-6-7-2 and has collected $502,459 for his campaigns in 2014 and 2015.
