Coming into Sunday’s $10,000 Koochie Stake at Balmoral Park, all eyes were focused on trainer Dirk Simpson’s star freshman, Baileys Wish, who had dominated the division most of last season.
Although, when all was said and done, it was a different Simpson trainee who was toting home top honours, as driver John De Long guided Say No Mo to a two-length victory in a career best of 1:59.3 at odds of 51-1.
Given a perfect steer by the red-hot De Long, the daughter of Bands Gold Chip-Not So Kosher floated away from Post 9 and eventually found a good early spot in third as High Balance (driven by Casey Leonard) sped away from the gate to lead the field through splits of :30, 1:01 and 1:30.2.
Masterfully securing racing room after a prolonged first-over bid by Green Acres (Jon Anderson) came up short, De Long moved his charge into position and the four-time winner in 2013 responded beautifully, trotting home in a brisk :28.3 to pull off the shocking upset.
Lora Lee Breeze (Matt Krueger) parlayed a perfect two-hole trip into a second-place cheque, while High Balance held on for third. Baileys Wish, the 4-5 favourite of the betting public, made an early break and was never a threat while finishing a distanced eighth.
Lighting up the board with mutuels of $104.80, $36.00 and $16.60, Say No Mo pushed her career earnings up to $28,118 for the partnership of Dr. Patrick Graham, Flacco Family Farms and the Dirk Simpson Stables.
Thanks in large part to the upset in the Koochie Stake, which was the final leg of the 50-cent Pick 5 wager, no one successfully picked all five winners. There will be a carryover pool of $7,665.15 for Wednesday’s (March 30) Balmoral card. Because of the carryover, Balmoral Park has announced that there will be a $40,000 guaranteed pool on Wednesday’s Pick 5 at Balmoral. The Pick 5 will be on Races 1 through 5 on Wednesday night. First-race post time is 7:10 p.m. (Central).
There will also be a $10,000 guaranteed pool on the $1 Pick 4 wager this Wednesday. The Pick 4 is on Races 6 through 9.
(Balmoral)