Abraaj wins the 2008 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga
Going into the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap on Saturday at Saratoga, I had thought the race setup beautifully for a horse like Abraaj to walk away with the victory. There just seemed to be too much speed signed on in the race for it not to fall into his lap due to his off-the-pace running style.
Well, Abraaj made his backers sweat things out for a good portion of the race as he was not responding well to the initial urges of jockey Alan Garcia. He did wind up winning by over 2 lengths, but the issue was in serious doubt for a good chunk of the race.
As expected, we had a decent pace to run at as Sammarco and Black Seventeen went at it setting early fractions of 22.06 and 44.57. As the field turned for home First Defence had taken the lead from Black Seventeen and Sammarco, while Abraaj was all out trying to close into them.
WIth roughtly half a furlong or so to go, Alan Garcia and Abraaj made the lead and there was no looking back from there. First Defence ran on for place with Sammarco taking show honors. Ideally you would have preferred to see Abraaj win for fun with such a pace setup in front of him, but there’s certainly no arguing with an automatic invitation to the Breeder’s Cup in October. When he needed to in the stretch, he was able to respond and get the job done.
The three races above were all a treat to watch.