Armbro Getty stayed undefeated and Concussion took an unconventional trip to the winner`s circle in the respective $75,000 divisions of the American-National 2-year-old colt pace Saturday night at Sportsman`s Park.
Concussion`s forte is racing on the lead, but the 3-to-2 favorite in the second division broke slowly, forcing driver-trainer Sam Noble to do an improvisation routine.
”Going for this kind of money, I wanted to be on the front end,” said Noble, whose colt was fifth at the break and fourth on the outside in the early stages.
”He can come from out of it, though, and coming to the three-eighths pole everything seemed to fall right into place.”
Asserting himself approaching the wire, Concussion beat stretch specialist Hot Selection at his own game. Concussion finished three-quarters of a length in front of late-moving Hot Selection, the 8-5 second betting choice by virtue of three straight victories.
Barbara`s Prince, the leader going into the stretch, was third.
Concussion was timed in 1 minute 58 seconds and paid $5, $3 and $2.40 in recording the fourth straight win of his six-race career.
Although the second division was considered tougher, the winning time in the first division was a full second faster.
Coiled just off the pace for most of the race, Armbro Getty overtook the pacesetting 7-10 favorite Heal B. Proud in the stretch and pulled away to a two-length victory in 1:57. In scoring his sixth straight victory, Armbro Getty paid $7, $2.80 and $2.40 as the 2.50-1 second choice in the betting.
”We have a lot of confidence in Armbro Getty, and (driver) Bill Gale gave him a a perfect trip,” said trainer Bob McIntosh. ”He`s a big, nice easygoing colt who just does what he has to.
”We were aiming at this as his first major test. He had five races (in Canada and Ohio), but this was the first time against real horses.”
Illinois-bred Heal B. Proud held on to place, crossing the wire four lengths in front of Tyler Grant in the field of seven.
Although Heal B. Proud`s knee boot broke in the stretch, driver-trainer Mark O`Mara said the equipment problem wasn`t a factor.
”It didn`t slow him down very much,” he said. ”He paced strong right to the wire. The winner just blew right by us.”
Finishing last in the second division was Armbro Gretzky, another colt co-owned and trained by McIntosh and driven by Gale. ”He`s a nice colt, too, but he definitely drew the tough division,” said McIntosh.
Armbro Getty was acquired for $40,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Sale in Lexington, Ky.
”I like Abercrombies and Horton Hanovers, and this colt is by Abercrombie out of Armbro Urchin, who is a daughter of Horton Hanover,” said McIntosh.
Concussion is by Storm Danage out of the Meadow Skipper mare, Quiver. On the advice of Noble, the bay colt was purchased for $29,000 by the Grandstand Stable and Michael Cimaglio at the Tattersalls sale in Kentucky.
”He`s from a strong family, and I liked his looks a lot,” said Noble.
”He was very aggressive.”
