Page 76 - Majestic Vol 6

WINNING MOMENTS

“探险家”再次实现逆转

Abel Tasman’s
All-Conquering
Rally

2017 G1 ACORN STAKES美国橡子锦标赛

Five weeks after her G1 Kentucky Oaks win, Abel
Tasman returned in the G1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont
Park, New York. The Acorn Stakes is a Grade 1 race
for three-year-old fillies. Raced over a distance of one mile,
it is the first leg of the US Triple Tiara (the Triple Tiara
consists of the Acorn Stakes, followed by the Coaching
Club American Oaks, then the Alabama Stakes). Another
major stake race held at Belmont Park on the same day was
the G1 Belmont Stakes – the third and final leg of the Triple
Crown. These events attracted around 50,000 visitors at
Belmont Park.

R idden by Michael Smith, Abel Tasman performed
spectacularly in New York despite the changes in track and
distance. In her usual late-running fashion, Abel Tasman took
up the spot at the back leaving the starting gate, and was four
lengths behind second choice Salty. “I was a little bit concerned
in the first eighth of a mile because she’s so off the bridle,”
Smith admitted. “But the scary thing about her is if you work
too hard to get her on it, then it’s from almost one extreme to
the next.” In order to get past Salty, jockey Smith tipped out
to the outside within the view of her rider, before moving in
through an opening on the inside. Abel Tasman shot up the
rail and outkicked her opponent to win by a length in 1:35:37,
once again producing a carbon copy of her Kentucky Oaks
last-to-first rally.

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