The longest shot on the board at 86-1, Idratherbeblessed shocked the field with a gate-to-wire score in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes (G2T) March 22 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
Without an eager pacesetter in the Muniz Memorial, jockey Ben Curtis spurred a willing Idratherbeblessed to the front from the outer 11 post. Curtis' aggressive early race tactics paid off handsomely for the Unified gelding, who prevailed by a neck for the first black-type stakes victory of his career for trainer Chris Hartman.
Paving the way through soft fractions of :24.05, :49.53, and 1:14.55, Idratherbeblessed refused to buckle as the field swept into the stretch. The formidable Chad Brown pair, Redistricting and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) winner Spirit of St Louis, loomed menacingly on the far turn but rallied to no avail. Outdueling a stubborn Gigante to his inside, Idratherbeblessed hung tough to the wire, finishing in a final time of 1:50.45 for the 1 1/8 miles on a firm turf course.
"An outside gate gave me a chance to go forward," Curtis said.
Curtis has been enjoying a banner meet at Fair Grounds in only his third year of riding consistently in the United States. The Irish-born rider is currently sitting third in the Fair Grounds jockey standings behind Jose Ortiz and Jareth Loveberry.
"I was able to get into a rhythm and do my own thing on the front end," Curtis said. "He's a horse who really sticks his head down and tries. I think the extra distance really stood to him. I know he was a long shot on the board but his most recent work was the best he's ever put in. He got it done today."
While Idratherbeblessed delivered a massive win payout of $174.20, the trifecta behind him resulted in a mouthwatering $5,844.10 for 50 cents, with the second- and third-place finishes of Gigante (14-1) and Cameo Performance (15-1).
Favored at 7-5, Spirit of St Louis finished fourth in his first effort since his grade 1-winning performance in the Pegasus Turf. Jockey Tyler Gaffalione said the lack of pace was responsible for the New York-bred's undoing in the Muniz Memorial.
"The race went true to form, being a lack of speed on the program," Gaffalione said. "I tried to work out the best trip possible for him. There was a lot of crowding into that first turn. We were able to get down to the two path and he was able to give me a really good run down the lane but speed held pretty firm there and it was hard to run them down."
Campaigned by JD Thoroughbreds and Wayne Scherr, Idratherbeblessed increased his bankroll to $503,168 for his fifth win in 27 starts.
Idratherbeblesseed was bred in Kentucky by Narola and sold to Scherr for a $52,000 price tag at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale out of the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. The 5-year-old gelding is one of three winners from three foals to race produced by the Tiznow mare Celestial Smile and is the first graded stakes winner for his sire Unified, who stands at LACER in Louisiana for a $3,500 stud fee.
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