Oct. 5, 2008 — Former V.I. champ Kentucky Kris found nothing sweet about Sunday's feature race, as Tortola's Sweetgrass Creek jumped out to the early lead and never gave it up, blowing past Vivid Cat and Silver Horn on the way to the win at Clinton Phipps Racetrack.
From the break, Sweetgrass Creek jumped out by a length, followed by Vivid Cat, St. John's Silver Horn and Kentucky Kris, bringing up the rear. Around the first bend, Vivid Cat closed the gap to half a length, still followed by Silver Horn and Kentucky Kris. Down the backstretch, it was Sweetgrass Creek and Vivid Cat fighting it out, with Silver Horn now two lengths behind and Kentucky Kris pretty much out of the picture.
But just before you could count the former champ out, he got a second wind and came roaring down the stretch, closing in on Sweetgrass Creek and Silver Horn, who also had a boost of speed. But it was too late: Sweetgrass Creek held on for the win with a time of 1:41:2, followed by Silver Horn, Kentucky Kris and Vivid Cat.
"I feel good about the race, because I know he's capable of doing this kind of job," said Johann Welsh, Sweetgrass Creek's trainer. "You have to run to catch him, and if you're not better than him, you cannot pass him. That's his style — take the lead and go."
In the second feature race, the Mare and Filly Classic, Summertime Babe kept her three-race winning streak going, beating out Mystery Time and Runaway Vow with a time of 1:39:1.
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