Shidabhuti Superior in Busher; Little Vic Wins Tom Fool

Peter Brant's Shidabhuti stalked a moderate tempo and launched a devastating late kick in deep stretch to conquer her stakes debut in the $200,000 Busher Stakes for sophomore fillies going a one-turn mile March 4 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The 3-year-old daughter of Practical Joke earned 50 qualifying points towards the May 5 Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs in capturing the Busher—the penultimate local qualifier for the prestigious event. Piloted by Dylan Davis from post 5, Shidabhuti maintained her outside position while fellow Chad Brown trainee Asset Purchase, the 4-5 favorite, did battle with Ziaerati on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in :23.54 and a half-mile in :47.75 over the muddy and sealed main track. Around the far turn, Asset Purchase established a clear advantage with Trevor McCarthy going all out aboard Ziaerati. Asset Purchase lengthened to a two-length lead at the stretch call under Manny Franco, but Shidabhuti loomed large on the far outside and collared her stablemate in the final strides to win by two lengths to stop the clock in a slow 1:39.03. Asset Purchase finished 1 1/4 lengths to the better of Capella, who launched an inside rally to finish third. Shidabhuti, who returned $12.60 for a $2 win wager, provided Brown with his second Busher victory after he sent out Search Results to a win in 2021. Brown said he was pleased with the performance of both of his fillies. "Dylan used good judgment on Shidabhuti to stay close, and they weren't going really fast. He put her in the clear in the stretch, and he timed it just right," Brown said. "With Asset Purchase, I thought she ran well, but in hindsight maybe Manny should have allowed her to run a little more early and open up a little. He kept her restrained and kept the rest of the field in the race. But she still gave a good effort. "(Shidabhuti) is just a horse who is improving, and I know her numbers didn't look that fast going into the race, but now she's won all three of her starts, so it's hard to fault her. She has continued to improve and she should continue to improve with distance." Brown said Shidabhuti would "probably" target the $250,000 Gazelle Stakes (G3)—the final local Kentucky Oaks qualifier, which awards the top-five finishers points based off a 100-40-30-20-10 scale. Banking $110,000 in victory, Shidabhuti brought her lifetime earnings to $189,600 while bragging an unbeaten record in three starts. Bred in Kentucky by Gabriel Duignan and Gerry Dilger, Shidabhuti is out of the Candy Ride (ARG) mare A.P. Candy and was a $310,000 purchase from the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Her third dam is multiple grade 1-winning millionaire Dream Supreme, who produced grade 1-winner and producer Majestic Warrior. Victoria's Ranch's Little Vic Scores Big in Tom Fool Little Vic and jockey Carlos Olivero each enjoyed graded stakes glory for the first time by posting an impressive stalking score in the $150,000 Tom Fool Handicap (G3), a six-furlong sprint for older horses. Trained by Juan Carlos Avila for Victoria's Ranch, the 4-year-old Practical Joke colt entered from a pair of runner-up efforts at the Queens oval. Victoria's Ranch is the racing operation of retired professional baseball player Victor Martinez, a five-time Major League Baseball All-Star who finished second in the most value player voting in 2014. "This horse is a real athlete," Martinez said. "When you see a horse like him develop after each and every race, it's just special. It's a feeling that I can't describe in words. I'm just really, really happy." Chateau, who won this event in 2021, broke alertly under Jose Lezcano and set splits of :21.92 and :45.14 over the muddy strip, with Pirate Rick tracking closely from second position and Little Vic rating in third to the outside of Runninsonofagun. Little Vic advanced outside the pacesetters to take command at the top of the lane as Runninsonofagun was asked for his best run by Kendrick Carmouche, and post-time favorite Nakatomi unleashed his late kick under Dylan Davis. But there was no denying Little Vic, who surged to the wire a 1 1/2 length winner in a final time of 1:09.73. Runninsonofagun completed the exacta by a neck over Nakatomi, who was a neck better than fourth-place finisher Eastern Bay. Rounding out the order of finish were Pirate Rick, Drafted, Wendell Fong, and Chateau. Little Vic, a $50,000 purchase from the War Horse Place consignment to the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, has finished first or second in each of his last five starts. Bred in Kentucky by Stride Sales and Syndicate out of the multiple stakes-winning Rock Hard Ten mare Rock and Glory, Little Vic banked $82,500 in victory while improving his record to 5-3-1 in 13 starts. He returned $15 for a $2 win bet.