Lasting Dream outlasts a blow-up in the Elegantimage
by Melissa Keith
Saturday night’s (Sept. 20) Grade 1 Elegantimage final was won by open lengths by R Dutchess, in line to Tim Tetrick. Although she finished fourth as beaten 1-5 favorite in her Sept. 12 elimination at Woodbine Mohawk Park, the daughter of Father Patrick and The Ice Dutchess (ninth in the 2019 Elegantimage) went behind the gate as 4-5 public choice Sept. 20. Leaving from post 9, Tetrick took no chances, sending his filly after early leader Lasting Dream, who left aggressively from even further out for driver Louis-Philippe Roy.
This race would not be settled at the wire, but on the first turn, and later, by judges’ decision.
Approaching the opening quarter, R Charm led the field, followed by a first-over Highlandstarburst. Behind them, along the pylons, Dexter Dunn and 5-2 second-favorite Global Heritage were conservatively positioned in fifth behind the battling relative longshots. R Dutchess suddenly bore in, causing Global Heritage to break stride. Dunn took her to the safety lane as Tetrick settled his filly single-file fourth, behind Lasting Dream, who had been advancing three-wide to the :27 quarter.
R Dutchess cleared leader Highlandstarburst at the :56.3 half, and held off a first-over challenge from the 74-1 Elegantimage supplement Zette Athena around the final turn. The favorite opened up down the stretch, as Lasting Dream made steady late progress along the inside path. R Dutchess (3, 1:52s; $380,416) was 2½ lengths ahead of her at the finish, winning in 1:52.4 for trainer Suzanne Kerwood, for whom she has raced since Aug. 30. The filly is shared by racing/breeding lessee M and L DE of Wilmington, DE, and owner Armitage Farm of Midway, KY.
Tetrick brought the unofficial winner back to the winner’s circle.
“We were just playing chess,” he told interviewer John Rallis, in reference to the first turn action. “Everybody was trying to find position, you know. Rubbin’s racin’ sometimes, but you know, [Louis-Philippe] Roy was trying to squeeze down, and it was a tight race… She [R Dutchess] raced a really good race… I made a good move down the backside. The 9-hole’s a long way to go, and she raced really good. She held on well.”
The drama was only beginning. A voice could be heard calling out to Tetrick in the winner’s circle: “Timmy, they want you in the paddock.”
An inquiry was posted soon afterward, concerning action near the quarter. R Dutchess had possibly interfered with Global Heritage, but had Lasting Dream created the issue by crowding R Dutchess? The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) officials (senior judge Dave Stewart, Jr., with associate judges Fred Brethour and Larry Hughes) reviewed video from the incident, looking at it from different perspectives, which were also shown to spectators.
Watching the video review from Mohawk’s Quick Hitch Café with a caretaker from the Determination stable, what became evident was that seeing the moment from opposite visual perspectives yielded different logical perspectives on the origin of the interference. Watching the moment from the inside point of view seemed to show Lasting Dream slightly bearing in on R Dutchess, who in turn interfered with Global Heritage, the breaker. But looking at the same part of the race from the outside point of view showed Lasting Dream already ahead of the momentary contact between the favorite and Dunn’s filly. Only one could be true.
Reminiscent of Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic film Blow-Up (1966), zooming in on the action brought less clarity, not more, at least to the murmurings among spectators. (In that movie, a blurry photo may have accidentally captured the image of a crime being committed; an enlarged version of the photo is even more inconclusive.) The video screen, divided into quarters, showed opposing views of the contested moment in the Elegantimage, including head-on and from behind. Suspense mounted as the officials repeated the footage under review, over and over, for minutes on end.
The judges were able to get greater detail from interviewing the drivers involved. Their official report revealed that Dunn “stated that he received pressure from outside horses, he didn’t know who was at fault, but it caused his horse to be crowded and make a break,” while “Roy stated he maintained his path on the outside, took what room was given to him and didn’t crowd the No. 9 [R Dutchess],” and Tetrick “stated he got into No. 2 [Global Heritage], but felt he was pressured from the No. 10 [Lasting Dream] on his outside.”
The judges also explained the video footage that informed their decision.
“The panel used the pan and front tower shots, which showed that No. 9 [R Dutchess] is running in on the turn and comes down to No. 2 [Global Heritage], causing that horse to make a break. No. 10 [Lasting Dream] appears to remain in the same path on the outside and the video does not support her applying pressure to No. 9.”
In the end, R Dutchess came down. She was first-placed-11th, behind Global Heritage, who ended up 10th after the break. Lasting Dream was second-placed-first, ahead of a dead heat for show between Highlandstarburst (driven by Yannick Gingras) and Stormont Beautiful (driven by Tyler Borth). Both show finishers were placed second.
The 10-1 Elegantimage winner Lasting Dream (3, 1:51.3f; $546,950) is a homebred daughter of Cantab Hall—Dream Together, owned by Determination of Montreal, QC, and trained by Luc Blais. Dream Together (4, 1:51.3m; $801,782) finished second to Ariana G in the 2017 Elegantimage final for Blais, Determination, and driver Dan Dube. Lasting Dream is her only foal to race, from three live offspring. Dream Together’s latest foal is Dreamtrade, a 2024 filly by Forbidden Trade.
To quote the photographer from Blow-Up, “Nothing like a little disaster for sorting things out.”
As of publication deadline, there has been no appeal announced regarding the ruling and subsequent placings in the $375,000 (Can.) Elegantimage final.
