NEWS
Mufasa Roars to Vosburgh Victory
Photo courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire
By Molly Rollins
Mufasa parlayed a track record-setting win at Colonial Downs into his first stateside graded stakes victory in the Vosburgh Stakes.
The 5-year-old son of Practical Joke , bet down as the 8-5 favorite, made short work of his Vosburgh rivals, powering clear at the top of the lane and roaring home a dominating 4 1/4-length winner.
Trained by Ignacio Correas IV for Carlos Saavedra and Stud Vendaval, the Vosburgh was the third U.S. start for Mufasa. Sixth in his Churchill Downs North American debut in June, he scorched seven furlongs in 1:19.86 at Colonial when convincingly defeating allowance company and setting a track record.
Flanking pacesetting Dean Delivers through splits of :23.13 and :46.47 under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Mufasa took control at the quarter pole and poured it on to the wire. Mufasa ($5.20) clocked the seven furlongs in 1:22.51 over a muddy (sealed track).
"We were expecting something big from him," Correas said. "I'm not sure if that is big, the only question was the surface. He'd never run on the slop. He did everything good, like usual, like good horses do. He's a good horse, probably when he ran at Churchill, it was a little short, but he showed he could run, he made a big move that day. Then, at Colonial, he beat a very good horse. Then today he was impressive again. I mean, no words can describe his performance."
Scotland closed willingly for second while Dean Delivers held on for third to complete the trifecta.
With his Vosburgh win, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series event, Mufasa was awarded an all-fees paid berth to the Nov. 2 $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint at Del Mar.