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Even as Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap victor Stay Thirsty prepared to depart Todd Pletcher's barn for his upcoming career at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Kentucky, the trainer and owner Mike Repole have plenty to look forward to next year following Unlimited Budget's front-running victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle for juvenile fillies and Overanalyze's gritty nose triumph in the Grade 2 Remsen for two-year-olds. The trio of victories concluded a spectacular Holidayfest at Aqueduct for Repole, who was five-for-six in stakes races, with Caixa Eletronica winning Thursday's Grade 3 Fall Highweight Handicap and Notacatbutallama taking the Super Mario overnight stakes on Friday. Stay Thirsty, who early in his career was often overshadowed by Repole's 2010 juvenile champion Uncle Mo, nailed Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint champion Groupie Doll at the wire to go out on a winning note. The four-year-old Bernardini colt, who last year took the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and the Grade 1 Travers, was winless in four previous starts in 2012, most recently headed by Flat Out in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. |
"That was very gratifying for a number of reasons," said Pletcher, who also won the Cigar Mile with Left Bank (2001), Lion Tamer (2004) and Purge (2005). "It's big for his future career to go out on a big note like that."
Overall, Stay Thirsty will head to the breeding shed with a 17-5-5-1 mark and earnings of $1,936,000.
Unlimited Budget, now two-for-two, and Overanalyze, who earlier won the Grade 2 Futurity at Belmont, will head to Pletcher's training base at Palm Meadows in Florida to freshen up for their 2013 campaigns along with stablemate Delhomme, who set the Remsen pace and finished third.
"Everyone came back from their efforts in good shape," the conditioner noted. "We'll take them to Florida and sort it out from there."