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Bonnie Heath Turf Cup Won by Icy Atlantic - 11-10-08
November 10 - Despite a much anticipated showdown between race favorite Soldier's Dancer and long -time rival Silver Tree in Saturday's $150,000 Bonnie Heath Turf Cup at Miami's Calder Race Course, the race took an unexpected turn right from the starting gate resulting in a win for Icy Atlantic.
As the 1 1/8 mile got underway, the Calder crowd issued a collective moan as Soldier's Dancer stumbled out of the gate, sending his jockey Manoel Cruz flying, effectively throwing the race wide open. One of the runners quick to make his move was 7-year-old Icy Atlantic ridden by Cornelio Velasquez.
Velasquez skillfully steered Icy Atlantic around the course keeping him at a good pace while all the time keeping the race leaders firmly in his sights. As expected Silver Tree was going very strong and for most of the race looked as though he would be the horse to beat to the line.
However, just into the final stretch Silver Tree began to visibly tire allowing Magic Mecke to take the lead by the mid-stretch. His lead did not last long as sensing a possible victory at hand, Velasquez spurred Icy Atlantic on to overtake Magic Mecke and cross the line first a convincing 1 1/4 lengths ahead of him.
Fair Weather Stan completed the race in third while the huffing and puffing Silver Tree earned himself a fourth place. While most punters at Calder could not dispute that this year's Bonnie Heath Turf Cup was anything but exciting, many were obviously disappointed that Soldier's Dancer turned sour in the race.
Coming into the Bonnie Heath Turf Cup at 5 to 1, Icy Atlantic ran an exceptional race, this being his first race victory since he won the Red Bank (Gr 3) at Monmouth Park in New Jersey in September 2007. He completed Saturday's race in a time of 1:50.32 and increased his career earnings to $937,140.
Said Dave Vivian - the trainer of Soldier's Dancer - after the race, 'He got off to a very unfortunate start as he grabbed a quarter when he stumbled after the break. With Silver Tree not firing, I have little doubt that were he still in the race he would have crossed the line first. But as they say, that's horse racing.'
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