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Vale of York upsets BC Juvenile

ARCADIA, Calif. (UPI) -- Vale of York came off the rail, split horses and got home first in a four-horse photo finish in Saturday's Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

Vale of York, an Irish-bred colt who raced earlier in England and Italy for Godolphin Stable, finished a head better than locally based favorite, Lookin At Lucky in the $2 million race. Noble's Promise was third, 1/2 length farther back and a head in front of another long shot, Piscitelli, who held fourth after leading much of the way.

With Ahmed Ajtebi up for trainer Saeed bin Suroor, Vale of York saved ground along the backstretch in fourth position, moved up to third entering the stretch turn and waited for running room. At mid-stretch, Ajtebi shifted him off the rail, past embattled leaders and to the lead in the final jumps.

Vale of York completed the 1 1/16 miles on the all-weather track in 1:43.48. A long shot in the 13-horse field, he paid $63.20 to win.

Aikenite, second to Noble's Promise in the Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland, finished fifth and D' Funnybone, winner of the Saratoga Special and the Futurity at Belmont, finished last.

Vale of York, a bay son of Invincible Spirit, finished a close third in the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot in late September, then shipped to San Siro, Italy, where he just missed winning the Gran Criterium.

While victory in the Juvenile usually leads to Kentucky Derby consideration, Godolphin frequently takes its best 2-year-olds to Dubai for the winter before deciding on their 3-year-old campaign.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International

This news arrived on: 11/07/2009

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