By Ray Cotolo, for The Red Mile
LEXINGTON, KY— Yannick Gingras made his move
with the Jimmy Takter-trained Pinkman into the far turn, powering by Crazy Wow
under a hand drive to win the $527,000 Kentucky Futurity in 1:51.2 on Saturday,
Oct. 10 at The Red Mile.
The first quarter was set by The Bank, going :27
with Crazy Wow in the pocket and Pinkman tracking in third. Crazy Wow circled
by The Bank and set a :54 half before Pinkman was given his marching orders
from third, French Laundry on his back. He came alongside Crazy Wow through a
1:23 third quarter before edging to the lead at the top of the stretch. French
Laundry angled to the inside for room, while Crescent Fashion and Muscle
Diamond stormed from the back into the minor positions. With the reins in the air,
Yannick Gingras sat still in the sulky as Pinkman crossed the wire in 1:51.2
over Crescent Fashion, French Laundry, and Muscle Diamond.
A winner of 17 in 23 starts lifetime and
earnings of over $2,250,000, Pinkman, the Explosive Matter gelding out of the
Angus Hall mare Margie Seelster returned $6.20 to win. He’s owned by Christina
Takter, John and Jim Fielding, Joyce McClelland, and Herb Liverman.
“He surely is game,” Yannick Gingras said. “He
puts in a one-hundred percent effort, even at Yonkers [in the Yonkers Trot]; he
didn’t like the track, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t trying. He’s a winner and
he wants to get it done.”
“I’ve thanked them [the owners] many times on
that,” Gingras also said regarding his continuation in the position as regular
driver on Pinkman. “That’s something you don’t see very often, probably never
really, that somebody wins the Hambletonian and then he puts the driver back on
the horse that won it. I’m very thankful.”
“He’s just a fantastic horse,” Jimmy Takter
said. “I’m so proud of him.”
“I’ve got great staff and good people behind
me,” Takter also said regarding driving in the Filly Futurity and the Kentucky
Futurity, as well as training four in the Filly Futurity and five in the
Futurity. “I’ve got great owners, and they make it a heck of a lot easier.”
“That’s his next stop,” Takter also said
regarding the Breeders Crown.
