The victory for George and Lori Hall’s homebred is the second straight graded stakes score for Pants On Fire, a 5-year-old Jump Start horse who won the Monmouth Cup Stakes (gr. II) July 28. Carrying high weight of 121 pounds in the field of eight 3-year-olds and up, Pants On Fire lowered the stakes record mark of 1:34.08 set in the 2007 Ack Ack by Istan. The track mark of 1:33.31 was set last November by Infrattini.

Click Here to Read Original Article from BloodHorse.com

After tracking in third through the far turn, jockey Paco Lopez swung out Pants On Fire for the stretch where early leader and 2-1 favorite Taptowne had opened a solid lead. But Pants On Fire, the second betting choice at 5-2, quickly gained ground, drew even just past midstretch, and then powered away to the 2 3/4-length victory.

“It was wonderful. It’s good to see him continue to run in good form. We love this horse. He’s a homebred. He’s our first homebred to have some big success,” George Hall said. “The (off the board finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands [gr. I] was obviously disappointing, but he’s still running strong and we hope he’s not hit the peak of his career yet.”

Longshot Right to Vote led early while Taptowne tracked in second with Pants On Fire and Brethren also close in the leading pack of four through a quarter mile in :22.68 and a half-mile in :45.25. Taptowne showed another gear to open a clear lead between calls in early stretch, clicking off six furlongs in a smart 1:09.38, but Pants On Fire showed a turn of foot not possessed by his rivals.

Trained by Kelly Breen, the Monmouth Cup victory had been the first graded stakes score for Pants On Fire since his 3-year-old season, when he captured the Pegasus Stakes (gr. III) and the Louisiana Derby (gr. II). Breen said he will consider the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (gr. I) for the son of Jump Start .

“We’re coming off of a couple of good wins and, knock on wood, he stays healthy, we could go there,” Breen said. “George and I have been talking about a possible trip to Japan. They’ve been talking to us about coming over for a race there and I know it’s a different direction they run in, but it would be really neat to have a horse take you to places I’ve never been to. So, we’ll see.”

Pants On Fire returned $7 for the win, $3.40 to place and $2.60 to show. Clovertowne Farm’s Taptowne held second, returning $3.20 and $2.20 while George Kerr’s Good Morning Diva rallied for third, paying $2.60 to show. Rounding out the field of eight were Sabercat, Looking Cool, Moe Man, and Brethren, who stopped.

Pants On Fire was bred in Kentucky by the Halls’ K & G Stables. He is out of the Cape Town mare Cabo de Noche. The dark bay won for the eighth time in 22 lifetime races and boosted his earnings to $1,197,635.

The post Record-Breaking Ack Ack for Pants On Fire appeared first on Cory Moran.

Ninth as the 8-1 second choice in the 2011 Kentucky Derby, the 5-year-old Pants On Fire rolled to victory Saturday night in the 21st running of the Grade 3, $110,700 Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill. Paco Lopez was aboard for owners George and Lori Hall and trainer Kelly Breen.

Click Here to Read Article from Racing Daily Form

Rating kindly from just off the pace through the opening stages of the one-turn mile, Pants On Fire overtook the 2-1 favorite, Taptowne, inside the eighth pole before finishing 2 3/4 lengths to the good. He paid $7 as second choice after finishing in a stakes-record 1:33.78 over a fast track. Taptowne held second and Good Morning Diva was third in a field of eight older horses.

Pants On Fire had only one prior start at Churchill, and that was in the Derby.

“This was nice,” said Breen. “We’ll probably go straight into the Breeders’ Cup Mile now, then maybe over to Japan for a race after that. They’ve been kind of hinting around at us coming over there, and that could be fun.”

Pants On Fire, a Kentucky-bred by Jump Start, now has won 8 of 22 career starts. He spotted his rivals 3 to 7 pounds as the 121-pound highweight.

Flashy American prevails in Locust Grove

Flashy American ($5.20) wore down Wine Princess in the final 70 yards to take a hard-earned 1 1/4-length victory in the $111,400 Locust Grove. Awesome Flower was another 5 3/4 lengths back in a field of eight fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile race. The winning time was 1:43.53.

Corey Lanerie, who won the Grade 2 Pocahontas one race earlier on the card, was aboard Flashy American for Preston Stables and trainer Ken McPeek. Flashy American, a 4-year-old gray filly by Flashy Bull, now has won 4 of her last 5 starts and was coming off a victory in a restricted stakes at Saratoga.

The post Pants On Fire draws clear late in Ack Ack appeared first on Cory Moran.