Eff Thirty Five made a bold move from well off the pace to sweep past the leaders in the stretch and win going away in the $75,000 Alphabet Soup Handicap at Penn National on Friday, 29 May.
The victory marked the first Stakes win for the five-year-old gelded son of Yoshida, who was making his first start of the year. Eff Thirty Five closed out the previous season on a promising note, finishing third in the G3 Valedictory Stakes at Woodbine in late December.
Bartlett, the 7-5 favorite, was considered the main danger in the Alphabet Soup and immediately went straight to the lead at the start.
He and jockey Frankie Pennington completed the opening quarter mile in :22.79, with Fierce and Strong, last year’s Alphabet Soup winner, chasing close behind into the first turn. Eff Thirty Five, the only other runner in the field under 10-1, was nine lengths further back.
Bartlett shook clear of Fierce and Strong on the backstretch, completing the half mile in :45.88 and widening his advantage into the far turn. Longshots Wow Whata Party, Crisper, and Dylan’s Ruby all made bids to catch the pacesetter, but they seemed woefully unprepared when Bartlett turned for home with a three-length lead.
The favorite didn’t relent much in the stretch, but that didn't deter Eff Thirty Five. Swinging wide around the far turn, jockey Javier Castellano pushed the gelding from sixth to second in a flash. The gelding always had his sights set on the leader, and it didn’t take much urging for him to sweep by on the way to an easy victory.
Bred in Pennsylvania by Equivine Farm LLC, Eff Thirty Five is out of the winning Unbridled’s Song mare, Newstouse. Eff Thirty Five is the third Stakes winner produced by Newstouse, joining his half siblings Newstome (Goldencents) and Miss You Ella (Declaration of War).
Yoshida has sired 80 individual winners and seven Stakes winners thus far, including Yo Daddy, winner of the listed Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct and Desvio, winner of the G2 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland.
