Runaway Algo makes his 2023 intentions quite clear
TRAINER Dale Murphy says while he acknowledges the commanding win by his charge Runaway Algo in the $1.140-million Lloyd Lindbergh “Lindy” Delapenha Memorial Trophy feature on Sunday, February 26, 2023, there’s nothing to get excited about as his American-bred runner is much better than Overnight Allowance runners.
Runaway Algo, who was stepping down from Grade One company after his dismal run in the Mouttet Mile last December, was always going to be hard to defeat, and the four-year-old, American-bred, chestnut colt didn’t disappoint as he crippled rivals in deep stretch to easily beat Money Monster and Crimson by 14 lengths in the one-mile event.
“He [Runaway Algo] has recovered quite nicely and has been training really well, and we did expect him to perform this way. This is Overnight, [and] we are coming from Grade One company and so we can’t really be boastful about this win. But, this was a good win and we expected it, and the jockey rode a good race,” Murphy told said.
“His next race will be at the Open Allowance level, and we expect him to go back to Grade One where he belongs and so this race was just a stepping stone for him,” Murphy said.
Being asked to take up the running from the start by jockey Linton Steadman, Runaway Algo easily led Crimson (Raddesh Roman) and Press Conference (Shavon Townsend) down the backstretch. Still under a tight hold, Runaway Algo upped the tempo going into the half mile ahead of Money Monster (Reyan Lewis) and Press Conference, and looked very comfortable on the front end entering the straight.
Runaway Algo was only asked to run inside the furlong (200m) pole, and when he did he sprinted clear under a hand ride to register his sixth career victory from 13 starts on local soil. He completed the distance in a decent time of 1:38.1 (24.4 x 48.3 x 1:13.1).