Janet Garaguso Photo

Super Chow scarfs down the competition in gate-to-wire G3 Toboggan victory

by Brian Bohl

Lea Farms’ Super Chow surged to the front and never relinquished the lead, posting a gate-to-wire 4 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Toboggan for 4-year-olds and up sprinting seven furlongs on Aqueduct Racetrack’s main track.

The victory provided jockey Madison Olver, who started her professional career in 2022, with her first career stakes victory.

“It means the world,” Olver said. “It’s a culmination of everything I have wanted since I first started with the racehorses. I’m just so grateful to the horses and everything they’ve given me. It’s such a beautiful celebration of that relationship I’ve been able to have with the horses since I started.”

The dual graded stakes-placed Super Chow entered having finished second or third in six consecutive starts for trainer Jorge Delgado. The 4-year-old Lord Nelson colt earned that elusive return trip to the winner’s circle by breaking sharp from the fifth post, leading the seven-horse field through the opening quarter-mile in 23.69 seconds and the half-mile in 47.66 over a muddy and sealed track.

Super Chow maintained the advantage into the turn with Manny Wah in pursuit. But Olver gave a strong hand ride at the top of the stretch and then offered right-handed encouragement from the middle of the track, drawing away despite drifting out late to complete the course in 1:25.10.

Susan Moulton’s graded stakes-winner Manny Wah earned runner-up honors, finishing 2 3/4 lengths clear of 3-4 favorite Kinetic Sky. Stage Left ran fourth, with Divine Armor, Skylander and Murray completing the order of finish.

“Out of the gate, you kind of have to remind him that, ‘Hey, it’s time to go,’” Olver said. “Once he gets the lead, he gets into such a beautiful rhythm and you can get him to relax and he takes a breath for you. He gets very brave on the front end and he wants it just as much as you do. He wants to take it all the way.

“At the last eighth [I knew I had it], because I couldn’t really hear them,” Olver continued. “I heard something behind me, but it’s distant, it’s not close enough. Since I’m out in the middle of the racetrack, I could see to the left side of me – I didn’t see anyone coming.”

Off at 4-1, Super Chow returned $10.20 on $2 win wager. In winning for the first time in eight starts, and first since March at Gulfstream Park, he improved his career earnings to $590,650.

“I learned I really need to trust the horse and Delgado knows this horse so well,” Olver said about riding Super Chow this summer. “If you listen to him [Super Chow] and do what he says, and have that faith in the horse, if you give him the opportunity to win, he will win for you. I think he really loves that lead. He wants it and that’s his thing.

“That’s his thing [drifting out late],” she added. “That’s his M.O. He does it every race, and if you let him do it, he’ll keep going fast, it’s just there’s not much you can do to change the drifting.”

Manny Wah, ridden by Dylan Davis, posted his best finish since winning the Grade 2 Phoenix in October 2022 at Keeneland Park.

“He was handling the surface nice and I really liked what I felt,” Davis said. “I thought I would really have to ride him but the riders weren't really giving them too much encouragement early, so I just let him break and he found himself there. I was really pleased with that because he didn't have to make up too much ground. He put up a game effort all the way to the wire, but we were second best.”

Live racing resumes Sunday at Aqueduct with a nine-race card. First post is 12:20 p.m. Eastern.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.