Patricia Generazio’s homebred Mid Day Image went all the way on the lead in the Claiming Crown Emerald Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Lauren King/Gulfstream Park Photo.
By Tom Law
Mid Day Image came into Saturday’s $95,000 Claiming Crown Emerald at Gulfstream Park with a three-fold tactical advantage – plenty of early speed, an inside draw for the starter stakes and a hot rider.
Patricia Generazio’s third generation homebred son of Midshipman put all those traits to good use and came away with a 1 1/4-length victory in the final event on the 23rd annual Claiming Crown. Paco Lopez, who won three other Claiming Crown events and another race on the card, rode Mid Day Image for trainer Luis Carvajal Jr.
“Not too bad a day. We had five wins and a couple seconds,” said Lopez.. “My horses ran very well today.”
Lopez won the second race aboard Joe DiBaggio, the Iron Horse Kent Sterling Memorial on Blue Steal, Distaff Dash on Payntdembluesaway and Rapid Transit on Miles Ahead.
The Claiming Crown, run at Gulfstream for the 10th straight year, featured nine starter stakes worth $810,000 in purses. For 3-year-olds and up which have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less in 2020-21, the Emerald was the last of four turf stakes.
Mid Day Image met the conditions when he ran for a $12,500 tag Sept. 5, 2020 at Monmouth Park. He won that day, doing 5 1/2 furlongs on the grass for his third of four wins in 2020. Mid Day Image came into the Emerald on a two-race win streak – both in starter handicap races at Monmouth in August and September – and four wins in eight starts overall this year.
Sent off the 3-1 second choice in the field of 12 behind the 9-5 Max K. O., Mid Day Image went straight to the lead from the rail and clicked off splits of :23.39, :47.73 and 1:11.22 chased by Clear Vision and Max K. O.
Lopez and Mid Day Image continued to roll along on the lead around the far turn and into the stretch, opening up by 1 1/2 lengths at the eighth pole on the way to victory in 1:39.82 over the firm turf.
“[Mid Day Image] has a lot of speed. Max K. O., I was scared of that horse because he’s fast, too. I know that horse,” Lopez said. “I give credit to my horse. He’s very, very good. He put me right there and Carvajal told me, ‘Paco, that horse is ready today.’ ”
Mid Day Image is the first foal out of the multiple stakes-placed winning Disco Rico mare Image of Noon. Foaled in New York at Rockridge Stud in Hudson and raced by Generazio, Image of Noon went 3-4-2 in 15 starts with placings in a pair of New York Stallion Series Stakes. Her second foal, the 4-year-old New York-bred Verrazano gelding Disco’s Bridge, is 2-2-3 in 26 starts with $37,849 in earnings. She’s also the dam of the 3-year-old New York-bred filly Another Image, who has placed for Generazio; a New York-bred yearling colt by Frank Conversation and a New York-bred weanling filly by that same sire. Image of Noon was bred to Leofric in 2021.
Created by the National Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association in partnership with the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the Claiming Crown rewards and pays tribute to the horses and horsemen that provide the foundation for day-to-day racing programs at tracks around the country.
