Ryehill Dreamer may not be native to the United States, but today
at Hollywood Park, he proved as American as apple pie. Trained by
Julio Canani, and ridden Joe Talamo the 5-year-old Irish bred sat a
perfect trip, well off a blistering pace set by Sidney’s Candy,
before rallying strongly in the stretch to nail the favorite by a
desperate nose on the wire to win the $150,000 American Handicap.
The victory marked the first graded stakes win for the gelded son
of Catch In The Rye who now has 5 wins in 12 starts. His third win in
seven American starts clearly was the biggest of his career. Before
Saturday, Ryehill Dreamer was 0 for 6 in graded states, although he
may have been coming off his previous career best when he was 2nd
behind Liberian Freighter in the Inglewood Handicap. In that race he
defeated The Usual Q.T., one of his main competitiors today.
But make no mistake, winning the American boiled down to one thing
for Ryehill Dreamer, and that was running down Sidney's Candy. The
heavily favored colt was tracked doggedly by Liberian Freighter
through six furlongs in 1:09.23. As Sidney's Candy put away his
closest challenger, it became clear that only one horse would have a
chance to run him down. It wasn't until the two horses hit the wire that you could feel
confident about who was the winner, and the photo did indeed come out
in favor of the Irish import.
For the talented Sidney's Candy it was the second straight race he
has been upset at low odds, following a 2nd place finish
to Crown of Thorns in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap in his season debut.
It's hard to take too much away from the runner-up though, as he was
so close to taking the race wire to wire, despite giving the winner
seven pounds. Second choice in the field of six, The Usual Q.T., was
several lengths farther back in third.The winner paid $19.60 as the 8-1 fourth choice and completed
the flat mile over the firm turf in 1:33.55.
It's always nice to see
young jockey Joe Talamo in the winner's circle, and the win was a bit
of retribution for his narrow loss to Global Hunter he suffered in
last year's edition of the American aboard Temple City. As for his
mount, Ryehill Dreamer, he looks to becoming a real force in the turf
miler division, and will likely make his next start in the Grade 1
Shoemaker Mile on July 2.